Description

Tsakkistra is a village of the province of Nicosia, found in the geographic region of Marathasa, about 72 Km southwest from the capital. From the city of Morfou that is found at its northeastern side, it has a distance of about 35 Km. Due to the closing of the main street artery that it was connecting the village with the city of Nicosia via Xeros- Morfou, as a result of the Turkish invasion in 1974, Tsakkistra is connected with the city of Nicosia via Kykkos -Gerakies and the distance from the city of Nicosia via this street is about 115 Km.

Tsakkistra is built at the upper part of the valley of Kambos' river at an average altitude of 790 m, with the western boards being part of the administrative limits of the provinces of Nicosia - Paphos. Characteristic in the region of the village is the mountains with the deep valleys, the abrupt sides and the tall mountaintops from which some of them are higher than 1.000 m. The landscape of the village consists of small streams that supply the rivers Limnitis, Kambos and Xeros that move to the gulf of Morfou, and the rivers Diarizos and Xeros that move to the southerly marine region of Paphos.

At the locality where the village is found, it was found initially the land belonging to the neighboring monastery of Kykkos. Progressively the workers in this area founded a settlement and acquired their own fortunes. The foundation of the village should be placed early in the period of the Ottoman domination. From the geological point of view, the administrative extent of the village consists mainly of hard and durable rocks.

The cultivated ground constitutes only 2% of the total administrative extent of the village and is limited in the valley of Kambos. In the sides of the valley there are vines of wine varieties. Lower, around the watercourse of the river, there are various types of fruit trees, mainly cherry trees and apple trees and in a smaller extent pear-trees, peach-trees, plum-trees and kiwi.

The government owned forest of Paphos occupies the bigger part of the administrative extent of the village. The high rainfall accepted by the forest allowed having rich natural vegetation of pines, golden oaks, "xistarkes", "antrouklies", thyme, maples and many other types of trees and bushes.

The little suitable agricultural area was not enough to nourish the population of the village. For this reason the residents of Tsakkistra, as well as those of the neighboring village of Kambos, they were occupied with the treatment of timber from the around forest region. The logging in Cyprus is related with the villages of Kambos and Tsakkistra. Cattle raising do not exist in the village except from the stock farming of some goats and poultry.