Abandoned Villages - Foinikas

[Dominic]

Foinikas has a special place in our family's hearts. It was the first abandoned village we explored in Cyprus, some ten years ago. We have returned to it each time we visited Cyprus, and consquently have more pictures than we could ever possibly want of the village and surrounding area. We posted some of them on our blog about the Asprokremmos Reservoir. We wanted some up-to-date photos for the Abandoned Village blog series. So last saturday we revisited Foinikas, and couldn't believe what we found when we got there...

Read the article and chat about it below...

[brengreen]

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Cyprus in Spring is a beautiful place.

[PeteandSylvi]

I don't know if it has been mentioned before but there is a site giving details of all the displacements and brief history of these villages:

http://www.prio-cyprus-displacement.net ... .asp?id=24

Pete

[Dominic]

That is where the population table on the map come from. I mentioned that site in the Vretsia blog.

-- EDIT --

I added a link to the relevent PRIO page. Thanks for reminding me!

[Mark]

Fantastic!

Thank you Dominic

[Jimgward]

Thanks for that....

The Knights Templar were indeed very real.... their memory altered by Hollywood and the Grail stories etc, but very real.

They did indeed rule Cyprus for a period and Paphos are was their HQ - so the story of Foinikas could be true.... it certainly looks quite a fortified area.

The Templar Knights started to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land but quickly become very powerful, to the point of controlling Monarchies in France, England and Germany. That was their undoing. They were the first proper bankers, but we won't hold that against them.

They were fearsome warriors, proper knights and pretty much the leaders of the Crusades, in terms of masters of war. No doub't, in those days, they also committed atrocities, especially against the Muslims who also fought for control of Jerusalem and beyond.

Loads of very interesting books on them.....

The Masons of today, claim to be the descendants of the Templars, using the same terminologies and giving vent to the notion of the Templars settling in Scotland and the Masonic rites being based on a Scottish version of freemasonry.... but rather strangely, the Scottish Masons have for years, been very anti-Catholic and the Templars were Papish knights

[Dominic]

Thanks for that....

The Knights Templar were indeed very real.... their memory altered by Hollywood and the Grail stories etc, but very real.

They did indeed rule Cyprus for a period and Paphos are was their HQ - so the story of Foinikas could be true.... it certainly looks quite a fortified area.

The Templar Knights started to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land but quickly become very powerful, to the point of controlling Monarchies in France, England and Germany. That was their undoing. They were the first proper bankers, but we won't hold that against them.

They were fearsome warriors, proper knights and pretty much the leaders of the Crusades, in terms of masters of war. No doub't, in those days, they also committed atrocities, especially against the Muslims who also fought for control of Jerusalem and beyond.

Loads of very interesting books on them.....

The Masons of today, claim to be the descendants of the Templars, using the same terminologies and giving vent to the notion of the Templars settling in Scotland and the Masonic rites being based on a Scottish version of freemasonry.... but rather strangely, the Scottish Masons have for years, been very anti-Catholic and the Templars were Papish knights

Do you know of any online resources which have further information? The original link which Max kindly provided didn't cite any sources, unfortunately, and I would like to dig a bit deeper when time permits.

[Jimgward]

http://www.cypnet.co.uk/ncyprus/history/17a.htm

http://cyprusscene.com/2014/02/10/knigh ... in-cyprus/

https://thetemplarknight.com/2013/03/25 ... niversary/

http://www.defenderofjerusalem.com/temp ... yprus.html

http://www.whatson-northcyprus.com/inte ... urches.htm

There's not much 'factual' within websites, more history books..... they have become so dramatised that in truth, their history was deliberately wiped out. On Cyprus, their library was destroyed.

Their history is fascinating and Cyprus plays a real part. Nobody knows how many templars ever resided in Cyprus, but evidence of their buildings would indicate quite a lot....

[Yioula]

Fabulous blog......great photos...... really enjoying these abandoned villages....

[Dominic]

http://www.cypnet.co.uk/ncyprus/history/17a.htm

http://cyprusscene.com/2014/02/10/knigh ... in-cyprus/

https://thetemplarknight.com/2013/03/25 ... niversary/

http://www.defenderofjerusalem.com/temp ... yprus.html

http://www.whatson-northcyprus.com/inte ... urches.htm

There's not much 'factual' within websites, more history books..... they have become so dramatised that in truth, their history was deliberately wiped out. On Cyprus, their library was destroyed.

Their history is fascinating and Cyprus plays a real part. Nobody knows how many templars ever resided in Cyprus, but evidence of their buildings would indicate quite a lot....

Thanks Jim. Next time I visit Foinikas I will pay more attention to it's arches.The article Max supplied seemed to suggest that it was architecturally more advanced than other villages, but I didn't see as many arches as featured in the accompanying photos. Mind you, because of the thickness of the undergrowth, I didn't explore every building. So a visit later in the view may yield more.

All fascinating stuff. I do appreciate both yours and Max's efforts at enlightening me.

[PaphosAL]

Dominic- is it possible that all those little 'niches' you see built into the sides of ancient TNC abandoned village houses were possibly shrines? Perhaps to their passed-away parents / grandparents?

They may well have a candle alight each night, some personal trinkets, maybe? A bit like you can still see in the graveyards in and around Paphos these days?

Just a thought... AL

[cyprusmax47]

I have the impression that the large building one can see on your last photo (with the smoke) was like a castle, the Administration of the Templars.
It is also mentioned in an article about Nata. What is interesting that this building has got different walls with little stones instead of the grouting.
It is exactly like Syrian bricklayer do their jobs which one can see in many villages now around, also with the little niches. And in Syria many
Templars settled until 1291. You can see on the map what I mean, also confirms Foinikas at this map.https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templeror ... s-1291.png
I found on German Wikipedia that after the Turks took over Cyprus in 1571 Foinikas was founded and the Administration buildings of the Templar
were taken over. Finally there is a short video from a drone, done 2 years ago from where you get a good overlook also from the Administration
buildings of the Templars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUq37UzrPZQ

[cyprusmax47]

If you stop the video after 2.14 one can clearly see the whole complex of the Administration building (everything on the left of the road)

Max

[Jimgward]

My house in Cyprus is built in stone Cypriot style, with a peaked archway and niches exactly like this on the inside and outside. The builder was Lithos - which means stone in Greek....

[cyprusmax47]

Jimgward

Obviously we must have the same taste. I built my last house also in stone with 2 arches and niches from Syrian stone masons. Big stones came
from Kato Paphos and they cut them to size....

Max

[Dominic]

Foinikas will most definitely require another visit. Oh the hardships one endures...