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Pigi Peristerona, or Peristerona Piyi, is located between Lefkoniko and Prastrio, and is situated in the Mesaoria plain. Peristerona Pigi consists of two villages, namely Peristerona and Pigi. Peristerona means “pigeon village” in Greek. In Cyprus there are four villages with that name. In 1975, Turkish Cypriots changed its name into Alaniçi, after the village from which most of its current inhabitants derive. Alaniçi is the Turkish alternative name for Klavdia village, located in the Larnaca district.

 

 

Pigi Peristerona was a mixed village until 1958. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Muslims (Turkish Cypriots) constituted almost 37% of the population. Approximately ten years after the beginning of the British administration in the island, this number fell to 31%. The Turkish Cypriot population continued to decline in the first half of the 20^th century, while the Greek Cypriot population continued to grow. By 1946, after the Second World War, Turkish Cypriots constituted only 8% of the village’s population. By 1960 there were no Turkish Cypriots living in the village.

Displacement:

Due to intercommunal strife, all the approximately 200 Turkish Cypriots were displaced from the village in 1958 and took refuge in Maratha village and the town of Famagusta. None went back to the village in 1960. Turkish Cypriots of the village remained in the nearby village of Maratha(171) and also in the town of Famagusta(140) until the end of 1974, when some returned to Pigi Peristerona while the rest settled permanently in Nicosia and Famagusta.

The second displacement took place in 1974, when all the Greek Cypriots from Pigi Peristerona fled from the advancing Turkish army. Currently the Greek Cypriots of Pigi Peristerona are scattered throughout the island’s south, with small pockets in towns. The number of the Greek Cypriots who were displaced in 1974 was around 1,700.

Current Inhabitants:

Apart from the original Turkish Cypriots of Pigi Peristerona who returned in 1974 and 1975, there are displaced Turkish Cypriots from the island’s south, primarily from the Larnaca area, mainly from Klavdia(359) village. A substantial number of Turkish nationals also settled in the village in the 1970s. In the 1996 Turkish census, 163 out of 719 Turkish Cypriot residents of the village showed their birthplace as Turkey. The 2006 Turkish Cypriot census puts the village’s de jure population at 863.  

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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)