PARTNERSHIP

CYPRUS - Municipality of Athienou

https://www.athienou.org.cy/en/

Our history    

Athienou dates back to the period of Hellenism in Cyprus.

Identifying the beginning of its existence, one goes back more than 3000 years ago, when the first Greeks arrived in Cyprus, establishing the first Greek Kingdoms on the island.

Among those ancient kingdoms was the well-known Kingdom of Golgoi.

Theocritus (one of the major poets of the Hellenistic era), who lived during the 3rd century BC refers to Golgoi saying that it is a Kingdom in Cyprus which got its name from Golgos, son of Adonis and Aphrodite. Golgoi became nationwide known due to their cult to Aphrodite who was worshipped there, long before her worship began in Paphos (birthplace of Aphrodite)

Athienou as known today, just south of the Ancient Kingdom of Golgoi seems to have gotten its name from the early years of the Franks in Cyprus, although no unambiguous evidence exists of where it exactly came from.

Many argue that the name came from the word “Atta” or “atha” meaning large stone and thus referring to the stony ground of the village.

Others argue that its name came from a Luizianian (France) named Etienne, who had an estate in the area and people would say “let’s go to the estate of Etienne.” Through the years this became “let’s go to Athienou.”

It is an empirical fact that Leontios Machairas (medieval cypriot historian) even as early as the 13th century refers to Athienou with the name known today. In his writing regarding the Saints of Cyprus, Leontios Machairas states: “….St. Photios near Athienou ….”.

Athienou, rapidly became the center of the whole region, famous for its prosperity and progressiveness due to the hard work of its inhabitants and their ingenuity in agriculture and stock – breeding. In 1870, Luigi Palma di Cesnola (Italian-American soldier, diplomat and amateur archaeologist), wrote “Athienou village is big enough and has the right to be called ‘‘town’’. Most houses are built of stone and being painted white on the outside, give the sense of cleanness which is not contradicted when one enters the village. This shows the relative wealth of the owners. ”

Since the early 20th century Athienou developed significantly and one could refer to it as one of two rural capitals of Mesaoria.

The rural unionism was rooted in the community, while the dynamism of the local economy was based on the rapid development of various production sectors such as agriculture, stock breeding, crafts, and trade.

Even today, surrounded by the Turkish occupation troops, with about 65% of its land (65,000 acres) occupied, Athienou has not ceased to play an important role in the economic and cultural life of Cyprus. Due to the occupation and not having their own owned land, locals rent farmland anywhere in Cyprus, thus stretching their reputation as experts in agriculture throughout the country and produce about 10% of all national grain production.

Stock breeding grew dramatically since the invasion and today about 45% of the island’s stock breeding is concentrated in Athienou. Many furnaces are located in Athienou producing the famous ‘‘Athienitika’’ breads which cover the needs of all Cyprus and even exported abroad. The same applies to the many dairy products produced in the village.

Athienou had the lead in the cultural sector as well. The first community school was built in 1865. In 1873 schools were built in front of the church of Virgin Mary. A new elementary school, which until recently housed the high school of Athienou was built from a generous donation of Mr. Michael Georgiou, a local who lived for many years in Africa.

Soon after the independence of Cyprus the current complex of the primary schools was built, which is expected to be replaced with a new building complex in 2017.

The piety and commitment of the people of Athienou towards religion is evident from the five community churches. The first church of virgin Mary was built in 1711 and it seems that it was built on top of another oldest church since ancient images of the church are preserved. The churches of st. George and st. Fokas were built around the same time, in the decade 1870 – 1880, while the newest church dedicated to virgin Mary (Chryseleousa) was built in 1947 and operates since 1959.

Today the municipality of Athienou has a population of about 7.000 inhabitants.