Troulli

Troulli is one of four villages within the green line (demilitarized zone), it belongs to the province of Larnaca and is situated about 15 kilometers north of Larnaca, 52 km southeast of Nicosia and 80 kilometers northeast of Limassol.

Built on the demilitarized zone between the occupied and free areas of Cyprus and controlled by the United Nations, along with Athienou, Pyla and Denia, Troulli is a historic settlement surrounded by dome-shaped hills. That is probably also where it got its name (troulos in Greek means dome). The village has been inhabited since ancient times because of the mines located in the administrative boundaries of the community, some 500 meters southeast of the village.

Traditionally, Hephaestus, the god of fire, set up his workshop here when he was driven out of Mount Olympus after he gave fire to the people. In ancient Golgoi was also worshiped the Cypriot Aphrodite, wife of Hephaestus.

Several livestock farms are also scattered in different areas in which cows, sheep and goats are kept. Several residents still practice the profession of the farmer. Others are employed in various professions in the neighboring city.

In the years prior to the Turkish invasion, many women were engaged in basket weaving. Today, this occupation has been completely abandoned.

The visitor to the Trouli will have the chance to visit many religious attractions, since faith is one of the constituents of the area and the locals. Two churches are dedicated to Agios Mamas, the patron saint of the community and are located in the center of the village. The old one is a stone-built building of the 16th century and the newer and largest one is a building with 5 domes. The Old Calendarist church of the Three Hierarchs and the stone church of Agia Marina at the entrance of the village complete the image of the religious buildings in the settlement. In the courtyard of of the church of Agia Marina there is the marble bust of the hero of the liberation struggle of EOKA, 1955-1959, Andreas Sourouklis.

Outside Trouli and four kilometers to the east of the village, the stone-built chapel of Agios Neophytos hosts 17th-century frescoes, while "Rodon Amaranto", a small stone-built chapel dedicated to Panagia (Virgin Mary), is one and a half kilometers west of the village. Two kilometers north of the village there is the chapel of Agios Leontios, but it is situated on the occupied side. Besides the bust of Andreas Sourouklis, the settlement is also adorned by a monument on the road leading from Trouli to Larnaca, at the location where EOKA fighters were ambushed. Andreas Sourouklis in his attempt to escape was hit by a bullet and fell into Xeropotamos. Also at the site Xeropigi, southwest of the village, there is the refuge of EOKA fighters of 1955-1959 in a land owned by Sourouklis.

The mine of Trouli is the only one in Cyprus that was developed away from the Troodos foothills. The intensive exploitation of the deposit during antiquity is evident from the accumulated copper rust and can be identified with the history of the ancient city of Kition, which dates from the 13th century BC. The Trouli mine was one of its main suppliers. Apart from the copper and gold deposits, there are also various rocks such as clay and Terra d’ ombra. In the community there were once two Terra d’ ombra quarries, the Kokkini quarry which today has been transformed into a pond of water found in the quarry and another near the chapel of Saint Neophytus. The Terra d’ ombra has three colors, black, yellow and red. For the treatment of this rock, a factory was built in the south of the village, which bakes the rock and makes it into dust to be exported. This powder is used in the manufacture of various types of paint.

Nowadays, the inhabitants of Trouli number about 1,000 and have been occupied mainly with agriculture and livestock farming, wheat, barley, olives, carobs, but after the Turkish invasion of 1974 and the occupation of much of the cultivated land, they turned to other professions. Today in the village there is a grocery store, a bakery, a marble processing factory and many others, which are mostly family businesses.