Empa, Cyprus

Empa (Greek: Έμπα) is one of the largest villages in Paphos, Cyprus. It is spread over a wide area and not only borders Paphos but also the villages of Chlorakas, Kissonerga, Tala, Tremithousa and Mesogi. It has a population of 4,500 people.

The village already existed by the Byzantine era and it is known from the Frankish period with the same name. The 15th century Cypriot historian Leontios Machairas in his Chronicle, par. 129, mentions a visit of the King of Cyprus, Peter I (1359–1369), quoting "...and the king went hunting and reached Emba towards Paphos...".

Louis de Mas Latrie includes the village both amongst those that belonged to the family of the king of Cyprus during the period of Frankish rule, and as one of the king's villages that cultivated sugarcane. During 1468 the village had fallen under the region of Chrysochous, under the regional law officer (bailliage).

The appellation of the village is purely Greek, belonging to the Cypriot dialect. In this dialect Emba means "enter". It is possible that the name of the village was given because it is built at the entrance of Paphos, that is the edges of the city, through which the travellers from the north, northwest and west came in. Another version mentions that the name was given to the village because it is situated near the coast from where people departed from or arrived to Cyprus by sea, during the Byzantine era or even later during the period of Frankish rule. It is mentioned that King Peter I departed for Europe from the area in 1362. The village is noted as 'Emba' in medieval maps.

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)

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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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