Tala

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Tala Village (Paphos, Pafos)

The village Tala is found in the district of Pafos, at a distance of 8 kilometers north of the city of Pafos, within a magical natural environment. In regards to transportation, the village connects to the monastery of “Agios Neofytos” in the northeast (about 2 kilometers), which is within its administrative boundaries. In the south it connects with the village Emba (about 4 kilometers) and from there on with the city of Pafos.

The village is built at an average altitude of 280 meters. It has a general tilt from the northeast to the southwest and the altitude ranges from 150 to 600 meters.

Tala receives an average annual rainfall of about 520 millimeters; grapevines (wine-making and table grape varieties), citrus fruits (orange trees, lemon trees), locust, olive, almond, and walnut trees, cereals, forage plants, vegetables, and a few banana trees are cultivated in the region. As far as stockbreeding is concerned, it is limited.

The village is placed in the area of the underground water stratum of Pafos. Quite a few drills have been dug in its region, contributing to the irrigation of considerable tracts of land. Tala is also included among the villages that have benefited from the irrigation project of Pafos with the irrigation of a range of 40 acres of land by the Asprokremmos dam.

The village has gone through population fluctuations. In 1881 the inhabitants of Tala were 276, which decreased to 274 in 1891 only to increase to 325 in 1901, to 331 in 1911, and to 342 in 1921. The inhabitants decreased to 296 in 1931, increasing again to 409 in 1946. In 1960 the population decreased to 373, increasing again to 387 in 1973, to 405 in 1976, and to 426 in 1982. In the census of 2001 the inhabitants of Tala were 2540

The village is not mentioned in mediaeval sources. However its name is considered to originate from the era of Frank domination, from the surname of a large and wealthy family, that of the D’Avila family. This family is mentioned as “Tavila” by the Cypriot mediaeval chronographers. It is believed that the surname Tavila gave the village its name.

Tala is not mentioned as belonging to the D’Avila family by the sources. However it is probable that it was a property of the family since some members of it possibly owned it, such as Francesco D’Avila that Masse Latri mentions as one of the richest noblemen in Cyprus, or Peter D’Avila who –in 1473 –became Lord Chamberlain of Cyprus and took land properties in the district of Pafos, or even Anthony D’Avila who served as Governor of Pafos.

An important mediaeval monument of the village is the church of Agia Ekaterini (St. Catherine) of the 15th/16th century. Besides, quite close to the village stands the monastery of Agios Neofytos, which certainly had a significant influence on various sectors in the whole life and activity of the village.

South of the village there are indications for the existence of an archaeological area from the Prehistoric times.

Tala began, during recent years, to develop in terms of tourism and housing. Tourist villages and country houses have started to operate in its region.

TOURIST DEVELOPMENTS

The panoramic view that combines sea and mountain, the amazing climate that it offers, and the simplicity of the region's inhabitants were the main characteristics that led to the development of tourism in the community of Tala.

After the 1974 Turkish Invasion, the development of tourism in the region began. Houses, villas, and tourist villages began being built throughout the administrative range of the community and as a result Tala has today been converted to a -basically -tourist village.

Several land development Firms are occupied with the construction of the tourist villages as well as with the erection of new houses and villas, all of their actions having in mind -also -the preservation of the region's natural environment. Some of the Firms occupied with land development are:

"Leptos Armonia Estates Ltd",
"Lordos Estates Ltd"
"Aristo Estates Ltd"
"Kouroushe Bros. "
"Gabrielides & Sons Ltd"
"Antones Petrides & Sons Ltd"
"Paraskevaides"
"Marios & Andreas Charalambous"
"Tridonia Ltd"
"Ioannides & Charalambous"
"Armonia Estates Ltd"
"Vesta Holidays Ltd (Property Management)"
"Vesta Tourist Ltd"

In recent years, the value of the land in the community's region has risen to high levels due to the existing great demand in the land market.

The Church of Agia Ekateriny

The Church of Agia Ekateriny is of the single-aisle type with a dome. Its external measurements are 18,70 X 8,05 metres without the apse. Today's church is the result of an expansion and a retrofit of an older church that was arch-covered and had a lesser length, a part of which is embodied in the west arch of the church. To make the retrofit of the initial church, the apse and a part of the north and south walls were demolished and the single aisle with the dome was added.

A segment of the original church measuring 8,05 X 8,70 is extant. In the centre of the west wall stands the original gate, while the south gate of the initial church was walled up and two new ones were opened in the south wall, one in the west and the other in the east of the initial entrance. The church has a small, rectangular window in the north wall and a narrow gap for illumination in the semicircular apse. There also are four small windows in the dome. The dome is relatively large, while the south and north arcs -that along with the arches support the dome internally -do not appear externally either as semi-circles or pediments as usual. Instead they end in a straight segment that rises as the Greek capital letter ? (P) in the south and north wall.

The original church seems to have been decorated with frescos. Out of these frescos one can distinguish, under the whitewash of the western wall, pieces of a large representation of the Second Coming.

The original church was built in the 15th century and took its present form in the middle of the 16th century.


(Source: www.tala.org.cy/)