Morphou ( Greek : Μόρφου ) is a town in the northwestern part of Cyprus , under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus . Having been a predominantly Greek Cypriot community before the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus , the town is now inhabited by Turkish Cypriots .
20-533: Lempa may refer to: Lempa, Cyprus (or Lemba), village near the Paphos District capital San Francisco Lempa , municipality in El Salvador Lempa River , Central American waterway See also [ edit ] Lemba (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
40-549: A Greek Cypriot liturgy. Bandabuliya (the closed market) is an important commercial center and was built in the 1930s in the British colonial architecture. The town is the home of Binatlı Yılmaz S.K. , a football club that spent the 2014-15 season in the KTFF 1. Lig , the second highest division. They finished the season in the third place and achieved promotion into the Süper Lig . The town
60-512: A population of 24,070 for Morphou. İsmet Paşa , Lala Mustafa Paşa and Piyale Paşa are quarters ( mahalle ) of Morphou. In 2005, a Turkish state university, Middle East Technical University , opened its Northern Cyprus campus in Morphou, after the invitation of the Turkish and Turkish-Cypriot governments in 2000. In 2016, another university called Cyprus Health and Social Sciences University
80-577: Is a village in Cyprus located approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) north of the town of Paphos . It is sometimes written as Lemba, which is also closer to the correct pronunciation. Neighbouring villages are Empa , Kissonerga and Chlorakas . The village is located on top of an escarpment overlooking the Mediterranean Sea , and is set in one of the most fertile parts of Cyprus. The area produces citrus, olives, tomatoes and market-garden vegetables, and
100-533: Is also home to Baf Ülkü Yurdu S.K. , which will play in the 1. Lig in the 2015-16 season. The municipality also runs the Morphou City Theater, a theatrical group that regularly puts on performances. The Morphou Theater Days are organized annually with the participation of the City Theater and other theaters from Northern Cyprus and Turkey. The organization reached 5000 viewers in 2014. It contains one of
120-682: Is one of the few parts of Europe where commercial banana production is possible. The village is one of the most ancient in Cyprus, and since 1976 has been the site of ongoing archaeological excavations by the School of Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh . Lempa is believed to have been first settled in the Chalcolithic Period (c. 3800–2500 BC), and a number of cruciform female figurines, carved in stone, from this period have been found. In 1982,
140-517: The Cypriot government fifteen years to start work on the development and since its completion the Government of Cyprus has decided that Stass Paraskos's Cyprus College of Art is no longer to be allowed to use the site. Morphou With a population of 18,000 people, the town is famous for its oranges, apples, vegetables, grapefruit and melons. A large proportion of the citrus fruits are exported and
160-696: The Lemba Experimental Village was established as an archaeological project to recreate a Chalcolithic village and use it to undertake a number of historic activities, including use of building materials, pyrotechnology, pottery firing and prehistoric cooking methods. With the cooperation of the Cyprus Department of Antiquities, as well as the mayor and villagers of Lempa, the project has developed into an important visitor attraction as well as being for research into many aspects of experimental archaeology . Lempa appears to have been occupied for most of
180-689: The festival, the town annually hosts an Open Golf Tournament. The town is home to two museums: the Icon Museum at the St Mamas Church and the Morphou History of Natural History and Archaeology. The latter is home to several specimens of native species that lived in Cyprus in different periods, as well as antiquities from the Neolithic Age to the Byzantine period. The St Mamas Church still annually hosts
200-601: The human history of Cyprus, and much later archaeological remains, including pottery fragments and coins from the Mediaeval period have been found there. In 1958, after the intercommunal fights, the majority of Lempa villagers had to flee to Afania Village. And in 1959 the Lempa villagers has returned their houses right before the British Colonial Government agreed to establish Cyprus Republic. In more recent times, Lempa
220-710: The majority of the Turkish Cypriot population fled the town in January 1964, though one-third remained. As a result of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, all of the Greek Cypriots of Morphou fled to the south of the island, and Morphou was inhabited by displaced Turkish Cypriots from the south. These people hailed from various villages in the Paphos district and the town of Paphos , though there were some who came from Limassol and
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#1732844735500240-400: The many churches in the country dedicated to St. Mamas , popularly believed to have lived as a hermit in a cave near Morphou. According to local legend, he was a hermit living in very poor circumstances and when the authorities tried to tax him, he evaded them. Soldiers were sent out and captured him but on the way back to town, he saw a lion attacking a lamb, escaped the soldiers, saved
260-500: The profitable cultivation of sugar took place with the encouragement of the kings of Cyprus . The Morphou area grew more than half of Cyprus citrus fruits. In 16th and 17th centuries, during Ottoman period, Morphou was famous for its export of linen. Between 1907 and 1948, Morphou was one of the prominent stations of the Cyprus Government Railway . In the wake of the intercommunal violence called "Bloody Christmas" ,
280-474: The remainder are turned into fruit juice and canned for local consumption and export. Morphou is also famous for its annual Orange Festival, which is a major event lasting two weeks. Morphou was founded by Spartans who brought with them the worship of Aphrodite . In the Middle Ages, the city was referred to as Morphou but also Theomorphou. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Morphou hosted royal casalia , where
300-491: The title Lempa . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lempa&oldid=1238975195 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Lempa, Cyprus Lempa ( Greek : Λέμπα , Turkish : Lemba )
320-461: The village which has since become an internationally known artists' colony . As a consequence of the artists, archaeologists and art college in Lempa the Government of Cyprus announced in 2008 that the village was to receive major funding to become a 'Cultural Village'. This project would see improvements to the facilities of both the archaeological site and college, and new facilities for visitors to Lempa. However this proved controversial as it took
340-533: The villages around it. This turned Morphou into a refugee town. The agriculture in Morphou is expected to be boosted via the increase in irrigated farming by the help of the water pipe-line from Turkey. Before 1974, Morphou was an almost entirely Greek Cypriot community. According to the 1960 population census it was inhabited by 6480 Greek Cypriots, 123 Turkish Cypriots and 32 Maronites. The population of Morphou increased slightly from 2006 to 2011. In 2019, State Planning Organization of Northern Cyprus recorded
360-566: Was established as a private university in the center of Morphou (Güzelyurt) City. Morphou is twinned with: The town is known for the annual Morphou Orange Festival, which has been organized by the municipality since 1977. The festival features local and Turkish singers and bands (the 2015 festival included many bands and singers including Model , Pinhani and SOS ), modern and Latin dance shows, plays, fashion shows, traditional music and dance shows, sports competitions in several fields including football and darts and acrobatic shows. Along with
380-509: Was then resettled by displaced Greek Cypriots from the north. In 1981, Lempa became home to the Cyprus College of Art . Under the leadership of the Cypriot artist Stass Paraskos , the College renovated the former school building for use as artists' studios. The first artist to use the building was the British painter Euan Uglow . Following the College a number of other artists have moved into
400-459: Was until 1963 a Turkish village, but following intercommunal violence on 2 January 1964 the Turkish population abandoned Lempa and settled in Paphos town. Following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the Turkish population moved to the north of Cyprus to primary Morphou , North Nicosia , Famagusta and Kyrenia and the village was fully abandoned except for a small number of Greek refugees. It
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