Elia is a Turkish community in the occupied part of the Lefkosia district. It lies 10 kilometres south-west of Morfou, at an elevation of 90 metres, in the geographical region of Morfou, beside the river that takes its name from the village. It was also known as Elia of Lefka.1 In the 1960 census it had 851 inhabitants, all of them Turks.
The official gazetteer of Cyprus writes the name “Elia” and records the river of the village under the same name.2 In the medieval sources the village is written “Eglia”, and in the list of fiefs of the 1460s “Eglia de Pendaïa”, that is, Elia of Pentageia.3 On the land of the village the Gazetteer records, among others, the place-names Asprochoma, Kataramenos, Plevra and Vasilika.4
The 15th-century Cypriot chronicler Leontios Machairas tells that in the war with the Genoese, in 1373–74, Thibalt Belpharage, who from a burgess had become a knight and turcopolier, that is, commander of the light cavalry, and had received Petra and Trimithia from King Peter II, very much wished to acquire the village of “Eglia” as well. The king promised it to him because it lay near Petra, his own village.5 According to the Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia, this is Elia, which lies near Petra in Solea.6
The 16th-century Cypriot chronicler Florio Bustron lists Elia among the villages watered by the river that runs down from Troodos towards the valley of Solea, together with Petra, Melanissia and Peristeronari.7
In the 1460s King James II gave Elia as a fief to Balian de Nores. Bustron describes him as a knight of a very old and noble house. A little later Balian took part in a conspiracy against the king, and when it failed he was imprisoned in Keryneia castle until James’s death.8
In a Venetian statistical memorandum of the late 15th century, published by the 19th-century French historian Louis de Mas Latrie, “Casal Eglia” is listed among the villages of Marco Piacenti.9
In the land survey carried out by the Ottoman administration in 1832/33, which recorded only those who held property, Elia belonged to the district of Morfou and is described as a mixed village, with 59 households holding property. The owners had mainly grain fields and other fields, and a few cotton fields. 108 trees are recorded, 95 olives and 13 mulberries, as well as almost 880 sheep and goats and 46 oxen and cows.10
The Greek Orthodox church of the village is dedicated to Saint George and dates from the 15th or 16th century. It was a parish church until the 19th century, and the Register of Ancient Monuments lists it as an Ancient Monument. According to the Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia, which cites the British researcher Rupert Gunnis, who recorded the monuments of Cyprus in the 1930s, the church was once painted, but around 1935 only the Dormition of the Virgin above the north door and fragments of wall paintings in the apse of the sanctuary survived.11 The same Register also lists a cistern of the village as an Ancient Monument.
According to the Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia, before 1974 citrus fruit, mainly oranges, mandarins and grapefruit, cereals and a few olives were grown on the land of the village. Stock-breeding was well developed: in 1973 188 stock-breeders had 2,751 sheep and 644 goats. The proximity of the Skouriotissa mine and of the mining installations at Xeros helped the population to grow steadily.12
According to the Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia, the village had 331 inhabitants in 1881, 355 in 1891, 359 in 1901, 423 in 1911 and 437 in 1921.13 In 1931 Elia had 465 inhabitants, 16 Christians and 449 Muslims, and in 1946 594, all of them Muslims (the 1931 and 1946 censuses recorded only religion). In 1960 it had 851 inhabitants, all of them Turks, and in 1973 around 1,100 Turks (estimate).
During the Turkish invasion of 1974 Elia was occupied by the Turkish army. Two soldiers were killed in the area of the village.
The 2009 list of churches in the occupied areas of the Church of Cyprus records the church of Saint George as fenced and partly maintained.
Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia (Polignosi), «Ελιά Λευκωσίας»; A Complete Gazetteer of Cyprus, vol. 1, p. 355.↩︎
A Complete Gazetteer of Cyprus, vol. 1, pp. 355, 356.↩︎
Florio Bustron, Chronique de l’île de Chypre, ed. R. de Mas Latrie (1886), pp. 28, 421.↩︎
A Complete Gazetteer of Cyprus, vol. 1, pp. 204, 228, 491, 1037.↩︎
Leontios Machairas, Chronicle (Chronique de Chypre, trans. E. Miller – K. Sathas, Paris 1882), pp. 327–328; Florio Bustron, Chronique de l’île de Chypre, ed. R. de Mas Latrie (1886), p. 342.↩︎
Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia (Polignosi), «Ελιά Λευκωσίας».↩︎
Florio Bustron, Chronique de l’île de Chypre, ed. R. de Mas Latrie (1886), p. 28.↩︎
Florio Bustron, Chronique de l’île de Chypre, ed. R. de Mas Latrie (1886), pp. 421, 426–431.↩︎
L. de Mas Latrie, Histoire de l’île de Chypre sous le règne des princes de la maison de Lusignan, vol. 3 (1852–1861), p. 512.↩︎
The 1832/33 Ottoman Property Survey of Cyprus (Harokopio University, Sylvia Ioannou Foundation), «Elia» (accessed 3.11.2026).↩︎
Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia (Polignosi), «Ελιά Λευκωσίας».↩︎
Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia (Polignosi), «Ελιά Λευκωσίας».↩︎
Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia (Polignosi), «Ελιά Λευκωσίας».↩︎
Elia had one church. Since the Turkish invasion of 1974 they have been under occupation. Each is shown below, with photographs and, where known, its condition.
According to the Church of Cyprus list of churches in the occupied areas (2009), the church dates from the 15th – 16th century. The list describes it as “Parish church until 19th c.”. Its condition in 2009 is given as “Surrounded with fencing-Partly maintained”.
In Elia itself, two people were killed or last seen, both soldiers. Below, the tab "From this community" lists those who came from Elia, and the tab "At this community" those killed or last seen there.
No records.
The Cyprus Post postal code for this community was and is 2830.