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Tymvou (Greek: Τύμβου, Turkish: Ercan) is a village in located in central Cyprus in the Nicosia District. The village is the location of Nicosia's first airport, built during the British colonial rule. The village was originally exclusively inhabited by Greek Cypriots, and in 1960, it has a population of 1133 people. (Source: [1] Choose "tables" and then "Lefkosia") The original population was expelled by the Turkish army in 1974 following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

Historical Data

The name Tymvou is believed to come from the tombs (gr. τύμβος) located in caves and caverns to the north of the present village near the airport. First written records of the name Tymbou can be found on a document from the Frankish (Lusignian) occupation of the island during the reign of the Frankish king Jacob II (1460-1473 AD). The document granted feudal rights of the area to Pierre Coul.
During the Ottoman period it was a large çiflik (farming area which included the entire village) belonging to wealthy Greek landowner in 1813 named Demetris Pavlides. From 1821 it became the property of a local Turkish administrator Halil Shindar (?). After the end of Turkish rule it returned to Greek hands.
The Greek population of the village grew from 278 in 1881 to 1133 in 1960 and 1288 in 1973.
The village church dedicated to Ayios Yeorgios (Saint George) was built in 1875. However some of the icons in the church date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
A cave - turned church near the village dedicated to the Forty Martyrs (Σαράνατα Μάρτυρες) was later turned into a mosque named Kirklar, the name used by the occupying power for the village of Tymvou.
Today

Today the village is inhabited by 335 people.[2] South of the village lies the now-uninhabited villages of Margo and Pyrogi, while Louroujina, 15 km south of Tymvou, is still inhabited by a number of Turkish Cypriots.

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The airport

The airport is currently used by Turkey and the authorities of the de facto (but not internationally recognized) Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Its current Turkish name, Ercan, is after a soldier. A few foreign airlines, notably from Great Britian use the airport, but it is not internationally recognized, since it is under the control of an administration only recognized by Turkey.

Greece and the Republic of Cyprus have warned that any airliners flying to the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus will excluded from airports in Greece and the government-controlled areas of Cyprus. Greek and Greek-Cypriot authorities may deny anyone entry into either country if he/she has entered Northern Cyprus by a non-recognized airport.

Another airport exists in Northern Cyprus at Lefkoniko (Greek: Λευκόνοικο, Turkish: Gecitkale) but it is mostly used for military purposes.

Note: the town's name is sometimes also rendered as Tymbou, but Tymvou is currently used on government maps.

Images Cyprus, Nicosia District

Districts of Cyprus

Famagusta · Kyrenia · Larnaca · Limassol · Nicosia · Paphos

Map of Cyprus