Dierona

With its beautiful bridge

Dierona is a pure Greek village in the province of Limassol that belongs to the geographical region of Pitsilia. It is located approximately 20 kilometres northeast of Limassol near the village of Arakapas.

Dierona is built in a hill area, on the right of the Germasogeia River, at an average altitude of 460 metres above sea level.
To the north it borders Arakapas, to the northeast with Eptagoneia, to the east with Prastio Kellakiou, to the south with Akrounta, to the southwest with Mathikoloni, to the west with Apsiou and to the northwest with Kalo Chorio.
Photo: Stelios Nikolaou‎

Historical data:
At the time of the Frankish rule, Dierona was a feud of Knights Templars and after the dissolution of their battalion they were taken over by the Knights of the Order of the Ioannites. At the same time Dierona is marked as a Ierona on the map of Kitchener.

In 1862 on the map of the French tourist Mas Latris is marked as Pano Ierona with a population of less than 500 inhabitants, while in the southwest it is marked Kato Ierona. It is possible that the Kato Ierona was a place name and not a second settlement of the village.

According to the censuses made in Cyprus since 1881, there is only one community, not two. It is therefore supposed that the names Pano and Kato were related to the neighborhoods of the village, as it is customary to separate the semi-mountainous and mountainous villages of Cyprus.
Photo: George Papageorgiou‎

Churches:
The main church of Dierona is dedicated to Archangel Michael, to which another large church outside the village is also dedicated to Archangel Michael. This church today (2018) it is abandoned and it is unknown when it was built.

In addition to the community, the Church of Prophet Elias is built in the area "Lyvitsi", which was built 25 years ago. At that point, there was a stone-built little room with the icon of Prophet Elias, which was destroyed over time.
 Photo: Georgia Piitardou

Sights:
In Dierona you can visit the Community Park of the village, a beautiful construction of 2003.

Also the bridge of Dierona was built about 200 years ago and helped to cross the river from Mylos where the villagers went to grind the wheat.
Photo: Χριστίνα Νικολάου

It is worth visiting the old watermill of the village, which dominates the bank of the river Germasogeia, passing by the community. This watermill operated until 1950.
Photo: Stelios Nikolaou‎

Population:
According to population censuses carried out in Cyprus, the population of the village had several fluctuations. In 1881 it had 189 inhabitants, which slightly increased by 1891 to 202. In 1973 the village had the largest number of inhabitants of all the censuses that were made, this year its inhabitants were 358. According to the census of 2011, Dierona had 192 permanent residents.

The crops and occupations of the inhabitants:
The main crops of the Dierona are citrus fruits and especially mandarins. A few olives and legumes are also grown, and there are a few carobs and almonds.

The livestock farming of the village is very limited. A few goats and a small number of poultry are bred.
Photo: Stelios Nikolaou‎

For the map of the area, click HERE