Zygi

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Description

The community of Zygi lies built in the south coast of Cyprus, about 40 kilometres south-east of the city of Larnaca.  It is roughly in-between the three big cities, Nicosia, Limassol, and Larnaca.  Zygi is the only community of Cyprus that is built on the beach and has an altitude of 8 meters. The village receives an average annual rainfall of about 380 millimetres; mainly vegetables, legumes, forage plants, a few lemon trees, and cereals are cultivated in the area.  Plant nurseries operate as well.  The experimental station of the Institute of Agricultural Research also operates in the area of Zygi. 

The region of the village in which the river Vasilikos discharges is associated with St. Helen, mother of Constantine the Great, who according to tradition after her successful mission in Jerusalem where she found the Holy Cross, landed in the area of Zygi in her second visit to Cyprus. The village -at least in its present form -started being created in the first years of the British domination, a time when the locust bean storehouses were built, the exportation of which started occurring from Zygi.  The growing of locust beans was important in the surrounding area.  Almost the entire locust production of Larnaca but also of Limassol was gathered in Zygi and was stored in the large stone-made storehouses.  Afterwards the locust beans were milled in the locust-mills and from there -through the dock -they were loaded in ships for exportation. 

The name Zygi was given to the village due to the fact that from here the locust-beans were exported and their producers brought them to be weighed (zygizo = weigh) and delivered them to the storehouses. Only one company of locust-bean gathering and processing operates in the community today, the Co-operative Association of Locust-bean Disposal of Larnaca, which apart from locust-beans gathers and promotes the cereals and the almonds of the wider area. 

Zygi has started developing in a rapid mode -during recent years -as a coastal country settlement/complex.  The clear air of the sea as well as the beautiful natural environment of the region provides an outlet for the pressure and stress of the big urban centres. Several apartment complexes and cottages have been built, roads have been constructed, and the services and infrastructure projects have expanded so as to serve both the permanent inhabitants as well as the visitors of the region. Today Zygi is the most known and reputable fisherman's village of Cyprus. Large quantities of fish are absorbed by the seafood restaurants that operate in the community, while the surplus is channelled to the domestic market.