For some it was football. For others, a beer after work, a meal with friends, or simply one of those familiar Nicosia places that seemed as though it would always be there.
The Corner Pub was exactly what its name suggested. It sat on a corner, at Agion Omologiton and Demosthenes Severis avenues, but over 33 years it became much more than another pub in the capital.
That is why Wednesday's fire hit a nostalgic nerve for so many people.
The blaze on Aug. 5 caused extensive damage to the historic building, completely destroying its roof. Police and the Fire Service are still investigating what caused it.
But while investigators look for answers about how the building burned, former customers have been looking back at what it once was.
And there is quite a story behind that corner.
A post by Manolis Emmanouil in the Facebook group "Yesterday's Nicosia," drawing on information previously published by Reporter, has brought back the history of a business that stretches much further back than the Corner Pub most Nicosia residents remember.
Before the pints, football, and English pub atmosphere, the building had been a home. According to the account, it belonged to Nikolaos, who operated what was described as the city's first dry-cleaning business.
The Corner story itself, however, began with the Charalambous family.
Stefanos Charalambous opened the first "Corner restaurant" in Agios Dometios in 1957. Ten years later, the business moved to the area of Nicosia airport, opposite the United Nations camp.
More restaurants followed, one in Kyrenia harbor in 1970 and another in Famagusta in 1973.
Then came 1974.
Like thousands of other Cypriot families, the Charalambous family lost businesses and property following the Turkish invasion. The restaurants connected with Nicosia airport, Kyrenia and Famagusta were all lost.
But the family started again.
In 1977, Stefanos opened a new Corner restaurant on Demosthenes Severis Avenue, serving French and Cypriot food.
Ten years later, his 25-year-old son Konstantinos, widely known as Dinos of Manchester, took over.
And slowly, the Corner that a generation of Nicosians remembers began to take shape.
The restaurant evolved into an English-style pub and beer garden. Before long, its customers crossed just about every social line imaginable. Football supporters sat alongside businessmen. Politicians came through the doors, as did young people, families and generations of regulars.
Football, however, became an especially important part of its identity.
Corner became the home of the Manchester United supporters club in Cyprus and attracted some extraordinary visitors. Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton visited, as did the club's iconic former manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Cypriot footballers from different clubs were also among its customers.
But famous names are only a small part of why places like Corner matter.
For most people, the memories aren't about celebrities. They're about who they were sitting with, what match they were watching, and what was happening in their own lives at the time.
A photograph shared by Lida Charalambous captures something of that personal history, showing her father Stefanos inside the Corner restaurant.
"My father, Stefanos, at the Corner restaurant. Memories of a lifetime," she wrote.
It is a simple caption, but perhaps it explains why the sight of a burned-out old pub can mean more to a city than bricks and timber.
Cities change. Restaurants close, buildings are redeveloped, and old hangouts disappear. Yet certain places become markers in people's lives, the place you met friends every week, watched your team win or lose, or simply knew would be there the next time you passed.
For 33 years, Corner was one of those places for Nicosia.
Investigators may eventually establish what started Wednesday's fire.
But for the people who spent part of their lives on that particular corner, the building's history was written long before the flames arrived.
