Athienou ( el, Αθηένου or , ) is a village in

Larnaca District Larnaca District ( el, Επαρχία Λάρνακας, tr, Larnaka kazası) is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its capital is Larnaca. It is bordered on the east by Famagusta District, on the north by Nicosia District and on the west by L ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. It is one of only four villages located within the United Nations Buffer Zone, the other three being

Pyla Pyla (; ) is a village in Larnaca District, Cyprus. It is one of only four villages located within the United Nations Buffer Zone, the other three being Athienou, Troulloi and Deneia. Pyla is located in the eastern part of the island, adjacent t ...

Troulloi Troulloi or Troulli ( el, Τρούλλοι []) is a village in the Larnaca District, Cyprus. It is one of only four villages located within the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, United Nations Buffer Zone, the other three being Pyla, Athienou ...

and

Deneia Deneia ( el, Δένεια []; tr, Denya) is a village in the Nicosia District of Cyprus, west of Mammari. It is one of only four villages located within the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, United Nations Buffer Zone, the other three being ...

. Today, Athienou has a population of around 6,500 people. Since 1990, it has been home to

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

's Athienou Archaeological Project. The town's city hall includes a museum of local history and culture that was established in 2008.

Toponymy

It is considered by many, that the name of the village Athienou, derived from the ancient Greek word, "Atta" (Greek: Αττα) or "Atha" (Greek: Αθθα), meaning ''large rock'', which characterized the rocky land of the village. According to another theory, the name derives from a

Lusignan The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries du ...

called ''Étienne'', who lived in the area, and the people who lived in the village were mentioning his house as "Etienne's Place" (Greek: "Στου Ετιένου", ''stou etiennou''), and in later years that changed into Athienou.

History

It has been a settlement since

Middle Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

.Dothan, Trude & Amnon Ben-Tor, ''Qedem 16'' (1983), Jerusalem.

References

External links

*
Athienou Archaeological Project

Athienou municipality
Municipalities in Larnaca District {{Cyprus-geo-stub