Peristeronopigi or Pigi–Peristerona ( el, Περιστερωνοπηγή; tr, Alaniçi) is a village located 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 ...

, south of

Lefkoniko Lefkoniko ( el, Λευκόνοικο; tr, Lefkonuk or ) is a town in the Mesaoria Plain under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus, claimed by Cyprus. Lefkoniko is the birthplace of Cypriot national poet Vasilis Michaelides and is known f ...

, in the

Mesaoria The Mesaoria ( el, Μεσαορία, tr, Mesarya) is a broad, sweeping plain which makes up the north centre of the island of Cyprus. Geography The Mesaoria is the name given to the broad tract of plain which extends across the island from the ...

plain. Historically, Peristeronopigi consisted of two continuous villages:

Peristerona Peristerona (Greek language, Greek: Περιστερώνα) is a large village about 32 kilometres west of the capital Nicosia, on the foothills of the Troodos Mountains, Troodos Mountain range in the Morphou basin. It is built on the west bank o ...

(meaning "pigeon nest") in the south and Pigi ("water well") in the north. Peristeronopigi is under the ''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 ...

. As of 2011, it had a population of 860.

History

The village was recorded as early as the early 13th century in papal documents. Peristeronopigi was a mixed village until 1958. Due to intercommunal strife, all of the approximately 200

Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...

were displaced from the village in 1958 and took refuge in

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

and the town of

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...

. The second displacement took place in 1974, when all the Greek Cypriots (around 1,700) from Peristeronopigi fled from the advancing Turkish army. In 1975, Turkish Cypriots from

Klavdia Klavdia ( el, Κλαυδιά; tr, Klavya or ) is a village in the Larnaca District of Cyprus, located west of Larnaca. Prior to 1974, the village was inhabited solely by Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Tü ...

( tr, Alaniçi, links=no) settled in Peristeronopigi and changed its name to ''Alaniçi''."PRIO Cyprus Centre, Internal Displacement in Cyprus"
/ref>

Notable people

Ephraim of Vatopedi Elder Ephraim of Vatopedi (born 1956 as Vasilios Koutsou) is a Greek Cypriot Orthodox Christian hieromonk and archimandrite. He is currently Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi at Mount Athos. Early life He was born on 5 June 1956 in Perist ...

(born 1956), Abbot of

Vatopedi The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi ( el, Βατοπέδι, ) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos, Greece. The monastery was expanded several times during its history, particularly during the Byzantine period and in the 18th an ...

References

Populated places in Gazimağusa District {{cyprus-geo-stub