Pissouri
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Pissouri () is a
village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
located in
Limassol district The Limassol District, or simply Limassol or Lemesos, is one of the six districts of Cyprus. , it had a population of 262,238, 75,7% of which was urban The district's capital city is Limassol. Part of the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri an ...
,
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 ...
(Approximately thirty kilometres westwards of
Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...
’s centre), between Limassol and
Paphos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: #Old Paphos, Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and #New Paphos, New Paphos. It i ...
. Pissouri’s administrative area is the third biggest in Limassol District. The main settlement of Pissouri is situated about three kilometres away from the bay named
Cape Aspro A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used thr ...
, and is built on the side of a green hill. The settlement is placed in the middle of Pissouri’s territory. Now they are two distinct communities, Pissouri Village Area and Pissouri Bay Area. The total permanent population is said to reach around 1100 people, about half of whom are Cypriots, the rest foreigners, mainly
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
, residents and visitors. There are several shops, and many tavernas, restaurants cafes and bars in the village and bay.


Names

According to some official sources, the name ''Pissouri'' derives from the ancient city ‘Voousoura’, as reported by Stravonas, a 1st-century BCE - 1st-century CE philosopher, mathematician and geographer. Some other sources connect the name of the village with pitched-dark nights.According to the Cypriot linguistic idiom, ‘pissouri’ is considered as ‘very dark’. A legend reports that the 300 Alamanoi (German)
saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...
who came to Cyprus from
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
in order to practice in various parts of the island, arrived on the Pissouri’s coast during such a pitch-dark night. Another legend reports that ‘the Saint Fathers’ pursued during the post-Christian era, were met in Pissouri’s region during a really black-night. However, it seems that the name of the village does not eventually stem from those legendaries but from the fact that in the region there was an extensive extraction of skin-sap from pine trees (called ‘pissa’ in
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
). The skin-sap production begun during the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
(Eastern Roman Empire), continued during the Middle-Ages (5th – 15th century) and the Frankish era in Cyprus.


Development and occupation

Pissouri has an annual rainfall in the order of 447 millimetres. Local products nowadays are tabled grapes, wine, potatoes and other citrus fruits in smaller quantities planted across the valley spanning from the gulf to the hill, where the settlement is. There are also many olive, carob and almond trees. Unfortunately, during the last years, farmers had to eradicate big part of their vineyards, as they became profitless. During the last decade, and in particular the last 6 years, the residents have shifted to alternative financial resources with a better interest profit. Most of them have extensively dealt with buildings' construction and specifically with the erection of numerous residential places and new neighbourhoods. It is a matter of time before the village becomes literally autonomous in terms of services and facilities found locally. Pissouri seems to evolve rapidly, following the trends of the globalisation and global investments'.


Churches

The Church of Apostle Andrea was built with voluntary work by the good-willing residents of the community in 1883. The work for the construction of the church lasted for about twelve years. The stone that the church is built on originates from the regions of villages Anogyra and Prasteio villages and was transferred in the village with carts which were dragged by Cypriot donkeys. The church is built in
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...
style. The place that it is built was used as the village cemetery up to 1912. The church is famous for its wooden-carved Icon Stand, which is a real work of art and was manufactured in 1890. The manufacture lasted 10 entire years because of the means of that time. Other chapels are: Saint George, Prophet Elias, Saint Alexandros, Saint Mauritius, Saint Spyridonas.


References


External links


Pissouri Community CouncilPissouri Residents Association
{{Authority control Communities in Limassol District