Melandra

Melandra is an abandoned village in the province of Paphos in Cyprus and it is situated 40 km northeast of the homonymous city, 105 km northwest of Limassol and 131 km southwest of Nicosia.

A deserted Turkish Cypriot settlement, 10 minutes away from Polis Chrysochous (15 km) and one breath away from Lysos (2 km), Melandra is one of the villages of the island of Cyprus that was directly affected by the events of the Turkish invasion of 1974. Then and after the agreed population exchange of Denktas-Clerides in 1975, the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of the community abandoned their homes and moved to the Turkish-occupied areas of northern Cyprus, while the Greek Cypriots living there arrived to the free lands as refugees.

Today, the visitor to Melandra will see ruins, dilapidated buildings and abandoned homes in the surrounding area. The remaining buildings still standing erect to remind the visitor of the past of the place are the small mosque with its minaret and right next to it the chapel of Agios Nikolaos, an indication of the harmonious cohabitation of the two ethnic groups up until the invasion. Melandra is the home place of two saints of Cyprus, St. Theosevios Arsinoitis and St. Arkadios, who served as Bishop of Arsinoe in the 4th-5th century AD.

From the community passes the Nature Trail Forest Station of Stavros tis Psokas-Lysos.