Lapithos

Lapithos (Greek: Î›Î¬Ï€Î·Î¸Î¿Ï‚; Turkish: Lapta) is a town of Kyrenia District on the northern coast of Cyprus, which was a kingdom in ancienty. According to Strabo, the settlement was founded by Spartans. In Assyrian inscriptions, Lapithos is mentioned as one of the eleven Cypriot kingdoms. During the Persian rule, Lapithos was settled by Phoenicians. The last independent king Praxippos was subdued by Ptolemy I in 312 BC.

Since 1974, after the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus, the town is in the Turkish Cypriot part of the island. After the Turkish invasion/intervention of 20 July 1974 four thousand Lapithiotes became refugees having gone through the curse of war: fighter bombardments, broadsides fired from warships on the coast Attila soldiers.

Patriarch Gregory II of Constantinople was born in Lapithos.

History

Lapithos, Lambousa, Imeroessa, Lapithea has been making a journey in history for thousands years now. â€˜Construction of the Laconians and of Praxandros' says Strabo. Alexander from Ephesus, the ancient philosopher called it Imeroessa, i.e. attractive, passion-arousing.

The archaeologists refer to Lapithos as colony of the Laconians, built after the Trojan War (circa 1000 BC) by Praxandros its first king. However, findings from excavations i.e. pots and pottery wheels date back its existence as early as 3000 BC. Diodoros of Sicily refers to Lapithos as one of the nine Cypriot Kingdoms circa the 4th century BC.

Peisistratos, king of Lapithos, with his flotilla, together with Nicocreon of Salamis and Stasanor of Curium, came to the aid of Alexander the Great, helping him to capture Tyros in Phoenicia. For this reason Alexander, the victorious army commander, declared Cyprus free from the Persians. The last king of Lapithos was Praxippos.

The Roman, Byzantine and Luisignan Period

During the period of the Roman Empire, Lapithos had more than 10,000 inhabitants. It formed one of the four districts of Cyprus. From ancient times Lapithos became a centre for the processing of copper and more importantly an earthenware centre.

During the proto-Christian period (25 BC - 250 AD) Lapithos experienced a great commercial drive because of the plethora of its produce, but also because of its port and its shipyard. During this period Lapithos was given the name Lambousa (Shining) may be because of its shining wealth or because of its shining beauty and cleanliness or because of its lighthouse, which shed shining light to the surrounding region.

During the first years of Christianity the apostles Paul, Barnabas and Mark passed by Lapithos coming from Tarsus. According to Apostle Barnabas, Lapithos had city walls. He cites that during his second tour with Apostle Mark, they stayed outside the walls because they were not given access to the city. During the Byzantine period, Lapithos enjoyed great prosperity in commerce as well as in riches, art and development. Bishop of Lapithos Theodotos (circa 314-324 AD) died a martyr in Kyrenia while Bishop Didymos was represented at the 4th Ecumenical Synod (451 AD) by Saint Evlalios or Evlampios; a chapel dedicated to who can be found near the monastery of Acheiropoiitos.

Lapithos was heavily damaged during the Arab incursions. The population often had to flee and take refuge in the interior. Upon the liberation of Cyprus from the Arabs after the victorious expedition of Nicephorus Phocas, the Byzantine Emperor - 965 AD - Lapithos's refugees returned to their town to rebuild it in a new location, not by the sea, but at the foot of mountain Pentadactylos.

During the Lusignan period Lapithos boasted a greater population than Limassol, Famagusta or Pafos. It was a feud known under the name Le field de la Pison, believed to be a Latin paraphrase of Lapithos. It is known that a few years before the Ottoman Turkish conquest of Cyprus (1571) 3000 troops were stationed at Lapithos under the command of Zanetto Dandolo, who fell during the defense of Nicosia.

The Ottoman Period

During the Turkish occupation (1571-1878) the Ottoman Turks seized a great amount of landed property owned by Greeks. In addition two Greek Orthodox churches were converted into mosques. In 1780 a section of Lapithos was split off to form a new village, Karavas.

During the Greek War of Independence on 18-21 June 1821, Konstantinos Kanaris, captain of a fire ship and one of the important figures of the Greek Revolution, paid a visit to Lapithos in order to take provisions and to recruit men. Kanaris anchored at Asprovrisi. He was hosted at Paspallas house at Ayia Paraskevi. There they â€˜staged a funeral' burying weapons (mainly local knives) and other provisions in the local cemetery by the sea. During the following nights sailors from Kanaris' fire ship unearthed the stuff, loaded it on board and left with sixteen new recruits. The Turkish rulers found out about the incident days later. Not surprisingly they took severe action. They beheaded the local headman Chatzelias and another sixteen Lapithiotes in Nicosia on 9 July 1821.

The British Rule

Soon after the British leased Cyprus from the Ottomans in 1878 Lapithos was declared a municipality. Andreas Koumides took office as Mayor.

The people of Lapithos participated in the liberation struggle of 1955-59 (EOKA). Many young Lapithiotes were trained in the tactics of guerrilla warfare by Gregoris Afxentiou and later by Kyriakos Matsis. Lapithos was at the forefront of the sabotage campaign against colonial rule. Bombs exploded and British troops were ambushed and attacked. For this reason the community was ordered to pay heavy collective fines. Men were detained while a curfew was often imposed.

Independence

The Zurich-London Agreements (1959) may have brought about the birth of the Republic of Cyprus (1960) but they did not produce long-lasting peace. In 1963 inter-communal strife broke out.

Coup d'Etat and Invasion

On July 15, 1974 a coup-d'etat perpetrated by the Junta of Athens and EOKA B'. Turkey who was way laying for years before, consiered this a reason to invade in Cyprus on July 20, 1974.

It was at dawan of July 20th 1974, when low flying Turkish war planes scared Lapithos and some distance to the East of the Monastery of Aheiropoietos. Turkish Attila warships had anchored during the night ready to bombard. Bombardment from the air and from the sea started at 5:30 that morning. Four low flying bombers, giving the impression they were about to fall on the rooftops, indiscriminately bombarded among other targets military camps at Glykiotissa, the camp near Aheiropoietos Monastery, the Bosphorus camp east of Kyrenia and the Sands of Panagra where there were disused look out posts since 1964.

On Monday, July 22, 1974, the UN Security Council called for on a cease fire. The Turkish forces did not stop their advance. They captured Keryneia at 6 p.m. while Lapithos and Karavas. Some villagers left for Nicosia and for other places sensing disaster while others stayed back.

Geography

Situated about 14 Kilometers west of Kyrenia, on the northern coast of Cyprus, on the East it borders with Karavas, on the West with Basileia, on its South with the villages of Sysklhpos, Agridaki, and Larnaka tis Lapithou. It spreads from the high mountains of Pentadactylos to the waters of the Mediterranean. In fact, it rests against the background of the highest peak of Pentadactylos, the Kyparissobouno, which reaches about 1024 meters high, its highest peak, exquisite Lapithos spreads in the green reaching the Mediterranean coast.

The village was constituted of six enories (parishes). Each enoria had its own civil and religious administration. There was a community council under a chairman and an ecclesiastical authority with a Greek Orthodox priest. Moreover every enoria had its own cemetery. The six enories were the following:

Ayia Anastasia and Ayia Paraskevi in Upper Lapithos were known as the Pano Enories (Upper Parishes). Ayios Theodhoros on the west side of the village and Timios Prodhromos and Ayios Loukas in the centre, while Ayios Minas lay to the east.

Farming and Crops

Lapithos has fertile land and rich water resources due to its headspring (Kefalovryso). A variety of trees are cultivated. Citrus, especially lemon-trees, thrive producing 11-12 million lemons per year. It was the greatest production in the island. The lemon-tree grown in the Lapithos area (Lemonia Lapithiotiki) is well known in Cyprus. The orchards of Lapithos filled the place with their green colour. In springtime every span of the land smelled sweetly. The scent of lemon blossom was omnipresent. Olive-trees thrived especially in the hilly areas. Carob-trees also prospered. They provided the so-called â€˜black gold' at a time when commerce was not at its best.

Water-loving plants like fistikia (pistachios), konari and kolokasi were plentifully cultivated in the Lapithos plain. Mulberry-trees were planted on the edge of the orchards in order to protect the lemon-trees from the winds and the saltiness of the sea but also to provide food for the silkworm the mainstay of the silk industry.

The green-clad orchards with their evergreen lemon-trees, citron-trees (nerantzies), tangerine-trees, grapefruit-trees, bergamot-trees and all sorts of orange-trees formed the green background of the scene as if of a painting most conspicuous in Spring as the white blossom of the trees embellished every inch of the land.

The great variety of white plums in Lapithos was perhaps unique. Red, yellowish tzianeres (very sweet and round that can be eaten unripe) but also the so-called flokkaroues (long and greenish) are varieties peculiar only to Lapithos. Plum-trees, reklot, formoses, red-leaved pournelies, mavropournelloues (small round blackish pournelles) were abundant. They provided extra income to the local farmers.

Former Municipality

When Cyprus became British Colony in 1878, the British set about re-organizing the administrative structure of the island. Thus Lapithos became one of the ten new â€˜municipalities'. Both the Mayor and the Municipal Council were democratically elected by the people of Lapithos. As a result competent personalities were elected in office, who strived for the progress and well-being of the small town.

This Municipal Council stayed in office until the end of 1987, thirteen years after the invasion.

The 1974 catastrophe put all the activities of the municipality to a halt. The displaced Lapithiotes were dispersed not only around the island but also in the world at large. The items on the agenda of the first post-1974 meeting of the Municipal Council on 13 January 1975 were as follows:

1. Jobs in the civil service for the now unemployed municipal employees.2. Problems of the municipal employees.3. Enlightenment campaign on the Cyprus National Problem.

The Municipal Council meetings took place in the homes of its members until the Municipality was offered temporary offices at 37 Ammochostou Street, Nicosia, west of Ammochostos Gate. The Municipality of Lapithos found itself under the same roof with also refugee Municipality of Kythrea. The current Mayor of the town is Athos Eleftheriou.

Churches and Mosques

The town is divided into six parishes. Each one of the six bears the name of the saint to whom the parish church is dedicated. Starting from the west plains the traveller finds the parish church of Ayios Theodhoros Stratilatis â€" Saint Theodore the Victorious Army Commander. Next, one finds the parish church of Apostolos Loukas â€" Apostle Luke â€" and finally the parish church of Ayios Minas â€" Saint Minas. On the hills there are another two. First, the church of Ayia Anastasia â€" Saint Anastasia â€" situated in a commanding spot with a large yard surrounding it in which there is a primary school. Then, on higher ground, there is the largest of parish churches in the village, that of Ayia Paraskevi â€" Saint Paraskevi. This is also the location of the Kefalovryso â€" headspring. Last but not least, right in the town centre, lies the Church of Timios Prodhromos â€" Holy Prodhromos, dated back to the 18th century, the oldest in Lapithos.

In the Saint Theodore's interior old Byzantine books and icons were kept. According to the testimonies of those enclaved in their own land after the Turkish invasion, by 1975 every piece of treasure in this historic church was pillaged.

The Haydar Pashazade Mehmet Bey Mosque in Lapithos is an Ottoman style stone mosque.[1]

Lapithos: Encyclopedia BETA

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