Galinoporni! A pure Turkish Cypriot village of witch the inhabitants
speak Greek.
The village of Galinoporni is located on the south coast of
the occupied by the Turkish army Karpas peninsula, in the triangle between the
villages of Ayia Triada, Korovia, and Rizokarpaso.
Galinoporni is built in an amphitheatric shape on the slopes
of the Skoutelis and Kastro hills and overlooks the blue sea that stretches endless
in front of it.
The village today has around 320 inhabitants and according
to them, some 10,000 other villagers are scattered around the world, with most
living in England.
The villagers are all Sunni Muslims and they speak the Greek
language of the Cypriot dialect.
Turkish language is taught in school and the villagers use
it in their writing, for official use and for communication with the rest of
Turkish Cypriots.
Religion seems that it does not play a big role in the life
of residents and is rather just a part of their culture, since they themselves
are not deeply religious.
The remaining residents of the village are mostly farmers
while some work as laborers on construction sites and elsewhere.
Galinoporni as a settlement existed before the occupation of
Cyprus by the Ottomans in 1571. This is confirmed by the medieval maps of
Cyprus, which record the village in the same location and with the same name.
The residents at that time were Greek Christians that they were converted in to
Muslims in the late 17th century most probably, and remained as such until the
end of the Ottoman rule in Cyprus.
In a census made by the Ottomans in 1831 it seems that there
were no Christians in the village, while the inventory made by the British in
1891 recorded 10 Christians.
A small number of Christians lived in Galinoporni until
1931. The number of Christians never exceeded 15, while the number of Muslims raised
from 83 in 1831 to 583 in 1931.
As the old people of Galinoporni remember, there were two
churches in the village destroyed by disuse and were lost over time. There was
also a chapel of St. Anne just off the village, that no longer exists, but its
name is still used for a location in the east of the village. Residents of
Galinoporni testify that, in times of drought there was prayer at the chapel of
St. Anne and was attended by both Christians and Muslims.
In the northeast of the village stands the chapel of St.
George as a delimiter between Galinoporni and Rizokarpaso villages.
The history of Galinoporni can confidently say that, reaches
the late Bronze Age, as archaeological excavations at Vasilis hill (king)
brought to light important findings of that period.
Also a family tomb of the Hellenistic period is carved on the
steep slope of the Kastro hill.
Urbanisation decline the number of the inhabitants, resulting
in the closure of the village school and the children are forced to go to
school in Leonarisso village a few kilometres away.
It is unknown where the village got its name from, but the
local people made theories about it and there are three versions of it.
The two versions are similar and want the name to derive
from the words France and Whore. Proponents of this view say, at the Frankish
period in Cyprus there were prostitutes in the village giving pleasure to
passers as the village was a popular stop for people going to Rizokarpaso
village and to Apostos Andreas monastery. Others say that the sick prostitutes
were exiled to this place.
The other version is derived from the Turkish name of the
village Kaleburnu that means Castle on a Cape.
Personally I think the name of the village comes from the
words Peace and Dawn (Serenity of the Dawn) or (Peaceful Morning) and this
because in the village there is a constant serenity imparted to the people.
The amphitheatric shape of the village resonates on the
slopes of the hills the tranquillity of dawn and the hum of the waves while watching
the sun emerging from the sea.
Very ineresting..its nice to know other cultures..relugions and tgeir rich heritage.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing