The Traditional Architecture of Cyprus

The rich history of Cyprus, from the dawn of human civilization to the end of the Middle Ages, is punctuated by momentous monuments. But together with the island's ancient ruins and the Byzantine churches stands its anonymous vernacular architecture, the built environment of the historic settlements. These old buildings, constructed to shelter the life and ambitions of ordinary people, summarise the material expression, the living testament of the culture, the beliefs and the political, social and economic conditions of our ancestors.

The form and organisation of settlements and their vernacular buildings depend on the climatic conditions, topography of the land, the available materials and their properties, but also on socio- economic aspects. Villages seem to gradually grow upon the landscape, be it plains, rounded hills or steep mountains, forming a remarkable harmony between natural and manmade environments. Settlements were compact, densely built, with narrow, earthen or stone-paved streets uniting the separate dwellings and connecting the settlement to the agricultural land at its outskirts.

The rural house was built without following a set plan, but according to the needs of the family. The organisation of the house replicated the reclusive nature of the community. The closed inner courtyard was the heart of the home, a main living and working space for both people and also animals. Surrounded by high walls, it was an inherent and necessary component of the dwelling space and delivered access to the different parts of the house, typically two or three makrinaria (otherwise known today as narrow long rooms), cellars and/or di- chora (also known today as double space rooms) which were constantly positioned against the edges of the plot, either in a linear or an L-shape formation.

The transition from the rural to the urban type of dwelling started toward the end of the 19th century, almost in accordance with the end of the Ottoman era. This change also coincided with the emergence of the Cypriot middle class, the result of a socio- economic rearrangement that brought with it a new insight to economic and social practices. The island's vernacular architecture soon began reflecting the changes in Cypriot society.

The main rooms of the urban home were organised, defined and built together at the same time. The middle-class owner began to make his dwelling space, fit to his own specific needs - this space still borrowed from the basic layout of the rural house (which had by then become unsuitable to the middle-class urbane lifestyle). For some time, numerous areas, such as the washroom, kitchen and laundry room, remained in distinct units from the main building because of their reduced importance as spaces for social gatherings.

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Source : articlesbase.com