Aglandjia - History and Demography

History and Demography

The history of Aglandjia goes back as far as 3888 BC, since several tombs dating to the Bronze Age were found on the trapezoid Arona hill (Mount Lion or Liontarovounos). Around the hill there was an ancient settlement, from which the city of Ledra may have originated. The Kafizin (in the buffer zone) or Small Aronas, a historic site with a cave dedicated to the worship of a Nymph, where important archaeological works of art and inscriptions in the cypriot syllabary were found, also stands within the area of Aglandjia.

In the Middle Ages, the Lefkomiatis settlement was in the area of Aglandjia. The area seems to have been inhabited towards the end of the Frankish rule, under the reign of Jacques II (1468–1473) and its name is believed to come from the surname of a Lusignan family who was the owner of the area.

After the conquest of Cyprus by the Ottomans, the Aglandjia settlement declined. It starts to form a self-sufficient rural settlement around the end of the 18th century. Its inhabitants are busy with farming, stockbreeding and quarrying. Around the end of the 18th century, dragoman Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios erected Ayios Yeoryios church on the site of the cemetery and Ayios Yeoryios church in Athalassa.

During the EOKA struggle, Aglandjia was present with organised groups and the sacrifice of Kyriakos Karaolis, whereas in the 1964 events, volunteers were incorporated in different companies. Andreas Nikolaou Koutsou fell in battle. During the Turkish invasion, Aglandjia was not only bombed mercilessly but the war took a heavy toll of the city and persons went missing. The Turkish invasion army occupies 45% of its territory.

Aglandjia has a population of 22,000 inhabitants, of whom 7,500 are refugees. Aglandjia combines the old and the new. It maintains a nucleus with traditional bricked houses with yards; its narrow streets refresh you with their human breath, whereas more recent large houses surround it, a few blocks of flats and refugees housings. Aglandjia is one of the excellent built-up areas of broader Nicosia. Aglandjia is characterized by Athalassa forests, the hypsometrical differences of the land, its neighboring with and easy access to the centre of Nicosia, the harmonious linking of the traditional and the new, and the tens of development works the Local Authority has to present.