Book Hotels in Paralimni
Population: Unkown
Latitude: 22.453043
Longitude: 40.751414
Source: WikiPedia
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Description:
Paralimni (Greek: Παραλίμνι; Turkish: Paralimni) is a town situated in the South East of Cyprus, a little way inland, within the Famagusta District. Since the Turkish invasion and occupation of the Republic of Cyprus in 1974, it has increased in size and status, due to the migration of many refugees fleeing from the North. Many of the people who work in the tourist industry of Protaras and Agia Napa live in Paralimni, which is the now temporary administrative centre of the Famagusta District and the biggest municipality of the Greek Cypriot controlled area of the district. It has become what it seems a small capital city of the non-occupied Famagusta area.
The word Paralimni means "by the lake". Historically, Paralimni was built on the shores of a shallow lake, which filled with water only in the wintertime.
In the beginning of the 20th century, as a result of reclamation work, the whole of the lakebed was reclaimed for agricultural purposes. Paralimni has not always been where it is now. Originally it was built on a hill, which was situated between Deryneia and its present location.
However, in the 15th century, it was moved inland to avoid detection by the sea pirates. It is said that the first people to settle at Paralimni arrived just after the capture of the near town of Famagusta by the Ottoman Turks in 1571. The first settlement was called Saint Demetrius and this place still bears his name today.
In 1986, after a referendum, Paralimni was declared a municipality with the name "Paralimni". In May 1986 the first elections were held for the office of mayor and municipal council. Nikos Vlittis was elected the first mayor and served from 1986-2006. In December 2006, Nikos Vlittis lost the mayoralty to Andreas Evaggelou who will serve as a mayor until 2011.
Architecturally, Paralimni has been nondescript, little if anything remains of the original village. Outside of the town centre the houses are not very attractive, little more than squat rectangular blocks. This is more than compensated for by their very attractive gardens, especially when the trees are in blossom or fruit. However, it seems that the new and emerging generations who earn higher salaries than their parents and grandparents, spend larger amounts of money in building modern and picturesque houses.
Right at the heart of Paralimni, lies a moderate yet fulfilling shopping centre with many shops and a small entertainment scene including modern cafes and bars. Due to the fact that Paralimni has rapidly grown in size, the island's biggest food retailers have built or rented branches there including Carrefour, Orfanides. There are also many local supermarkets such as Kokkinos.
The countryside surrounding Paralimni has rich red soil and is famous for its picturesque windmills - used to draw water from underground aquifers to irrigate the surrounding land. Sadly, many of these are now derelict having been replaced by electric or diesel-powered pumps. Before the rise of tourism, the rich agricultural land surrounding Paralimni was the source of Paralimni's wealth, and is still of great importance.
Enosis Neon Paralimni FC, which plays in Cypriot First Division is the football team of the town. Michalis Konstantinou, the famous former football striker of Iraklis FC, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, was born in Paralimni. He also began his career from the team of the town. Also there is a Conference side in Paralimni called Anorthosis Paralimniou.
Protaras (Greek: Πρωταράς; Turkish: Protaras), is a predominantly tourist resort. It comes under the administrative jurisdiction of Paralimni Municipality.
The seasonal Paralimni Lake is the home to the harmless Cyprus grass snake (natrix natrix cypriaca) which was thought extinct from the 1960s, until 'Snake George' (H. Wiedl) re-discovered the species in the early 1990s.
As a result the lake was designated a Site of Community Interest (SCI). Despite this the Cyprus Government issued permission for over 300 home to be built on the site, resulting in the European Commission instigating court action against Cyprus.
Other hazards faced by the snake are moto-cross and man killing them through ignorance and superstition.
New wooden pedestrian road beside the beach
Promenade next to the beach
Cafeteria with view of Protaras beach
Shop renting Motorbikes
New pedestrian road in Protaras.
Downtown Protaras street by night
Protaras cosmopolitan beach Fig-tree
Typical road in Protaras
Theme cafeteria The Flintstones
Sirena bay
Tavern at Sirena bay
Church of St. Barbara (Agia-Varvara) in Paralimni municipality on the road from Kapparis to Paralimni proper.
Church of St.Elias.
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