Davlos ( gr, Δαυλός, tr, Kaplıca) is a village in the

Famagusta District Famagusta District ( gr, Επαρχία Αμμοχώστου, Eparchia Ammochostu; tr, Mağusa kazası) is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its main town is the island's most important port, Famagusta. History Most of the district has b ...

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 ...

, located on the northern coast, east of

Kyrenia Kyrenia ( el, Κερύνεια ; tr, Girne ) is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region ...

, near

Kantara Castle Kantara Castle ( el, Κάστρο της Καντάρας tr, Kantara Kalesi) is a castle in Northern Cyprus. The exact date of its construction remains unknown, the most plausible theory being the Byzantine period. It combines Byzantine and Fran ...

. It is under ''de facto'' control of

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

, forming part of its

İskele District İskele District is a district of Northern Cyprus. It is divided into three sub-districts: İskele Sub-district, Mehmetçik Sub-district and Yialousa Sub-district.Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

provenance δαυλός, having multiple meanings, amongst them "firewood", "half-burnt wood" and "forested place"; it is probably the last that forms the basis of the name of the village, as the area of the village was likely heavily forested in antiquity. A similar etymology has been observed in the ancient Greek town of

Daulis Daulis ( grc, Δαυλίς), at a later time Daulia (Δαυλία), and also Daulium or Daulion (Δαύλιον), was a town of ancient Phocis, near the frontiers of Boeotia, and on the road from Orchomenus and Chaeroneia to Delphi. Overview It ...

, which was similarly founded in a forested area.

Nearchos Clerides Nearchus or Nearchos ( el, Νέαρχος; – 300 BC) was one of the Greek officers, a navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. He is known for his celebrated expeditionary voyage starting from the Indus River, through the Persian Gulf and ...

conjectured that the village would have been founded in pre-Christian times, possibly by refugees from mainland Greece. The village was recorded in medieval maps under the name "Davlo", and was mentioned in Ottoman documents under the name "Davloz". Historically, a monastery dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

had been present around the village. Clerides noted in 1961 that the monastery had completely disappeared a long time ago, and all the land in its ownership was now owned by the

Archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. The village has historically always been populated exclusively by

Greek Cypriots Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

, with the exception of 14 Turkish Cypriots recorded in the 1921 census. The 1831 census, recording only adult males, showed a population of 1831. The full population was recorded as 392 in 1891, this gradually increased to a maximum of 662 in 1931, after which the population of the village declined to 342 in 1973. During the 1974 conflict, the majority of the Greek Cypriot population initially did not flee and stayed in the village until 1975. The 270 remaining inhabitants were expelled in the summer of 1975. The village was resettled with Turkish settlers from the

Çaykara Çaykara (Romeika: ''Kadahor'', ''Κατωχώρι'') is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. As of 2014, the District Mayor of Çaykara is Hanefi Tok ( AKP). Çaykara village lies in a V-shaped valley along th ...

district of the

Trabzon Province Trabzon Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Located in a strategically important region, Trabzon is one of the oldest trade port cities in Anatolia. Neighbouring provinces are Giresun to the west, Gümüşhane to the ...

, particularly from the village of Uzuntarla. These new inhabitants had previously been settled in the village of

Akanthou Akanthou ( el, Ακανθού, ; tr, Tatlısu) is a village on the northern coast of Cyprus. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. , it had a population of 1,459. History The first settlement that can be linked with the mode ...

in the spring of 1975, but moved to Davlos upon the expulsion of the Greek Cypriots in the summer.

Geography

The coastal areas of the village are part of the

Tatlısu Special Environmental Protection Area Tatlısu can refer to: * Tatlısu, Erzincan * Tatlısu, Sungurlu * Tatlısu Halk Odası Beylerbeyi S.K. * the Turkish name for Akanthou Akanthou ( el, Ακανθού, ; tr, Tatlısu) is a village on the northern coast of Cyprus. It is under t ...

Economy

Owing to its location between the mountains and the sea, its beach and the historical presence of thermal springs, the village started to develop a tourism industry before the 1974 conflict, and was home to a coastal hotel at that time. The tourism industry of the village was one of the most severely affected in the years following the war. Today, the village is home to a hotel, which expanded towards the south of the former main road with bungalows in the 2000s, a restaurant, and a caravan site.

Politics

Davlos was a part of the Büyükkonuk (Komi Kebir) Municipality between 2008 and 2022. With the reorganisation of local authorities in 2022, it was transferred to the İskele ( Trikomo) Municipality.

Culture

The current villagers or their ancestors had mostly been inhabitants of the Uzuntarla village in the

district of the

in Turkey until the 1970s. These settlers were

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek ( pnt, Ποντιακόν λαλίαν, or ; el, Ποντιακή διάλεκτος, ; tr, Rumca) is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, ...

speakers (in addition to Turkish) and are thus able to interact with the displaced Greek Cypriots visiting their former homes in their native language. The villagers are conservative and religious Muslims by Cypriot standards, and Davlos is the only settlement in Cyprus where there is no sale of alcohol. The village is physically separated from the tourist resort by the main road, and alcohol is sold at the tourist areas. The villagers have, however, become less religious since being settled, with a corresponding decline in mosque attendance. For instance, when upon their arrival the community had 20 people with the distinction of being '' hafız'', i.e. being able to recite the entirety of the Quran by heart. Since 1975, no new villagers have become ''hafız'' and indeed some have forgotten parts of the Quran.

Gallery

Verlassene griechische Kapelle bei Kaplica - unten ein leider ziemlich versiffter Beach (2003).jpg, Old chapel by a beach Agios Georgios, Davlos.jpg, Agios Georgios Church

References

{{Famagusta District Communities in Famagusta District Populated places in İskele District