| The village Kalavasos is found at about 40
kilometres south-west of the city of Larnaca. It is built upon the
west bank of the Vasilikos river, at an average altitude of 80 meters.
The village receives an average annual
rainfall of around 445 millimetres; mainly citrus trees (orange,
lemon, and grapefruit trees), other fruit-bearing trees (pear-trees),
and vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, and melon-like items) are cultivated
in the region. In the rest of its areas cereals, forage plants,
legumes, olive-trees and locust trees are cultivated.
Kalavasos is included in the Vasilikos - Pentaschoinos
watering project and has benefited from the construction of the
Kalavasos dam and the irrigation of significant tracts of land.
The dam lies about 5 kilometres north-west of the village and has
a capacity of 17,000,000 m³. Two plans for re-allotment of land
have been implemented in the village.
As far as transportation is concerned, Kalavasos
is connected by road to the Nicosia-Limassol highway that runs south
of the community. In the north-west it connects to Asgata and in
the north-east with Tochni.
The community has gone through great fluctuations
of its population. In 1881 the village's inhabitants run into 667,
decreasing to 661 in 1901, increasing to 738 in 1911 and to 953
in 1921. Afterwards the inhabitants of the Parsata and Drapeia villages,
which were abandoned, were calculated along with the population
of Kalavasos. Thus in 1931 the inhabitants run into 957, increasing
to 1243 in 1946 (1051 Greek-Cypriots, 187 Turkish-Cypriots, 5 of
other ethnicity). In 1960 the inhabitants decreased to 1126 (881
Greek-Cypriots, 243 Turkish-Cypriots, 2 of other ethnicity). After
the events in Kofinou in 1967, the Turkish-Cypriots abandoned Kalavasos
and settled in Mari. So in 1973 the community's inhabitants decreased
to 752, all of them being Greek-Cypriots. In 1982 the community's
inhabitants decreased to 655. In 2001 the community's population
numbered 721 inhabitants.
The Kalavasos mines are located 6 kilometres north-west
of the village, having contributed to the employment of a good part
of the population for as long as they were operating.
The Kalavasos region, privileged in many respects,
mainly because of the Vasilikos river that secured irrigation and
watering and also because of its metal-bearing deposits, was densely
populated since ancient times. Today the region is a very significant
archaeological site. The "Tenta" settlement -as well as
the other settlements discovered in the region -present a special
interest.
The valley of the Vasilikos river and the entire
surrounding area must have been wooded and verdant in previous eras,
a fact that also provided -according to the prevailing interpretation
-the name of the village. From the ancient Greek word "vassa",
which means woody valley, came the name of the community.
The Kalavasos settlement was in existence during
the Mediaeval era under the same name and is marked in old maps
under the name Calavaso and Calavato.
The village's church is dedicated to the Virgin
Mary and next to it there is an ancient cemetery. There is also
a Turkish Mosque in the village.
Kalavasos today is a developing community
with all the comforts that modern times have to offer. The village
daily receives several local and foreign visitors that admire the
community's natural beauty and archaeological sites from up close.
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