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Gerovasa is a village situated in the Limassol district on the southern foothills of the Troodos mountain range, six kilometers west of Malia village. Until 1964, Gerovasa was predominantly inhabited by Turkish Cypriots. Goodwin suggests that Gerovasa means “holly-wooded valley” in ancient Greek. In 1958 Turkish Cypriots adopted the alternative name Yerovası, literally meaning “plain-like place

 

 

As can be seen in the above chart, Gerovasa/Yerovası was a Turkish Cypriot village from the Ottoman period. Throughout the British period the population of the village increased slightly, rising from 58 persons in 1891 to 106 in 1960. The reason for the unexpected appearance of the Greek Cypriots in the census reports of 1946 and 1960 was due to the inclusion of the nearby settlement/farm Trozina under Gerovasa village.

Displacement:

No one was displaced from this village during the emergency years of the 1950s. However, due to the intercommunal fighting of 1963-64, all the Turkish Cypriots left the village in January 1964 and sought refuge in Malia(270) village. Following an intercommunal shooting incident on 9 March 1964, all the Malia(270) Turkish Cypriots and displaced persons staying in the village (including those from Gerovasa) fled Malia(270) for Episkopi/Yalova(262) and Avdimou(260) villages. The third conflict-related displacement of the Gerovasa Turkish Cypriots took place after 1974, when some of the village’s Turkish Cypriot population fled to the other side of the divide. Those who were not able to reach the north sought refuge in the Akroteri British Sovereign Base Area. They remained in the Base Area until January 1975, when they were all transferred to the northern part of the island via Turkey. The total number of displaced Turkish Cypriots from Gerovasa/Yerovası can be estimated to be 100 (83 in the 1960 census).

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is empty and in ruin.   

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Websites:

• http://www.cyprus-village.com/ (for the villages)
• http://news.karpasha.com/
• http://human-rights-archaeology.blogspot.com/
• http://kypros.org/Occupied_Cyprus/ (for the villages in the north)