Old maps of Cyprus and census documents of Lurucina.

This page deals with archive documents relating directly or indirectly to Lurucina. The aim is to expand this particular section in order to help us all understand our past in a more constructive manner. As Lurucina was not a particularly important village in history, finding documents relating to it can be pretty tedious and laborious. However thanks to the dedication and love for their village, enough information has been preserved to help us piece together what is turning out to be one of the most extensive researches on Lurucina ever undertaken. Given time and more effort this project will reach new heights that many of us believed almost impossible.

If the people of Lurucina can lead by example then hopefully other villages across Cyprus will attempt to emulate our success in searching our roots and local history.

Maps can, and often do tell us a lot about our history. While the local legend of the founding of Lorenzia/Lurucina/Akincilar has persisted for centuries, the only oldest mapped reference we can find for Lurucina is Lorthina on a map drawn by Jacomo Franco & copied by Abraham Ortelius, in 1573. But what about the surrounding villages like S. Zorsi, Damalia and Mallura that no longer exist?. What happened to them? Why did Lorthina not share the same fate. Together with some remnants of nearby Latin communities of Athienou/Kiraci Koy, who apparently acquired its Turkish name "Khiraji/Kiraci", as a direct result of the survivors of a few Latin families who turned to "Muleteering" (Kiraci) in order to earn a living. While others converted to Islam in order to escape the persecution from the Ottomans and Greek Orthodox Church.

In Lurucina the Latin's seemed to survive, at least until new generations came to Lurucina at the end of the 1700s and early 1800s. Sadly no remnants of any Latin families seem to have survived in Lurucina or Athienou and in the case of some villages have completely disappeared altogether. This website is not a comprehensive history of Lurucina, neither can I claim to be qualified in that department. But in the absence of other historians lack of interest on our village, then whatever small bits of information is added to the site will in my opinion help to raise awareness of our past. This page has maps of the area dating from 1573-1730. In addition, information relating to the Bairam brothers hanged for the murder of the priest in 1924 can also be seen. I hope everyone enjoys the maps and documents as much as I have in trying to analyse them. Any comments would be welcome.

Bütün Lurucina/Akıncılar köylülerime sağlık, muhhabet ve selamlar dilerim.

Ismail Veli 'Kirlapo'

Maps of Lord Kitchener. 1885. (drawn in 1882, and published in 1885) Information from the British Colonial Census taken on 27-28 April 1931 ( for more comprehensive information see History of Lurucina page 2)

The full map of Lurucina and the surrounding villages 1885. The vineyards are shaded and clearly demonstrate the extensive cultivation of grapes which earned Lurucina the nickname of "Stafiliyo-horgo", (Grape/vine village) in fact by 1931 the village had a total of 1,099 Dönüms of land as vineyards. The total land registered in the census of 1931 undertaken by the British Colonial power showed that Lurucina had a total of 8,317 Donums land of which 7,137 was Arable land. After the capital Nicosia, with its surrounding suburbs, only Dali (8,946 Donums) Paleometoki (10.881 Dönüms) and Yerolakko (15,381) had a larger ownership of land in the Nicosia District registered as "Nahieh of Dağh".

Margo Çiftlik near the village of Pyroi has an interesting history as it was bought by the Jews in order to create a colony, for one reason or another it never materialised.
The following information is from the book titled "Place of Refuge, a history of the Jews in Cyprus", by Stavros Pantelis
A small distance to the north east of Pyroi lies the Margo çiftlik. This particular piece of land amounting 4.654 Dönüms (1550 acres) was purchased by the Jewish for a hefty £3.775 in 1895. A deposit of £1.100 was given and the balance was to be paid by instalments at seven percent interest. By the standards of the days it was a considerable amount of money.

The remains of Mallura can just about be seen at the bottom right hand corner to the East of the Phillidiotissa Church

Maps of Lord Kitchener. 1885. (drawn in 1882, and published in 1885)

April 8th 1885. map showing the Katrini (Mehmet Katri) post. Bottom left hand corner. Very soon after leasing the Island from the Ottoman empire, the project to survey and map out every part of Cyprus was undertaken by Lord Kitchener .

Katri's post is clearly marked as "Katrini' near the main Nicosia/Larnaca rd. Looking north Its to the left of the main road, and also on the left going into Lurucina, while Philidiotissa church is marked on the right travelling west. The vineyards are also marked, and by 1885 they seem to cover an extensive patch. Most of the land was originally given to Mehmet Katri for his services in protecting the main road from army deserters and local bandits. Though Mehmet Katri was long dead by 1885 his post was still standing. Soon after, other migrants like Hürrem bey from Antalya, Mehmet Said from Silifke, Sari Mustafa 'Tahura', from an unspecied place in Turkey. Ibrahim Mustafa 'Garaoli' from Köfünye and many others began their entry into Lurucina. This effectively began to outnumber the existing inhabitants of the village. Fortunately other then the early 1920s and later the 1950s there are no recorded incidents of tension. The old and the new seemed to co-exist amicably for generations.

Maps of Lord Kitchener. 1885. (drawn in 1882, and published in 1885)

This map shows Aya Marina and the Kastro mountain. Kastro is reputed to have once been a volcano. Perhaps 2/3 hundred million years old. The erosion does not seem to have changed its shape. The Yalia river (Çakıllı dere) with its near-by springs was a destination for shepherds for hundreds of years. They came from miles around in order to water their herds.

Map . Dept of Lands & surveys 1923. This map is from the personal archives of Ismail Veli 'Kirlapo'

This map . shows the plots of land owned by Mehmet Kavaz 'Ganu'. Some were in the family since the time of Mehmet Katri. These are marked in red. It corresponds to the vineyards marked on the Kitchener map. Pallourokambos to the north of Philidhiotissa indicates that it may have been a cotton growing field at one time. The numbers on each plot indicate the boundaries of land ownership which were registered at the tapu dairesi/land registry. Its clear from this map that the Philidhiotisa church also owned a large tract of land adjacent to the Church. Ancient remains dating to the 1200s AD clearly proves that a settlement existed since that time, When this settlement was abandoned is still not certain. There is some indication that Latins lived in this area and may have moved away from the main road in order to escape the advancing Ottoman army in 1570-71. The Venetians owned large tracts of land from near here to Ayo Sozemenos which was the summer residence of the Venetian Lieutenant Nicola Dandola who defended Nicosia against the Ottomans in between 22 July -9 September 1570.

The historic information is from Excerpta Cypria. Published in 1908 by Cambridge University. The Turks in Cyprus by Ahmet Gazioglu, 1990.

This map is from the personal archives of Ismail Veli 'Kirlapo'.

Map . Dept of Lands & surveys 1923.

This map is to the west of the above map. The plot of lands marked in red XL3 belonged to the Mehmet Kavaz 'Ganu' family. At the bottom left hand corner is the Moutsounin (face/yüz) hill. The shape of this hill clearly shows the reason for its name which looks like a face. The Lakxia tou Kapitanou is on the slopes facing north, while Kapirka is nearer to the village.

Pirga village census of 1841 in its original form. "A heritage of 400 years. records of Evkaf". Defter No: Emlak ve Arazi-63. Sahife No: 69-70. 4 Agustos 1841.

The census reports on this page also list the the villages of Livadya, Vuda, Ayanana, Pirga, Kallodya, Romolaksha, Balihori, Katomoni, Mitcera, Mandirya, Anarida and Nikokla.

Most villages at the time were very small and based around only a few families.

Pirga village census of 4th August 1841.

Only the property tax payers are listed, therefore if as in the case of Pirga there were only 17 taxpayers then we can assume that the population was not much more then a hundred. The British census of 4th April 1881 which covered all persons amounted to 202. Yusuf Mustafa 'Kirlangic' ('Şiliono') came from this village before the 1841 census was taken, therefore he would not appear on the list, but its easy to see that three other persons carry the same surname, Ali Mustafa, Huseyin Mustafa, Topal Hasan Mustafa. it should be noted that The first son of Yusuf Mustafa was named Mustafa, ( Mustafa Yusuf 'Şiliono') while the second was named Hasan (Hasan Yusuf 'Arap'). Its possible that the second son was named as a mark of respect for a brother that may have had a disability as the nickname Topal (lame) would indicate. This of course is speculative and the truth will probably never be known. Another more interesting point is that Mustafa son of Handan. Its obvious that Handan was the father of Mustafa and Mehmed and grandfather of Ali, Huseyin and Topal Hasan. and also the grandfather of Mahmud and Huseyin while Ayse was the wife of Mehmed.

This census proves that only 3 to 4 families lived in the village and had close family connections to each other. We may take the liberty of assuming that Yusuf Mustafa 'Kirlangic having left Pirga often visited his family. After all Pirga and Lurucina are only 8/9 miles apart.

Ethnoarchological Studies of population & Ancient Agriculture Richard W Yates

Map of the extent of the Roman and medieval settlements at Athienou- Malloura. Light shaded area is where Roman and medieval sherds were found. Dark shaded area is where only medieval sherds were present (drawing: A. Prinsand D. Massey).

The Venetian records of 1565 recorded 81 adult freedmen (Francomates) at Malloura. With women and children it had an estimated population of 196. During the Roman period the estimated population was between 188-258.

Athienou was the first farming village in the valley. It was established in the 1st century BC when Cyprus became a Roman Province.

Malloura was abandoned during the Arab-Byzantine period but re-settled during the Frankish Lusignan period. It was a thriving village and the people earned their living from cereals, vineyards, orchards and herding.

ATHIENOU PHOTOS OF1895

Top photo

threshing on a packed-dirt threshing floor (Aloni) at Athienou in 1895. the bottom of a threshing sledge (Dhoukani) can be seen on the left, while two other sledges are in use on the right. One thresher is standing on the (Dhoukani) the other is sitting on a chair and breast-feeding her child;

Bottom photo

Winnowing near the (Aloni) at Athienou in 1885 (Ohnefalsch-Richter 1994, Marfin Popular Bank Cultural Foundation).

This map deals with the ruins of Mallura which is east of the main Nicosia/Larnaca road. Kiraji Keuy/Athienou is at the top centre . The shaded area is farm land and vineyards. Petrophani was in existance during the Venetian period but was abandoned and then reoccupied during Ottoman rule. It does not appear on the maps between 1573-1730, but was listed on an Ottoman map of 1873, and of course on this map of Lord Kitchener prepared in 1882 and published in 1885

MAP 9

Maps of Lord Kitchener. 1885. (drawn in 1882, and published in 1885)

Unlike the maps of 1570-1730 this very accurate map of Lord Kitchener, dated 1885 shows that the old name of Atirne had by then changed to the more familiar name of Athienou but still retained its Turkish version of "Kiraci Keuy". The Turkish name seems to originate from the period just after the Ottoman rule when the Latin's were only allowed to trade as "muleteers". they simply transported goods for local traders as hired hands using their mules as beasts of burden. Hence the word "Kiraci". Petrophani is finally on the map, while a little to the south the ruins of the old village of Mallura are now more accurately shown. To the West outside this map. the ruins next to the old Phillidiotissa Church are in the location of where Damalia was shown on the medieval maps. If as Ahmet Gazioglu (The Turks in Cyprus) claims that the villages near to the main roads fled to escape the advancing Ottoman armies in 1570-71. Unlike other villages it seems that they were not settled by Turkish settlers after the end of the conflict.

MAP 11

Maps of Lord Kitchener. 1885. (drawn in 1882, and published in 1885)

Unlike the older maps of 1573-1730, Lymbia has finally appeared on the map. The extensive vineyards shaded are now beginning to emerge to the south East and East of Lymbia. The vineyards to the East on the top right hand corner belonged to Lurucina which is just Outside this map (see map 1 & 2) The dirt track running through the cultivated areas lead directly to the main Nicosia, Larnaca road.

British census of Cyprus on 4th April 1881.

The list above gives us an interesting bit of information on Lurucina. The eyewitness account of William Turner on March 12 1815 of Lurucina was that there were only "thirty houses", the four and a half fold increase to 130 buildings, though not large was in fact quite dramatic in percentage terms. The average persons to each household had 4.6%. persons. The 1921 and 1931 census's were almost identical. If the same average is applied to 1815 then we can surmise that Lurucina had about 130-40 people. As most of the family trees on this site begin not too long before this period, then we can safely assume that nearly all the families of today originated from a very small number of family groups. Contrary to popular belief most of these family groups are relatively newcomers to Lurucina. Until more information is discovered for the earlier period then knowing who the early families originated from is difficult to know with certainty. One thing that catches instant attention is the Leper farm just above Lurucina. Contrary to what people believe it is not an ancient disease. Fifty persons were living at the farm in 1881. According to British officials the unofficial figures were much higher but the fear of being dis-inherited forced many to hide this illness until it grew and became very apparent. This sadly was a way of life in Cyprus at that time.

the 1911 census showing Lurucina as having a population 1090 showing a growth from 922 since 1901

The 1911 census showing the breakdown of Lurucina's population. Its very noticeable that the ratio of women to men in the Turkish population at 501 males to 445 females is very large in percentage terms, while for the Greek population its the females who number more females to men. The number of Muslims number 946 while the Cristians number only 144, which equates to routhly 13% of the total population of the village.

The 1921 census clearly shows that Lurucina had grown into one of the largest villages in Cyprus. This page deals with all the villages over 1000 persons

This section deals with the farmland and general produce of the villages. Its clear that Vineyards and olive trees were extensive. It also lists the ownership of animals generally used for farming. The total land area of Lurucina in 1931 amounted to 8.317 of which 7.137 was arable. Its very clear from these census results that the growth of Lurucina from 1881-1931 was dramatic in percentage terms. In fact from 30 dwellings 1815 to 328 in 1931 is almost 11 fold. At a time of high mortality and large migration by the Turkish speaking community on the Island as a whole, this was only possible because of the influx of newcomers to the village. The family tree sections seem to confirm this.

The 1931 census shows a faster growth on average then most Turkish Cypriot villages. This census showed that the Greek population of the village at the time was 150 as opposed to 1.235 Turkish. On closer inspection the number of women being much less to men is in percentage terms quiet dramatic. Though it is speculative, one of the reasons could be the high number of deaths in women due to lack of medical facilities on pregnancy and birth.

Sadly the Leper farm listed just above Lurucina also shows a large increase from 50 in 1881 to 94 in. 1931. It could be that the authorities preferred to isolate the victims of this illness, or that more people were forthcoming with their illness by that time???.

The 1960 census 1550 shows a significant drop from the 1946 census which had 1816 inhabitants. Had normal trends continued it should have been well over 2000. There were 2 reasons for the drop, one is that all but 3 of the 99 Greeks had left. The greek population in 1921 was in fact 158 so the constant drop reached it's peak during the Cyprus crises which started in 1955. The Turkish population however also showed a large decline, the main reason was due to the emigration to the UK and to a lesser degree Australia

The table above shows the tax paid by each village to the Ottomans in 1572.

From the records of Halil Inalcik

The first Ottoman census of 1572 recorded only 24 households which was a drop on the1562 Venetian census of 182 ( roughly 40-45 households, the main reason could have been the exodus of the Latin community which was in conflict with the Ottomans and also the possible pressure from the Greek Orthodox community which was heavily taxed and oppressed under Venetian rule.

From the records of Halil Inalcik

The Ottoman census of 1878-9, Doc No; 149-a-1. Page 297.

This page records some family members of the Öküz Ali Mustafa, Çamuri & Kulaklı families which can be also be seen on the Öküz Mustafa & Süleyman Zabuni pages

Öküz İbrahim Mustafa is registered as being deceased but the date is not recorded. His son İsmail born in 1963 is also registered as deceased

Enosis Plebiscite In Lurucina. Sadly its not a good copy. "Biblion du phsithisman 25 March 1921. by the Cyprus information office.

Signatories to the plebiscite were the village priest Papa Charalambous Michaelides

Head teacher; Andreas Andoniades

The village committee; Savas Sergiou, Charalambous Petri, Nicholas Kakoulli.

School Committee; Savas Sergiou, Petris Charalambous, Philippos Hadji-Eracles

This particular plebiscite taken all over Cyprus took place on the 100th anniversary of the start of the struggle of Greece's independence on 25 March 1921. This page only relates to Lurucina. Sadly the tension it created in the village was immense, and it may have been a contributory factor in the increased efforts by the village priest Charalambous Michaelides which finally led to his killing on 24 September 1924. Two brothers Yusuf and Mustafa Bairam were hanged for the crime. Most people believed them to have been the scapegoats for a crime that they did not commit. For more information on this, read the "Village History Page 2"

Famílias de Lurucina

Old maps of Cyprus and census documents of Lurucina.

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