Voroklini (), more commonly and unofficially known as Oroklini ( el, Ορόκλινη), 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, 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 144 ...

. 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 file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

. Leontios Machairas in his ''Chronicle'' mentions raids by the

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-Gr ...

(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 and tera alba.

Bird protection area

Oroklini Lake is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) and was subject to a three-year project starting in January 2012 to bring the lake to ″favourable conservation status″. Black-winged stilt (''Himantopus himantopus'') and the

spur-winged lapwing The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover (''Vanellus spinosus'') is a lapwing species, one of a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is one of several species of wader supposed to be the "trochilus" bird said by Herodotus ...

(''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 A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salt (chemistry), salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of ...

are also home to greater flamingo. The lake has also been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

Churches

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