Voroklini (), more commonly and unofficially known as Oroklini ( el, Ορόκλινη), is a village in Larnaca District, Cyprus, to the north-east of

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 1 ...

. Its population in 2011 was 6,134, and is mainly divided between Cypriot and British residents. Oroklini refers mainly to the village behind Oroklini Lake, however, some coastal neighborhoods in Livadia and on Dhekelia Road are usually also designated as outskirts of Oroklini.

History

The region around the village was inhabited in ancient times,Oroklini
/ref> when there was intense mining in that region, especially for

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

. It was an estate of despots, and was probably destroyed by Saracens.

Leontios Machairas Leontios Machairas or Makhairas ( Greek: Λεόντιος Μαχαιράς, French: Léonce Machéras; about 1380 - after 1432) was a historian in medieval Cyprus. The main source of information on him is his chronicle, written in the medieval ...

in his ''Chronicle'' mentions raids by the Saracens in that region during the reign of

Janus of Cyprus Janus (1375 – 29 June 1432) was King of Cyprus and titular King of Armenian Cilicia and Jerusalem from 1398 to 1432. Early life Janus was born in Genoa, where his father, James I of Cyprus, was a captive. His mother, Helvis of Brunswick ...

(1398-1432). Oroklini and the surrounding villages were abandoned in the fifteenth century, resettled, then again temporarily abandoned before being resettled in the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century it is mentioned in Venetian documents as Vorochini: during this period the village was abandoned yet again. It was finally permanently settled in the eighteenth century.

Industry

Although copper is no longer mined, there are a number of quarries of grey soil,

umber Umber is a natural brown earth pigment that contains iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural form, it is called raw umber. When calcined, the color becomes warmer and it becomes known as burnt umber. Its name derives from ''terra d'omb ...

and tera alba.

Bird protection area

Oroklini Lake is designated as a

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

(SPA) and was subject to a three-year project starting in January 2012 to bring the lake to ″favourable conservation status″.

Black-winged stilt The black-winged stilt (''Himantopus himantopus'') is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family ( Recurvirostridae). The scientific name ''H. himantopus'' is sometimes applied to a single, almost cosmopolitan sp ...

(''Himantopus himantopus'') and the spur-winged lapwing (''Vanellus spinosus'') were the main target species along with fifty-eight bird species that migrate through, or overwinter within the SPA. The shallow salt lakes are also home to

greater flamingo The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe. Taxonomy The greater flamingo was desc ...

. The lake has also been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.

Churches

There are several deserted chapels in the area next to the mountainside. The old small church of the

Archangel Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

from the 17th century is built in the Byzantine style. It was rebuilt in 1867. The new church of the Archangel Michael was built in 1986. The small church of the

Prophet Elias Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books of ...

was built in the 16th century on the hilltop west of the village. There was also the Church of Saint Thomas, which was a monastery from the 10th century.

References

{{Larnaca District Communities in Larnaca District Protected areas of Cyprus Important Bird Areas of Cyprus