Asha, Cyprus

Asha (Greek: Άσσια [locally [ˈaʃːa]]; Turkish: Paşaköy) is a village in Northern Cyprus, located 6 km northwest of Vatili.

Asha is located in the center of the Mesaoria valley. Before 1974, the population of Asha was approximately 2,700. The village consisted of two parishes, St. John's and St. George's. The village had five churches: St. George, St. John Prodromos, St. Theodore, St. Spyridon and Virgin Mary. St. Spyridon was born in Asha and the church was built by Michael Kassialos, a folk artist from Asha. Asha was also well known for the craftsmanship of the embroidery made there. The main source of income in the area was farming and many agricultural products of Asha were sold to Nicosia's markets. Asha was also famous for its cucumbers.

Name

Some believe that the name of the village comes from "Askia" which in Greek means "without any shade" and refers to the fact that there were very few trees in the area in and around Asha and therefore a lack of shade. Over the centuries the pronunciation of the name changed from "Askia" to "Ashia". S. Menandros, in his book "Toponomy of Cyprus" (Athens, 1907), writes: "An old village called Ashia is mentioned many times in texts from the period of the French kingdom of Cyprus and is believed to have constituted the baliazzo d'Αscha according to Venetian census. In the "Assises" the name is spelled Aschia, Αchia, Asquie and According to Maheras Askia and Ahea. All evidence suggests that despite the differences in spelling, all the double consonants in the name, i.e. sh, sk, sq or ch, were most probably pronounced similarly to the heavy Italian sc."

Cyprus

Cyprus (ⁱ/ˈsaɪprəs/; Greek: Κύπρος [ˈcipros]; Turkish: Kıbrıs [ˈkɯbɾɯs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, off the coasts of Syria and Turkey. Cyprus is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, and a member state of the European Union. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel, north of Egypt and east of Greece.

The earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, and Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC. As a strategic location in the Middle East, it was subsequently occupied by several major powers, including the empires of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians, from whom the island was seized in 333 BC by Alexander the Great. Subsequent rule by Ptolemaic Egypt, the Classical and Eastern Roman Empire, Arab caliphates for a short period, the French Lusignan dynasty and the Venetians, was followed by over three centuries of Ottoman rule between 1571 and 1878 (de jure until 1914).

Cyprus (disambiguation)

Cyprus may refer to:

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Cyprus (theme)

The Theme of Cyprus (Greek: θέμα Κύπρου, thema Kyprou) was a Byzantine military-civilian province, located in the island of Cyprus, established in the 960s after the reconquest of Cyprus by the Byzantine navy. Prior to this the island had been a Byzantine-Arab condominium for three centuries, except occasional short periods where it was occupied by either power. A rebellion by governor Theophilos Erotikos in 1042, and another in 1092 by Rhapsomates, failed as they were quickly subdued by imperial forces. At the end of the 12th century there were again separatist tendencies in Cyprus: Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus proclaimed himself as "basileus" (emperor) in 1185. Cyprus remained under his command until its conquest from Richard I of England in 1191.

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