Prastio, Famagusta

Prastio Πραστιό (Greek) Dörtyol  (Turkish)
St. George's Church
Prastio
Coordinates: 35°10′32″N 33°45′24″E / 35.17556°N 33.75667°ECoordinates: 35°10′32″N 33°45′24″E / 35.17556°N 33.75667°E
Country	Cyprus
• District	Famagusta District
Country (controlled by)	Northern Cyprus
• District	Gazimağusa District
Government
• Muhtar	Salih Erer[1]
Population (2011)[2]
• Total	1,349
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Prastio (Greek: Πραστιό; Turkish: Dörtyol) is a small village in Cyprus, 19 km west of Famagusta. De facto, it is under the control of Northern Cyprus. It is administered by the municipality of Sinta (İnönü).^[3]

In the Ottoman period, the village was a mixed one, though the Turkish Cypriots were a small minority. The 1891 census recorded a population of 704, with 637 Greek and 67 Turkish Cypriots. In 1973, Prastio had a population of about 1,000, all of whom were Greek Cypriots. The Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled from the Turkish army in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Today, Prastio is inhabited by Turks from Adana, Osmaniye and Sivas provinces and a small number of displaced Turkish Cypriots.^[4] The village is home to the historic Agios Georgios Church (Agios Georgios O Sporos), which has a reference to 1823 on its door and to 1867 on its window. The eastern façade has Neo-Gothic elements and an Ottoman inscription exists over its western door. It is cross-vaulted and has galleries in the north and south. After 1974, it was converted to a mosque.^[5] In 2001, a new mosque, which was built by the Evkaf Administration, was opened in the village.^[6]

The village is the birthplace of Kirillos III (birth 1859), Archbishop of Cyprus between 1916 and 1933, the year of his death.

References

1. "Erer: "Hükümet kendi kavgalarından halkı görmez oldu"". Gündem Kıbrıs. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
2. "KKTC 2011 Nüfus ve Konut Sayımı" [TRNC 2011 Population and Housing Census] (PDF). TRNC State Planning Organization. 6 August 2013. p. 18.
3. "Başkanlığa talip çok". Havadis. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
4. "PRASTIO". Internal displacement in Cyprus. PRIO Cyprus Centre. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
5. "Agios Georgios". Cyprus Temples. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
6. "YENİDÜZEN, ülkedeki cami sayılarını araştırdı". Yeni Düzen. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.