Sotira

Sotira is a town located in the Famagusta District of Cyprus, near the town of Famagusta. Sotira is a coastal town with a blue flag at Ayia Thekla beach. Sotira is famous for its Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Christian Orthodox churches. According to the census of 2012, the town has 5,589 inhabitants, number which has risen rapidly over the last 5 years. Sotira is the third largerst town in the unoccupied by the Turkish troops area of Famagusta district. Sotira was converted into a Municipality in January 2012 which gave to the town more autonomy and self governing.

Sotira is located about 10 kilometers south of Famagusta city.

Geomorphology

Sotira is built on an average altitude of 75 meters above the sea. Τhe landscape is as a plain and has a little inclination to the sea.

Flora and fauna

A piece of Paralimni lake belongs to Sotira. That means that there is a great flora and fauna which has to be protected by international organisations. A type of snake called "nerofido"(Greek: Νερ?φιδο) exists in Paralimni lake and it's protected by the Cypriot government.

The main occupations of the people who live in Sotira is agriculture and livestock. In addition, Sotira is famous for its plant called "kolokasi"(Greek: κολοκ?σι), which in English is famous as "Jerusalem artichokes". Since 2009, there is a festival held every year dedicated to "kolokasi", usually on October. The last years there is observed a small industrial development which is expected to have a further development the next years, after the conversion of Sotira into a Municipality.

Name origin

The name of Sotira means "Savior" in Greek. Some of the legends about the creation of the village says that an ancient settlement used to live near the costal area of Ayia Thekla. After a pirate attack, the group was forced to move to a more secure zone, so they did. They moved to the place where Sotira exists till today, and they gave that name to the village because of their salvation from the pirates. Another legent says that the name of Sotira came from the Church of Transfiguration (Greek: Ιερ?ς Να?ς Μεταμορφ?σεως του Σωτ?ρος) which was built in the 12th century by the Byzantines.

Government of Cyprus decided to convert Sotira into a Municipality after a request from the Community Council of the village. Thus, residents of Sotira voted on July 3, 2011 and a percentage of 90,35% said yes. The conversion of Sotira into a Municipality was on 1 January, 2012. The current mayor of the town is Georgios Ttakkas.

The town's football club is Onisilos Sotiras FC named after the revolutionary Onisilos,. The club was founded in 1978. Onisilos FC is a regular team at the second division for many years. Their greatest achievement so far is participating in the top division of the island in 2003-2004 season. The town is proud of its club as many of its footballers are actually locals.

The coastal area of Ayia Thekla is just 5 kilometers west of Ayia Napa, the most famous summer resort of Cyprus and across Europe. Also, it is located 8 kilometers south of Sotira and 50 kilometers east of the airport of Larnaca. Ayia Thekla has evolved due to the property boom which has occurred since Cyprus joined the EU in 2004. The last 6 years Ayia Thekla had a development on properties and villas and it also had a blue flag for Ayia Thekla beach, after a movement of Sotira's community council.