| Tymvou | |
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| Τύμβου (Greek) Kırklar (Turkish) | |
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Tymvou
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | De jure Cyprus De facto Northern Cyprus |
| District | Nicosia District |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
Tymvou (Greek: Τύμβου, Turkish: Kırklar) is a village located in central Cyprus in the Nicosia District. It resides in the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognised only by Turkey), and is also the location of Nicosia's first airport, built during British colonial rule. The village was originally exclusively inhabited by Greek Cypriots, and in 1960, it had a population of 1133 people.[1] The Turkish Army expelled the original population in 1974 following their invasion of Cyprus.
Note: the town's name is sometimes also rendered as Tymbou.
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The village is located 17 km to the east of Nicosia off the old Nicosia - Famagusta road. It lies in the Mesaoria plain next to Yialias river at an altitude of 110m.
Tymvou Airport, the precursor of Ercan International Airport was constructed by the British in World War II as a military airport, during their colonial rule of the island. It was abandoned after the independence of Cyprus. Following the Turkish invasion it was expanded and today it is used as the main civilian airport of the TRNC.
The name Tymvou is believed to come from the tombs (gr. τύμβος) located in caves and caverns to the north of the present village near the airport. First written records of the name Tymbou can be found on a document from the Frankish (Lusignian) occupation of the island during the reign of the Frankish king Jacob II (1460-1473 AD). The document granted feudal rights of the area to Pierre Coul.
During the Ottoman period it was a large çiflik (farming area which included the entire village) belonging to wealthy Greek landowner in 1813 named Demetris Pavlides. From 1821 it became the property of a local Turkish administrator Halil Shindar (?). After the end of Turkish rule it returned to Greek hands.
The Greek population of the village grew from 278 in 1881 to 1133 in 1960 and 1288 in 1973.
The village church dedicated to Ayios Yeorgios (Saint George) was built in 1875. However some of the icons in the church date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
A cave - turned church near the village dedicated to the Forty Martyrs (Σαράνατα Μάρτυρες) was later turned into a mosque named Kirklar, the name used by the occupying power for the village of Tymvou.
Today the town is largely uninhabited and used by the military as a base instead. South of the village lies the also now-uninhabited former villages of Margo and Pyrogi, while Louroujina, 15 km south of Tymvou, is still inhabited by a small number of Turkish Cypriots.