KALOCHORİO (MORPHOU)

Click Here for Map

Kalo Chorio, or Kapouti, is a village in the geographic region of Morphou, thirty-two kilometers northwest of the capital city of Nicosia, seven kilometers northwest of the town of Morphou/Güzelyur and nine kilometers south of Diorios/Tepebaşı. Kalochorio means “good village” in Greek. Although this name was usually used in official writings, villagers tended to use Kapouti as the name of their village. Kapouti is a corruption of Capucci, the name of a feudal lord who owned Kapouti during the Lusignan period. Kapouti was the official name of the village during the Ottoman period and is the name still used by its dispossessed villagers who now live on the other side of the Green Line. Turkish Cypriots changed the name to Kalkanlı in 1975, after a village in the Paphos district from which most of its current inhabitants derive. Kalkanlı was the alternative Turkish name for the village of Arodes(294).

 
 
Historical Population:

Until 1974, the village was almost solely inhabited by Greek Cypriots. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Christians (Greek Cypriots) constituted 94% of the inhabitants of the village. There were no Turkish Cypriots recorded after 1901. Throughout the British period the Greek Cypriot population of the village increased significantly, from 308 in 1891 to 766 in 1960.

Displacement:

In August 1974, all the Greek Cypriots of the village fled from the advancing Turkish army, apart from a couple of elderly men who attempted to remain in the village and lost their lives. Currently, like most of the displaced Greek Cypriots, the Greek Cypriots of Kapouti are scattered throughout the island’s south, with large pockets in towns. The number of the Kapouti Greek Cypriots who were displaced in 1974 was around 950 (933 in the 1973 census).

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is mainly inhabited by displaced Turkish Cypriots from Arodes(294) in the Paphos district. There is also a tiny population from Turkey who settled in the village in 1976-77. Due to a new university that opened in 2004 just beside the village, the village’s population has increased drastically. The 2006 Turkish Cypriot census put the village’s population at 1,338, but it is estimated that the population of the village during the school year can go up to 4,000.

  


 
REFERENCES
 
Books and Reports:


Websites:



Print