Arminou () is a village in the

Paphos District The Paphos District, or simply Paphos (also Pafos), is one of the six districts of Cyprus and it is situated in the western part of Cyprus. Its main town and capital is Paphos. The entire district is controlled by the internationally recognis ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, located 5 km north of

Salamiou Salamiou () is a village in the Paphos District of Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation ar ...

on the F617 road from Filousa to Mandria. The village is on the Dhiarizos River which is second in terms of flow river in Cyprus. The Arminou Dam, an earthfill structure, is built in the Diarizos river and was inaugurated in December 1998. According to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, the dam's capacity is 4.3 million cubic metres, with a height of 40 metres and a length of 194 metres.

Name

Two stories are told regarding the naming of the village: The first version links the naming of the village to the name of the first resident. In particular, the first resident of the village was called Arminos and therefore the village was named Arminou. According to the second version (which is the most likely one), the name derives from "Hermione", the name of an ancient Greek city in South Greece. There is a third version which says that the village was founded by

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

, but no Armenian names or any other sign of Armenian civilization was found in the area so it is very unlikely. The main church of Arminou is dedicated to Agia Marina. Also located in Arminou is the now almost totally destroyed Holy Monastery of Timios Stavros which dates back to the middle of the 18th century. Nowadays only a small church and the wall surrounding the yard are preserved.

Modern history

In the 2011 Municipal elections, Andreas Petrou was voted 'muhtar' or Community President with 30 votes out of 42 registered voters. Arminou has a small disused copper mine. Notably, in 2011 the Canadian corporation Northern Lion announced that after a preliminary airborne geophysical survey in the Arminou region it has discovered gold assays of up to 49.5grms per ton. Demetrakis G. Stylianides, ex-President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Cyprus and notable legal professional, was born in Arminou in 1927. Dr. Thalis Michaelides, a well-known Surgeon and former parliament member of the Republic of Cyprus, originates from the village of Arminou where he was born in 1927. XORKO Collaborative Arts Movement held two

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

art festivals in the village in July 2012 and August 2013, ran by

volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

Population

The population of Arminou has rapidly declined in the last 70 years:

References

{{Paphos District Communities in Paphos District