The village
Agios Epifanios, a village of the Lefkosia District, is located only 500 m from the main road which leads from Lefkosia to Palaichori. It is a beautiful and at the same time picturesque village which is not far from Lefkosia. It spreads along the green slopes of mild hills, the “Kalogiros” hill in the west and “Chorteri” hill in the southeast. “It enjoys” the view and the fresh air of the pine, since it is built in the middle of the forests “Adelfoi” and “Machairas”.
Unfortunately, it cannot be clearly stated how old our village is. Karouzis writes: “a village with the same name is encountered on the Venetian maps somewhere west of Lefkosia. Possibly, the village is Agios Epifanios Oreinis. This information might drive us to further researches. If this is the case, then Agios Epifanios is a medieval housing”.
According to tradition, in about the second half of the 18th century, an epidemic struck our village. Only one family consisting of the father, the mother and three daughters managed to survive, but they abandoned the village. Years later, according to Toumazou Papamichael, “the girls came back and settled again in the village. Then, somebody called “Pifaniotis” (Epifanios) came from Aglantzia and got married to one of the girls. Then, another man named “Pastogiorkos” came from Lakatamia and got married to the second girl. Finally, a man came from Kyperounta and got married to the third girl. All of them lived here and in this way life began again in our village. They made their living through live stock breeding, a few vineyards and trees and by selling wood from the forest to the surrounding villages”.
Naming
The following versions exist regarding the naming of the village:
- The village was named after a monastery. This is “testified” by some remains that were discovered west of the village, on the foot of a hill called “Kalogiros”. On this hill, as Papamichel Toumazou Michael writes, “the monks would climb for reading, rest, as well as to watch out for Turkish thieves, the so called “Arnaoutades”, who raided, stole and killed people during the Turkish occupation”.
- According to another less possible version, the name of the village derived from the first resident of the village. In particular, the first resident of the village was named “Pifaniotis” or else Epifanios and as we have already mentioned, he came from Aglantzia.
Population
From 1881 until 1976, Agios Epifanios followed an increasing populating course. In 1982 and 2001, there was a slight decline of the population. Nowadays, an important increase of the population is observed. In particular, the last inventory of 2001 showed that our village numbered 336 residents, whereas today it numbers approximately 500 residents. Presented below is the populating course of the village from 1881 until today.
| Year |
Population
|
| 1881 |
95 |
| 1911 |
151 |
| 1946 |
296 |
| 1973 |
339 |
| 1976 |
421 |
| 1982 |
347 |
| 2001 |
336 |
| Today |
500 |
Church
The church of our village is dedicated to Agios Epifanios. It is an 18th century building and it belongs to they type of single-room churches with a sloping tiled roof. More: Churches
Occupations
The residents of the village used to deal mainly with farming, live stock breeding and logging. In particular, they used to cultivate vineyards which produced types of grapes suitable for making wine, and to a lesser extent olive and carob trees, grains and vegetables. The residents of Agios Epifanios, as well as the remaining mountainous villages, mainly dealt with live stock breeding. Approximately 100 goats were bred in the 80’s.
Those who were into the logging business, as we learn from Toumazou Papamichael, would carry logs from the fields and the forest, would load them on horses or donkeys and take them to Lefkosia in order to sell them.
Sources:
Giorgos Karouzis, Strolling around Cyprus, Lefkosia, City and District, 2002.
Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia
Papamichael Toumazou Papamichael, Agios Epifanios, Lefkosia 2003
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