Lysi

Lysi
Λύση (Greek) Akdoğan (Turkish)

Church of Panagia in Lysi
Lysi

Location in Cyprus

Coordinates: 35°6′19″N 33°40′52″E / 35.10528°N 33.68111°ECoordinates: 35°6′19″N 33°40′52″E / 35.10528°N 33.68111°E
Country de jure  Cyprus
de facto  Northern Cyprus
District de jure Famagusta District
de facto Gazimağusa District
Government
 • Mayor Ahmet Latif
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 13,026
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Website Turkish Cypriot municipality

Lysi (Greek: Λύση, Turkish: Akdoğan) is a village located in the Mesaoria plain in Northern Cyprus, north of the city of Larnaca. Lysi is also the administration center for the villages of Beyarmudu, Paşaköy, Pile and Vadili.

In 1960, there were 3,700 Greek Cypriots living in the village and approximately 6,000 in 1974.

After the hostilities in 1974,[2] population transfers were made in accordance with the population exchange agreement between Turkish and Greek Cypriots (Third Vienna Agreement) under the auspices of United Nations on 2 August 1975; [3] the Greek Cypriots in Lysi moved to the south. In response, the Turkish Cypriots in the south of the island moved to the north, some of which located to Lysi.

In the centre of the village there is a late 19th century Greek Orthodox church, covered in a thick layer of Gothic decoration copied from the great medieval cathedrals of Famagusta and Nicosia. The church was built by the inhabitants of Lysi who volunteered their work over several years. After the Turkish occupation of Lysi the church was looted, all its Christian icons and other Christian interior decorations were removed and was turned into a mosque.

The diminutive 14th-century church of St. Evphemianos, 2 km southwest of the village, enjoys a lonely position, shaded by a clump of eucalyptus just above a water course. This small church depicted some of the most beautiful and well preserved Byzantine mosaics found on the island of Cyprus. The mosaics were later purchased by the Menil Foundation in Texas, USA on behalf of the Church of Cyprus and have been on long-term loan to the Menil ever since. The loan agreement came to an end in February 2012.[4] West of the village, 2 km along the tarmac road to Arsos village, there is a distinctive hillock capped with rounded boulders. Halfway down its southern face is a Greek Archaic nympheum, a small natural cave that archaeologists found filled with votive statuettes. The silhouette of the sibyl's hill hovers as a visual echo of the Pentadaktylos mountains on the northern horizon.

About 4 km further west along this road, the other side of Arsos, is the hamlet of Tremetousia, the site of Richard the Lion Heart’s victory over Isaac Comnenus. The ruinous church and the buildings on the northern edge are the remains of an 18th-century rebuilding of the ancient monastery of St Spyridon. The remains of the saint lay buried here for a few centuries before being removed to Constantinople, and eventually to the island of Corfu.

See also

References

  1. ↑ KKTC 2011 Nüfus ve Konut Sayımı [TRNC 2011 Population and Housing Census], TRNC State Planning Organization, 6 August 2013, p. 17
  2. ↑ UN official website UNFICYP Mandate
  3. ↑ United Nations, Cyprus Population Exchange Agreement 02.08.1975 United Nations, Cyprus Population Exchange Agreement 2 August 1975.
  4. ↑ Povoledo, Elisabetta (23 September 2011). "The Menil Is to Return Frescoes to Cyprus". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2014.