€7.8m, 274 applicants, 25 finalists: Nicosia's old market defends itself in Brussels on 13 October — and the public vote shuts at midday on the 14th

The building half the people on this site have sat in is up for a European award next week. CYENS Hub Nicosia — the conversion of the city's landmark modernist Old Municipal Market, inside the walled old town and a short walk from the Green Line, into the permanent home of the CYENS Centre of Excellence — is one of 25 finalists in the European Commission's REGIOSTARS Awards 2026. It competes in the category "A Competitive and Smart Europe".

The numbers behind the shortlist. REGIOSTARS 2026 drew a record 274 applications from across the EU; the jury cut them to 25 across five categories. The Nicosia project represents a €7.8 million EU co-funded investment in a single building.

Three dates, in order. On Tuesday 13 October the finalists present their projects to the jury and to a public audience in Brussels, during the European Week of Regions and Cities. On the evening of Wednesday 14 October the five category winners are announced, together with the separate Public Choice Award. And before that: public voting closes at midday on 14 October — the ballot is on the Commission's REGIOSTARS page. If you want the Cyprus entry to take the audience prize, that is a two-minute job with a hard deadline, not a thing to do next week.

What the centre actually is. CYENS is a joint venture of the University of Cyprus, the Cyprus University of Technology, the Open University of Cyprus, University College London and the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, working on interactive media, smart systems and emerging technologies — artificial intelligence, smart cities, immersive and cultural technology, user experience. The REGIOSTARS citation is specifically about the combination: heritage preservation plus urban revival plus research and entrepreneurship in the same square metres.

The quote is unusually honest about what was being balanced. "This distinction is an important European acknowledgement for a project that combines preserving architectural heritage with urban revitalisation, research, innovation and entrepreneurship," said Anthi Philippidou, the centre's development director. Restoring a protected modernist market hall and fitting out a working AI lab are not naturally the same project, and the award is for pulling both off at one address.

Why it sits on a hackathon listing. Because the Hub is infrastructure for everyone reading this, not a monument. It is the venue hackathons and demo nights get hosted in, the place the model behind Cyta's 130,000 AI-handled calls was built, and — conveniently — it opens its doors to the public for ten days from 16 October under the theme "Flows". Vote first, then go see the thing you voted for.

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