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KHIROKITIA
The picturesque village of Khirokitia stands on a hilly area
in the district of Larnaca, about 33 kilometres from the city
of Larnaca and it connects south-easterly through the Limassol-Nicosia
motorway with these two cities. On the north it connects with
the villages of Pano (Upper) and Kato (Lower) Lefkara and north-westerly
with the village Vavla.
Khirokitia
is built at an average altitude of 220 meters above sea level
and the river of Agios Minas fragments its landscape. Khirokitia
receives an annual average rainfall of about 450 millimetres;
citrus, olive, and locust trees, cereals, forage plants, vegetables
and a few fruit trees are cultivated in the region.
The refinery of Khirokitia lies
north-east of the village, which is supplied with water from
the dams of Lefkara and of Dipotamos. After being distilled,
the water is channelled through water-pipes to the areas of
Nicosia, Larnaca, and Famagusta for water supply purposes.
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Regarding the origins of the name
of the settlement, the Great Encyclopaedia of Cyprus reports
that:
According to the dominating opinion the name of the village
is a composite of the word "Khiros" (hog / pig)
and the word "Kiti", thus suggesting an area where
pigs were raised. According to others, the name originally
was "Sidirokitida", thus an area were iron was found.
It is also said that it might have originated from the word
"Khirogetia", which implies the practice of palmistry.
According to another opinion, it may have originated from
some initial name like "Ierokitida" (Sacred place).
Some -more imaginative -others claim that the name came from
the words "gyros" and "oikia" due to the
fact that the prehistoric huts that were discovered there
were round. Furthermore tradition says that it came from
the phrase "Chere Kitia" that the notorious and
mysterious "rigena" (Queen) of Cyprus used to address
a certain female friend of hers from Kition. It was also
claimed that maybe the name originated from the plant Annona
Cherimoya, which is found cultivated in Cyprus under the more
simple name "Cheromolia", although this is considered
very unlikely. At any rate, in old maps the village is marked
as Cherochetica and as Chierochitia.
Also according to the Great Encyclopaedia
of Cyprus, the village was granted -since the beginning of
the Frank domination -to the Order of the Knights Templar
and then to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem
(Knights Hospitallers), which kept the area as an important
administrative feud. The Tower, that is, the main structure
of the feud of Khirokitia is found very close to the location
where the church of "Panagia tou Kampou" stands.
Only the slightest traces remain today from the Tower of Khirokitia,
which was destroyed by the Mamelukes after their victory in
1426 and became known later under the name Seraen.
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The village has undergone great
fluctuation of population. In 1881 its inhabitants were 337,
which increased to 384 in 1891 and to 395 in 1901. In 1911
the inhabitants increased to 493 and in 1921 to 514. In 1931
the inhabitants were reduced to 473 only to increase to 560
in 1946. In 1960 they decreased to 406 and in 1976 to 383.
In 1982 the inhabitants decreased to 369 and in 2001 the inhabitants
run up to 650. Archeologists and students of archeology that
are occupied from time to time in the archeological excavations
at the Neolithic settlement are seasonally included in the
population of the village. The progress of the population
has recently presented an upward course. Khirokitia is at
the center of the road network that connects the 3 large cities
of Cyprus, Nicosia, Limassol, and Larnaca. Furthermore the
operation of the water refinery and of the Cement Industry
of Vasiliko play an important role in providing an occupation.
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The village is characterized by
the intense presence of historical elements that go back to
the most distant past of the history of Cyprus. In the east
side of the village, upon the slope of a hill, lies the ancient
Neolithic settlement of Khirokitia, the existence of which
dates back the sixth millennium BC and was unveiled by the
archaeological pick-axe in 1934 and made the name of Khirokitia
known world wide due to the importance of this settlement
for its information and findings about the Neolithic Era of
the Prehistory of Cyprus.
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