Kormakitis
A village of the Maronites, one of the three recognized religious groups of Cyprus
The story
Kormakitis is a Maronite village in the northwest of Cyprus, in the Kyrenia district. The Maronites are Eastern-rite Catholics. According to a Cyprus government publication, the first of them fled here from Syria and Lebanon at the end of the 7th century, and later more came in new waves. The 1960 constitution recognized the Maronites, Armenians and Latins as “religious groups”, and in a referendum that same year they chose to belong to the Greek Cypriot community. The village is in the north of the island, which the Republic of Cyprus has not controlled since 1974. Then most Maronites became refugees, and only a few stayed in the village. For centuries people here spoke Cypriot Maronite Arabic. Locals call it Sanna, “our language”. In 2008 the Republic of Cyprus recognized it as a minority language.
The Maronites came to Cyprus from Lebanon and Syria. With the Armenians and Latins, they are the three religious groups under the 1960 constitution, and since 1965 each has had its own representative in parliament without a vote. Nearby is Cape Kormakitis in the northwest of the island.
Visiting
The village is in the north: go through a crossing point on the dividing line, the nearest being at Astromeritis or in Nicosia, with a passport or ID card. Car insurance from the Republic of Cyprus usually does not apply there; it is bought separately at the crossing point.
Photos
Sources
- Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus — The Maronites of Cyprus (series Cyprus Religious Groups, P.I.O. 389/2012)
- Kormakitis.net — news and community site of the Maronites of Kormakitis (St George co-cathedral, Sanna section)
- Deputy Ministry of Tourism, visitcyprus.com — Languages and Religions (lists Maronite churches among the religious communities)
- DOM — Preparing for the exam: 146 questions on knowledge of Cyprus (prep question: Maronites came from Lebanon)
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