Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 30, 2010 18:26:37 GMT -5
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 30, 2010 18:28:24 GMT -5
Nestling below the Troodos Mountains, 74 km away from Nicosia, Lefke (Lefka) is a small and friendly town in the north west of Cyprus.
Its inhabitants will tell you that its citrus fruits are the tastiest and the juiciest in the whole of the island. This is because of its rich soil, plentiful water and its reservoirs.
Its Turkish character reflects the domination of the area by the Ottoman Empire for more than three hundred years.
The town also houses one of North Cyprus' universities, European University of Lefke.
Lefke was once a prosperous mining town. It was once the center of mining in ancient times and a medieval barony. The town became predominantly Turkish after the Ottoman conquest and there are some interesting examples of Ottoman architecture to be seen here.
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Post by Kastorianos on Jan 31, 2010 9:26:40 GMT -5
I like the place. Where exactly are your Greek ancestors from?
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 9:58:42 GMT -5
Don't know the exact location. All we know are, there were 2 twin brothers from Istanbul. During the Ottoman times there family became extremely rich, they had become muslim. They moved to Cyprus, one brother took Lefke as his own, the other took Baf. My Grandmother on her fathers side descends from that lineage of family. There surnames were Guzeloglu in Cyprus, which means sons of the beautiful.
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 10:19:29 GMT -5
My mum just told me, 1570 was when they settled. She said her mothers side of the family were very different from the other Turks that arrived, because of how tall they were. The women and men were the tallest in the towns, none of them had brown eyes or dark hair. All were light with Green and blue eyes. She talks about her great great grandmother who had curly red hair and green sparkly eyes, she remembers her as being very tall and slim. Another interesting thing she mentioned is that someone at present one of her relative of distant are now researching the family roots... she promised to e-mail to find out what they know Also my grandmothers mothers side came to Cyprus from Antalya, i don't know much about this city.. but It is assumed they are Turks.
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 10:42:19 GMT -5
Pictures of lefke Largest Vine in Cyprus, found in yesilirmak near lefke According to Guinness World Records, this is the largest vine in Cyprus, having a diameter of 1.4m. It was planted in 1947.
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 10:52:16 GMT -5
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 10:58:59 GMT -5
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 11:02:03 GMT -5
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 11:58:07 GMT -5
Kibris and location of LefkeAttachments:
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Patrinos
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Post by Patrinos on Jan 31, 2010 12:54:48 GMT -5
I've read by googling a bit, that Lefka during the venetian rule was a catholic village inhabited by westerners(italians) that islamised after the Ottomans came... In (South) Cyprus there are still some thousands Catholics descendants of the medieval ones. I've read somewhere else that many local Maronites got islamized right after the Ottoman occupation, hence the middle eastern look of many tourkocypriots and not the turkic one... The name of the village means in greek:
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 13:13:23 GMT -5
According to the stories which past on from generation to generation there was a farm in this region. After hundred's of years some homes were being build which lead to the present town called Lefke.
It is now obvious that Byzantines lived in this town. This was first found out when the Ayorgi church was converted to a mosque called Piri Pasha mosque.
Byzentiness lived in Cyprus between 402-1191. In VIIth century when Byzentines were in Lefke some Arabic forces came to Cyprus from the sea.
We also see that the captains use to live in Cyprus during the Frankish period. These captains stayed in Cyprus until 1425. Lusignans and Genoese also came and conqured Cyprus they also came to stay in Lefke. While they were in Lefke they also operated the ore deposits of town.
Later on Venetians came over to Cyprus and they stayed in Lefke between 1489-1570. Lefke was a settlement place for the Venetian high ranking soldiers. We have some evidences which are some mountains, that the Italians gave their names to the mountains. For example; some mountains are called Gonnos, Iriya, Gobrana, Fagussa are the names which have been derived from Italian language.
In 1571 when Ottoman's conquered the island it was discovered that the soil of Lefke was very fertile to do some farming. Therefore, they moved in to town as the Venetian soldiers evacuated the homes of town. When the Ottomans took over, they divided the island into 16 different districts. One of this districts was Lefke. As each districts had its own judge, Lefke also had its own judge.
Later on, when the island was ruled by British Empire. In Lefke both Turkish and Greek communities lived together until E.O.K.A terrorist organization movement started 1956 since than the Greeks left Lefke for the other villages around Lefke and town remained with Turkish population.
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Patrinos
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Post by Patrinos on Jan 31, 2010 13:47:40 GMT -5
Byzentiness lived in Cyprus between 402-1191.
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Post by hellboy87 on Jan 31, 2010 21:05:24 GMT -5
the place looks very bland.No beautiful buildings.
But I like that flower and oranges
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 21:38:38 GMT -5
LOL there are very beautiful buildings. I just haven't posted there pictures. the oranges are the best I have ever tasted and so big too. You can just pick them off the trees as you walk about the streets, mmm so refreshing on a hot summers day, before going swimming in the clear sea. Later on in the evening go up to the mountain overlooking the cemetary and lake, have some raki/beer and proper Cyprus meze. I think I should go again this year
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 21:42:24 GMT -5
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 21:43:16 GMT -5
Soli nice place to chill.
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Post by hellboy87 on Jan 31, 2010 21:45:04 GMT -5
the amphitheatre look so sleek and fake.Like an imitation.
Btw,THERE WERE? Or They were?
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 21:48:37 GMT -5
Soli
The Basilica was constructed in the second half of the 4th century, and it was one of the first churches to be built on the island. Although it was expanded in the 5th and 6th centuries, it was destroyed by the Arab raids in the 7th century. The church has three gates; its courtyard has a fountain and it is ringed with columns. The church can be entered through three gates from behind the church. Inside, there are two rows of 12 columns. Most of the mosaics on the floor with drawings of animals and geometric shapes have been preserved. Soli is noted as the place St. Mark was baptized by St. Auxibius in the Christian world. The Soli Roman Theatre was built on the site of a Greek theatre between the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D.. It is on the skirt of a hill facing the sea. The auditorium was carved into the rocky part of the hill. This section and the orchestra in the middle are separated with a low, limestone wall and access to the orchestra and to the auditorium was via aisles at the sides. The original capacity of the theatre was 4000; the stage building has two storeys. This section is decorated with marble and statues. A temple dedicated to Aphrodite has been discovered on a hill to the west of the theatre.
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Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning
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Post by Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning on Jan 31, 2010 21:50:36 GMT -5
The Vouni Palace was constructed in the 5th century by the Persian sympathizer Doxandros, the king of the city of Marion, to keep the settlements supporting the Greeks (Soli) under control. There are 137 rooms in the palace. These include the administrative sections, bedrooms, storerooms, offices and bath rooms. When the Persian rule in the region was replaced by the Greek rule in 449 B.C. the palace lost its function. The palace stood erect for seventy years, but was destroyed by the people of Soli in 380 B.C., and was never reconstructed. Cisterns carved out of the rocks were used to meet the demand for water. In some of the storerooms, holes for amphoras can be noticed. The baths are old examples of hot-baths. Excavations have brought to light eathenware jugs blackened by the fire that destroyed the palace containing what has been described as 'the Vouni treasure'. The treasure includes gold and silver bracelets, ornamented silver cups, and hundreds of coins with the Marion, Kition, Lapithos and Paphos seals. The archaelogists have come across signs of s ettlements belonging to the pre-neolithic age on the island of Petra tou Limniti visible from Vouni. To the south of the palace are the remains of the Temple of Athena built towards the end of the 5th century B.C. The temple has two courtyards and an enclosed sacred ground. The holes in which the statues were placed is visible. The different sections of the Vouni remains are: the entrance, the residential rooms, the courtyard with columns, the kitchen courtyard, the cistern, granaries, baths, living rooms and offices.
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