Tochni Explained

Tochni should not be confused with Tashkent.

Tochni
Pushpin Map:Cyprus
Coordinates:34.7806°N 33.3233°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Cyprus
Subdivision Type1:District
Unit Pref:Metric
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Total:424
Population As Of:2011
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:EET
Utc Offset1:+2
Timezone1 Dst:EEST
Utc Offset1 Dst:+3

Tochni (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Τόχνη; Turkish: Dohni or Turkish: Taşkent) is a village located in the Larnaca District of Cyprus, about halfway between the cities of Larnaca and Limassol. Prior to 1974, Tochni had a mixed Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot population. In August 1974, 85 Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of this village and of neighboring villages were massacred by Greek Cypriot terrorists.[2] [3] Later that month, the remaining Turkish residents of Tochni were evacuated using coaches and UN military vehicles. The evacuation was carried out by 7 Sqn RCT then serving with the UN at camp UNFICYP Nicosia.

There are the ruins of a Latin church in the centre of the village, overlooking the Orthodox church of St Constantine and Helena. The current church has been reconstructed on the site of the original, over a bridge, said to have been founded by St Helena on return from the Holy Land having brought with her a piece of the True Cross.

There is also a mosque, madrasah and Muslim burial ground in the eastern part of the village, though these are in varying degrees of disrepair.

Today the village has been designated a beautiful 'agrotourism' location which promotes the restoration of the original village house in order to preserve the traditional Cypriot stone houses. The majority of properties use 'Tochni Stone' which is quarried nearby.

References

  1. Web site: Population - Place of Residence, 2011. Statistical Service of Cyprus (CYSTAT). 17 April 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141016191920/http://www.cystat.gov.cy/mof/cystat/statistics.nsf/All/7F6BB26ED9D00A00C2257AD90055542A/$file/POP_CEN_11-POP_PLACE_RESID-EN-170414.xls?OpenElement. 16 October 2014.
  2. Paul Sant Cassia, Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory, and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus, Berghahn Books, 2007,, Massacre&f=false p. 61.
  3. Gisela Welz,European Products: Making and Unmaking Heritage in Cyprus, Berghahn Books, 2015, p. 53