Gastria ( gr, Γαστριά, tr, Kalecik) is a village in the

Famagusta District Famagusta District ( gr, Επαρχία Αμμοχώστου, Eparchia Ammochostu; tr, Mağusa kazası) is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its main town is the island's most important port, Famagusta. History Most of the district has bee ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

, located on the

Karpas Peninsula The Karpas Peninsula ( el, Καρπασία; tr, Karpaz), also known as the Karpass, Karpaz or Karpasia, is a long, finger-like peninsula that is one of the most prominent geographical features of the island of Cyprus. Its farthest extent is ...

. It is under the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' control of

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

. The Gastria Castle is located south–west of the village.

History

Around the village are multiple prehistoric sites that have been the subject of archaeological excavations. The Alaas site, located 3 km from the village, contains 19 tombs that have been studied, dated to the Late Bronze Age, between 1090-1050 BC. This site was looted in 1973 and items sold to private collectors, who then "helped" the Cypriot Department of Antiquities find the site and excavate it. The village's name is an archaic plural form of the word "castle" in Greek and comes from the medieval

Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

found in proximity to the village. The ruins of the castle were visible as late as the 1960s. Writing in 1961, Nearchos Clerides noted that the modern village of Gastria is "not old", and that it was founded around one hundred years prior to the time of writing by inhabitants of a nearby village called Kamares (no longer extant), who migrated to the site of today's village. These inhabitants consisted entirely of

Greek Cypriots Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 ...

, and the village was recorded as being home to 297 people in the 1891 census. The population reached a peak of 376 people in 1946 but then fell significantly to 198 by 1973. During the 1974 conflict, the village was captured by the Turkish army and thus became a ''

'' part of Northern Cyprus. Most inhabitants fled in the wake of the advancing Turkish army, but 29 people tried to stay in the village, only to be displaced in September 1976. These around 200 inhabitants are now scattered throughout the southern part of Cyprus. In their place, the village was repopulated with settlers from Turkey in 1976 and 1977, particularly from the

Feke Feke ( hy, Վահկա or Vahka) is a small city and a district in Adana Province of Turkey, 122 km from the city of Adana, 620m above sea-level, a small town on attractive forested mountainside. The current mayor is Ahmet Sel ( MHP). History ...

and Kozan districts of

Adana Province Adana Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey located in central Cilicia. With a population of 2.26 million, it is the sixth most populous province in Turkey. The administrative seat of the province is the city of Adana, home to 79% of the r ...

Economy

Gastria is home to the Kalecik power plant, a fuel oil-based plant operated by

Aksa Aqsa'', ''Aksa, al-Aksa or al-Aqsa ( ar, الأقصى, link=no, translit=al-Aqṣā) usually refer to either: *al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known as , a religious site in Jerusalem located on the Temple Mount *, also known as the Qibli Mosque, ...

, which generates 45% of the electricity used in Northern Cyprus and provides employment in the village. Unemployment, particularly for young people, is a common problem.

References

{{Famagusta District Communities in Famagusta District Populated places in İskele District