History – Geography
History of Chloraka
Our village, once forested and densely wooded, was surrounded by towering oak trees and thick terebinths. Everywhere, crystal-clear waters flowed. Nature and humans—unlike today—maintained friendly, almost familial, relationships. Every place in Chloraka, every inch of land, is tied to its own story. Scattered around are the village’s churches, crowned with their own histories, serving as a second home for every villager. In the past, people had a different relationship with the divine than we do today. They were more innocent, and viewed the Saints with purity. They loved them, made vows to them, but weren’t afraid to scold them at times when things went wrong.
The people of Chloraka were not only faithful but also patriotic. Whenever their country called, they eagerly answered. Residents of Chloraka participated in the Balkan Wars, and later in World War II. Furthermore, the events in Chloraka were the starting point and laid the foundation for the E.O.K.A. struggle. The historic ship “Saint George,” preserved in a special shelter, fills every resident of the village with national pride and stands as an eternal symbol of resistance for all of us. The five brave men who were killed in 1974 also serve as a shining beacon for us all.
Hard work has always characterized the people of this place. The residents of Chloraka practiced various traditional trades. Each, in their own way, with honest sweat, tried to earn a living while contributing to the development of the village. As I wrote about the trades of the Chlorakiotes, I remembered something Kazantzakis wrote: “…people were not mass-produced in molds back then, but each person was a unique world unto themselves.”
Today, our village remains a beautiful place, but it is not like it used to be. The picturesque beaches are slowly being cemented over. Hotels and apartments have been sprouting up relentlessly in recent years. And where you once thought everything in this place followed a simple and balanced rhythm, with grace and aristocratic beauty, greed has armed our hands, and without realizing it, we have started to destroy and defile it. Under every stone, behind every handful of soil, lies a river of sweat from the past generations. Nothing happened on its own. Everything we inherited is soaked with toil and hardship. Everything we will pass on to our children will also be crafted from the sweat of our ancestors. The least gratitude we can show them is to respect the land and stop wounding the earth we inherited. After all, this land, given to us by the elders, is not exclusively ours; we have borrowed it for a little while from our children.
Prologue from the book by Christos M. Mavresis “Χλώρακα,Ιστορική και λαογραφική μελέτη”
General Information:
Geographical Location:
The village of Chloraka is built on the coastal plain of Paphos, three kilometers northwest of the city of Paphos, at an average elevation of 70 meters. To the northwest, it borders the village of Lemba, to the southeast, it borders the city of Paphos, and to the northeast, it borders the village of Emba.
Geological Aspect:
There is significant soil diversity in terms of origin, color, and depth. Terrace deposits dominate. On the rocks, alluvial soils have developed, known as terra rossa and kavkalles. Most of these soils are heavy, with a clay content of around 35-45%. They also contain a considerable amount of coarse materials and are quite calcareous, with a calcium carbonate content ranging from 30-50%. The soil color depends on the degree of development and the calcium carbonate content. The soils of Chloraka have proven to be quite suitable for greenhouse cultivation, as well as for growing bananas, citrus, and other plants.
Rainfall:
Chloraka receives an average annual rainfall of about 420 millimeters.
Climate:
It has the characteristic climate of the Eastern Mediterranean type, with the main features being a hot, dry summer and a rainy but mild winter.
Land Redistribution – Irrigation:
Chloraka is one of the first villages in Cyprus to undergo land redistribution. The land redistribution plan, completed in 1974, was implemented on an area of 195 hectares, which was irrigated by the Mavrokolympos Dam. After the connection of Mavrokolympos with the Paphos irrigation project, the area of Chloraka is now effectively irrigated by this project. According to the 1985 agricultural census, 101 hectares of land were irrigated in Chloraka.
Etymology of the name Chloraka:
Elderly residents of the village have mentioned that in the past, Chloraka was built in the area where the chapel of Archangel Michael is located and was called Praskiouros, because it was so lush and green that from afar it looked like a green tail (prasinos ouros – green tail). Others mentioned that it was called Prastion because it was a suburb (proastion, with the combination of “o” and “a” into “a”, and the fusion of the diphthong “io”), a suburb of Paphos. Additionally, they mentioned that our village was named Chlorakas during the Frankish period, when a feudal lord named Chlorakas rented fields to the villagers. However, no written evidence has been found to substantiate the above claims.
In written form, the masculine name Chlorakas (ο Χλώρακας) prevailed, while in spoken language, the feminine name Chloraka (η Χλώρακα) is commonly used. However, in the first modern map of Cyprus in the Greek language, found in Athanasios Sakellarios’ book Ta Kypriaka, Geographia, Historia kai Glossa tis Nisou Kyprou apo Archaiotaton Chronon mechri Simeron, vol. A, Athens 1890, our village is recorded as Chloraka. In 1881, the British government assigned the task of mapping the island to Lieutenant Herbert Horatio Kitchener of the Royal Engineers, who recorded our village as Khlorakas and in parentheses as Florakas.
Some scholars argue that our village got its name because of the greenery (chloros) that covered the village, and that from the word “chloros” (green), it was named Chloraka.
The word “chloros” is etymologically related to the word “chloe” (grass). At this point, it is worth noting that Chloraka is referred to as Clerica, Clerisca, and Cleriea in 16th-century maps. Later, the village appears in various map versions with names like Holorka, Elorakas, Kalorka, Khloraga, Chloraca, Phylraka, and others.
Some scholars disagree with this etymology, considering it folk etymology, or misinterpretation. They argue that if the village was named for being constantly green, it would not have been called Chloraka, but Gloraka, because Cypriots pronounce “chloros” as “gloros.” For example, christianos – grianos, chronos – gronos, etc.
Other scholars proposed the name Florakas. It is well known that in the Cypriot dialect, “f” often alternates with “ch.” For example, chono – fono, forei – chorei, choni – foni, etc. Additionally, we should keep in mind that in Latin, Flora is the goddess of flowers and spring, which is where the international botanical term flora (plant life) comes from. Also, in Latin, flos – floris means “flower,” which is where the English word flower and the French fleur originate. Thus, the name Florakas also relates to a blooming, green, lush landscape. Furthermore, many place names in the village relate to flora, such as Rodafinia, Ormania, Palloura, Tzeinogrys, Livadia, and others.
No one has been able to etymologically explain the name of our village with certainty to this day. In the future, linguistic, historical, and archaeological research may shed light on the etymology of the name.
