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Ypsonas
Ypsonas is one of the largest villages in the
district of Limassol and is located about 7 kilometres west of the
city of Limassol. The south part of the village is within the administrative
borders of the British military base of Akrotiri - Episkopi.
Ypsonas is built at an average altitude of 90
meters. The landscape of the village inclines from the north to
the south. The altitude decreases from 476 meters in the north borders
to 90 meters in the settlement and to 20 meters in its south borders.
Ypsonas receives an average annual rainfall of about 440 millimetres;
vines (winemaking and table grape varieties), cereals, citrus, almond,
olive, locust, and a few fruit trees are cultivated in the area.
Today, Ypsonas has a flourishing industrial development. The number
of persons working in industries is the 4th largest in the district
of Limassol. The main types of industry developed are sausage making,
cheese-making, sawmills, metal and nickel-plating items, the manufacturing
of refrigerators, cement blocks and cement pipes, the manufacturing
of wooden furniture, as well as the packaging of agricultural products.
Apart from agriculture, the very limited stockbreeding, and industry,
a large portion of the active population of the village is employed
in other sectors of employment such as the hotel, restaurant, trade,
transportation, and services sector.
Ypsonas is a village that can amaze you with
its spectacular increase of population from the past century until
today. You will find it hard to believe that this settlement that
had only 3 inhabitants today numbers 8500. Indeed, in 1881 the village
had 3 inhabitants that increased to 4 in 1891. In 1901 the inhabitants
increased to 21, only to be reduced to 12 in 1911.
In 1921 the population run into 167. In 1931 the inhabitants numbered
256 and by 1946 they increased to 492. In 1960 they increased to
1496 and in 1973 to 2043. In 1982 the inhabitants numbered 3061
and in 2001 the population increased to 6250.
Although Ypsonas is considered by many as having
been created during recent years by the inhabitants of other villages
(mainly Lofou), which owned land in the region, things are not quite
so. Ypsonas existed as a settlement since medieval years. De Masse
Latri includes Ypsonas among the villages that belonged to the King
of Cyprus himself during the era of the Frank domination. The village
is marked under the name Ipsona in old maps. The village probably
must have been destroyed in 1426 when the Mamelukes of Egypt invaded
Cyprus through the bay of Avdimou, unsuccessfully attacked Episkopi,
marched toward Limassol which they seized. Then again it could have
been destroyed in 1570 with the invasion of the Turks in Cyprus
as they landed in Limassol which they sacked and then -burning and
looting -arrived at Polemidia.
After that many inhabitants of Lofou would
seasonally migrate to Ypsonas so as to cultivate or harvest the
crops of their fields in the region. Thus, for many years, people
from Lofou inhabited the village for a few months per year. These
people vacated Ypsonas from January until March and from the middle
of August until November. Finally, many of the migrating farmers
remained permanently in Ypsonas, abandoning Lofou and the other
neighbouring villages. This started occurring during the era of
the British domination. The love of the inhabitants of Ypsonas for
the land can be seen through the fact that many of the locals own
land in areas neighbouring the community. Some of those are Erimi,
Kolossi, Koilani, Paramytha, Alassa, Polemidia, Trachoni, and Kantou.
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