Strovolos is a suburb and a separate municipality of (south) Nicosia, located in the southeast part of the Nicosia metropolitan area. It has been a separate municipality since 1986. It is the largest municipality after Limassol, with an estimated 60,000 inhabitants. According to the municipality, “there are references to Strovolos or Strovilos since the Μiddle Ages from the well-known medieval chroniclers Leontios Macheras and Forius Boustronius. According to these sources, Strovolos was a royal field during the years of Frankish Rule.”
Strovolos covers an area of 25 square kilometers and is divided into six parishes: Chryseleousa, Agios Demetrios, Apostle Varnavas and Agios Makarios, Agios Vasilios, National Martyr Kyprianos and Stavros. Strovolos developed into its current state after 1974, when many refugees settled within the municipal boundaries of Strovolos. In 1974, a large industrial area was also created.Strovolos has always been predominantly inhabited by Greek Cypriots. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Christians (Greek Cypriots) constituted the sole population of Strovolos. Throughout the British period, the population steadily increased, rising from 689 persons in 1891 to 7,554 in 1960. Although in 1946 and 1960 there were some Turkish Cypriots recorded residing in Strovolos, they were all male, indicating that they were probably in the area as temporary labor.
Displacement:
All the Turkish Cypriots who were living in this settlement were displaced in December 1963 and sought refuge in the walled city Nicosia(074).
After the1974 war, the suburb became an important reception center for displaced Greek Cypriots arriving from the north. Many refugee settlements were built by the late 1970s. The Strovolos Municipality lists four main refugee settlements: Aspres, with 290 housing units; Kokkines, with 444 housing units; Strovolos II, with 730 housing units; and Strovolos III, with 577 housing units. Goodwin claims that most of the refugees living in the Strovolos II housing development came from the Audolete, Kokkines and Stavros refugee camps. He also writes that the Strovolos II and III settlements had more than 6,000 residents at the time of their opening in 1977.
Current Inhabitants:
Currently the village is mainly inhabited by its original Greek Cypriot villagers and displaced Greek Cypriots who moved there after the1974 division. For the last twenty years, apart from the refugee housing complexes, many more houses and residential areas have also been developed to accommodate the growing housing needs of the Nicosia municipality. The last census of 2001 puts the total population of the municipality at 58,525.
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