Moro Nero

Moro Nero is one of the abandoned villages of the Paphos province in Cyprus and it is situated 16 kilometers northeast of the city of Paphos, 72 kilometers northwest of Limassol and 155 kilometers southwest of Nicosia.

An isolated point without access from the road network,”nestled” in the surrounding nature, a settlement that once was filled with life and today is accessible only by the Kallepia Episkopi Nature Trail, Moro Nero was a mixed village inhabited by both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

The small community suffered serious damage after the great earthquake that hit Paphos in 1953, with many residents fleeing the area, while the last 42 inhabitants left with the beginning of the inter-communal turmoil between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s.

In Moro Nero, which is very close to Episkopi Paphou, there is the abandoned church of Agios Gennadios. This saint, who celebrates on December 17th and whom the locals call “Ai Gennatzis,” was the 21st Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. According to testimonies, Saint Gennadios was worshiped jointly by the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of the village.