Moutalos
Moutalos is the Turkish neighborhood of the so-called “Ktima” in Paphos, about 2 kilometers from the harbor and the homonymous Castle, and is in itself one of the lively cultural sights that the visitor deserves to see when visiting the city.
An area that extends geographically around Fellahoglou Street, a major shopping street where Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriot merchants brought their products from nearby villages, Moutalos was named after the mosque of Mous Allah of the Ottoman period, which is imposing at the entrance of the district and has been ruined since the early 1990s.
Empty, narrow alleys, surrounded by abandoned houses and ruins, and some cats popping up in the visitor’s passage, make up a landscape ideal for urban scenery photography for travelers who want to get tons of history and wake up memories of other times, of a quarter that once bustled with life.
In Mousala Square, you can still smell the spices and the oriental food cooked and offered in the taverns, while from the cafes in the neighborhoods, if you listen, you can still hear the loud voices of the men who spend their hours relaxing and smoking hookahs. And everything "froze" when the muezzin ascended to his balcony and urged the faithful to worship Allah, temporarily removing them from the daily routines.
All this, until 1974, when the Turkish invasion changed everything and the Turkish Cypriots abandoned their homes for the occupied northern areas, leaving this part of the city deserted, making the area a living museum of the not so distant past.
The troubles, however, had begun earlier (in March 1964) when the Turkish Cypriots were fortified at Moutalos, fearing retaliation from the Greek Cypriots for the rebellion of their co-patriots in many villages in Cyprus. The armed clashes between the Greeks and the Turks of Paphos in the area of the Ktima escalated into a three-day battle from 9 to 11 March 1964, leaving behind many victims and families to mourn on both sides.
Today, Moutalos’ Turkish quarter is an opportunity to explore the oriental past of the city of Paphos, while in some taverns, "nestled" in its narrow streets, very good food is served at friendly prices. With a short walk, the visitor will discover them…