Paralimni (Greek: Παραλίμνι) is a town situated in the South East of Cyprus, a little way inland, within the Famagusta District. Since the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus, it has increased in size and status, due to the migration of many refugees fleeing from the North. Many of the people who work in the tourist industry of Protaras and Agia Napa live in Paralimni, which is the now temporary administrative centre of the Famagusta District and the biggest municipality of the Greek Cypriot controlled area of the district. It has become what it seems a small capital city of the non-occupied Famagusta area. Image File history File links Flag_of_Cyprus. ... See Cartesian coordinate system or Coordinates (elementary mathematics) for a more elementary introduction to this topic. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... This is an alphabetical list of countries of the world, including independent states (both those that are internationally recognised and generally unrecognised), inhabited dependent territories and areas of special sovereignty. ... The districts (επαρχίες) are the subnational subdivisions of Cyprus. ... Famagusta District is one of the six districts of Cyprus. ... Cyprus adopted a new postcode system on October 1st, 1994. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger, greater) is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible... Ronda, Spain Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... Famagusta District is one of the six districts of Cyprus. ... The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus(TRNC) {NOTE: the name is not accepted by UN} , in Turkish Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, is a self-proclaimed state occupying the northern third of the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. ... A beautiful beach of Agia Napa Ayia Napa (Greek: Αγία Νάπα; Turkish: Aya Napa; today officially transliterated into English as Agia Napa) is a resort at the far eastern end of the south coast of the island of Cyprus. ... Famagusta District is one of the six districts of Cyprus. ...

History

The word Paralimni means "settlement by the lake". Historically, Paralimni was built on the shores of a shallow lake, which filled with water only in the wintertime.

In the beginning of the 20th century, as a result of reclamation work, the whole of the lakebed was reclaimed for agricultural purposes. Paralimni has not always been where it is now. Originally it was built on a hill, which was situated between Dherinia and its present location.

However, in the 15th century, it was moved inland to avoid detection by the sea pirates. It is said that the first people to settle at Paralimni arrived just after the capture of the near town of Famagusta by the Ottoman Turks in 1571. The first settlement was called Saint Demetrius and this place still bears his name today. (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Pirates may refer to: A group of people committing any of these activities: Piracy at sea or on a river/lake. ... In 1570, the Turks first occupied Cyprus, and Lala Mustafa Pasha became the first Turkish Governor of Cyprus, challenging the claims of Venice. ... Events January 11 - Austrian nobility is granted Freedom of religion. ...

In 1986, after a referendum, Paralimni was declared a municipality with the name "Paralimni". In May 1986 the first elections were held for the office of mayor and municipal council. Nikos Vlittis was elected the first mayor and served from 1986-2006. In December of 2006, Nikos Vlittis lost the mayoralty to Andreas Evaggelou who will serve as a mayor until 2011. Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ...

Architecturally, Paralimni has been nondescript, little if anything remains of the original village. Outside of the town centre the houses are not very attractive, little more than squat rectangular blocks. This is more than compensated for by their very attractive gardens, especially when the trees are in blossom or fruit. However, it seems that the new and emerging generations who earn higher salaries than their parents and grandparents, spend larger amounts of money in building modern and picturesque houses.

Right at the heart of Paralimni, lies a moderate yet fulfilling shopping centre with many shops and a small entertainment scene including modern cafes and bars. Due to the fact that Paralimni has rapidly grown in size, the island's biggest food retailers have built or rented branches there including Carrefour, Orfanides. There are also many local supermarkets such as Kokkinos.

The countryside surrounding Paralimni has rich red soil and is famous for its picturesque windmills - used to draw water from underground aquifers to irrigate the surrounding land. Sadly, many of these are now derelict having been replaced by electric or diesel-powered pumps. Before the rise of tourism, the rich agricultural land surrounding Paralimni was the source of Paralimni's wealth, and is still of great importance.

Sports

Enosis Neon Paralimni FC, which plays in Cypriot First Division is the football team of the town. Michalis Konstantinou, the famous football striker of Olympiacos, was born in Paralimni. He also began his career from the team of the town. Enosis Neon Paralimni (Greek: Ένωσις Νέων Παραλιμνίου, Youth Union of Paralimni) is a Cypriot football club based in Paralimni. ... The Cypriot First Division or Cyprus Championship First Division (in Greek Παγκύπριο Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the highest football league in Cyprus. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... Michalis Konstantinou (born February 19, 1978 in Paralimni, Cyprus) is a Cypriot football striker who currently plays for Olympiacos in the Greek Championship. ... The striker (wearing the red shirt) has run past the defender (in the white shirt) and is about to take a shot at the goal, while the goalkeeper positions himself to attempt to stop the ball. ... Olympiacos CFP (Greek: Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς - Olympiakos Syndesmos Filathlon Peiraios) is the largest and the most popular Greek multisport club, based in Piraeus, Athens. ...

Protaras

Protaras (Greek: Πρωταράς), is a predominantly tourist resort. It comes under the administrative jurisdiction of Paralimni Municipality. In ancient times, where now Protaras seems to be located stood the old city-state of Leukolla. The city possessed a small safe harbour where the Athenian Demetrius Poliorketes in the year 306 B.C. sought refuge, lying in wait for Ptolemeos, one of the successors of Alexander the Great. In the ensuing battle Ptolemeos was defeated and fled to Egypt, leaving Cyprus for a while in the hands of Demetrius. For other uses, see Athens (disambiguation). ... Ptolemy I Soter (Greek: , Ptolemaios Soter, i. ... Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. ... Demetrius (from Greek — Δημήτριος, male form of Demeter) is the name of several notable people from classical antiquity and other eras. ...

Protaras has lovely, sandy beaches with clear sky-blue waters and the most well known beach in the area is Fig Tree Bay. Protaras is also referred to as "the land of windmills" maintaining the nostalgic quality of the past.

On the back of the success of Ayia Napa (which is only a few km away), it has exploded into a resort of considerable size with tens of high capacity hotels, hotel apartments, villas, restaurants, pubs and all sorts of facilities a modern holiday resort ought to have. Being quieter than Ayia Napa and having less of a club scene, it has a reputation of catering more for family and Cypriot tourism. A beautiful beach of Agia Napa Ayia Napa (Greek: Αγία Νάπα;Turkish: Aya Napa; today officially transliterated into English as Agia Napa) is a resort on at the far eastern end of the south coast of the island of Cyprus. ...

References

1. ^ Statistical Service of the Republic of Cyprus (MS Excel), 2001 Population Census

See also

• Enosis Neon Paralimni FC
• Famagusta District
• Ayia Napa

Enosis Neon Paralimni (Greek: Ένωσις Νέων Παραλιμνίου, Youth Union of Paralimni) is a Cypriot football club based in Paralimni. ... Famagusta District is one of the six districts of Cyprus. ... A beautiful beach of Agia Napa Ayia Napa (Greek: Αγία Νάπα;Turkish: Aya Napa; today officially transliterated into English as Agia Napa) is a resort on at the far eastern end of the south coast of the island of Cyprus. ...

External links

• Paralimni Official Municipality
• Radio Napa

Coordinates: 35°02′N, 33°59′E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...