P266 - Cyprus - The Church of St. Synesios

The Church of St. Synesios, Rizokarpaso, Cyprus

Rizokarpaso is a town on the Karpass Peninsula in the Famagusta District, northeastern Cyprus. It has been under Turkish control since the 1974 invasion.

Rizokarpaso is the biggest town on the peninsula. Soil near the town consists of terra fusca which is very fertile. Local crops include carob, cotton, tobacco, and grain. A tobacco-factory operates in the town.

Before 1974, the town was predominantly inhabited by Greek-Cypriots. During the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the peninsula was cut off by Turkish troops, and this prevented the town's Greek-Cypriot inhabitants from fleeing to the unoccupied South. As a result with 250 Greek-Cypriot inhabitants, Rizokarpaso is the home of the biggest Greek-speaking population in the North. The Greek-Cypriot inhabitants now mainly elderly and shrinking are still supplied by the UN, and Greek-Cypriot products are consequently available in some shops. Today, the town is also the home of a large Kurdish minority, closely monitored by the Turkish-Cypriot police. The town has both a Kafeneion and a Kahvehane and both seem to be used indiscriminately by both ethnic groups.

The town has two churches: St. Synesios and the church of the Holy Trinity. They are examples of the typical Cypriot mixed style, combining features of the late Gothic introduced by the Lusignans with the late Byzantine style of the Orthodox tradition. When the island's Orthodox bishops were banished by the Lusignans in 1222, the Bishop of Famagusta was sent to Rizokarpaso and continued his work in St. Synesios, the main Orthodox church in the region.

Rizokarpaso is partly located in the ancient city of Karpasia on the West coast, according to legend founded by king Pygmalion.

塞浦路斯，希腊语意为“产铜之岛”，国名塞浦路斯共和国（the Republic of Cyprus），是位于地中海最东面的一个岛国，它与希腊、土耳其、叙利亚、黎巴嫩、以色列、埃及隔海相望，自古以来就是连结中东、非洲和欧洲的交通要道，现代人把它比喻为“东地中海不沉的航空母舰”。塞浦路斯东西长241公里，南北宽97公里，面积9251平方公里（1974年塞希腊、土耳其两族分裂后，希族和土族分别占据领土的60%和37%，另有3%属于英国的两个主权基地），为地中海第三大岛，是女神维纳斯的故乡。

塞浦路斯中部是美索利亚平原，南部为特鲁多斯山，最高点奥林匹斯峰海拔1951米，全国海岸线长782公里，国土的36－38％为森林覆盖。塞浦路斯属典型的地中海气候，夏季干燥严热，最高气温可达40度以上；冬季温暖湿润，为全年集中降雨期，最冷时可达零下，山区有雪。

首都尼科西亚，人口36.3万（其中希区27.3万，土区9万），为第一大城市，是全国政治、文化、金融中心。尼科西亚1974年后分裂成两部分，中间分界线驻有联合国维和部队，是自柏林墙推倒以后世界上唯一一个分裂的首都。利马索尔为第二大城市，人口约15万，是个贸易、商业和旅游城市，是全国最大的港口。拉纳卡和帕福斯分别为第三、四大城市，均有国际机场，是有名的游览胜地。

References sources : wikipedia, 百度百科