Delikipos is a beautiful small village of the Larnaca district dominated by the green colour of pines. While strolling around Delikipos one can admire, apart from the areas covered in pines, grain, olive and carob cultivations, as well as a lot of prickly pears standing within the housing.

Particularly imposing are the age-long olive trees for which one could claim that they have stood there as sleepless guards of Delikipos for centuries in order to protect its few residents. According to the census of 2001, Delikipos had only 8 residents, just 1/3 of the population number recorded at the beginning of the 80s, while in 2011 the population number rose to 15 residents.

Historical information

According to Florios Voustronios, Delikipos used to be a fief back in the 15^thcentury and more specifically in 1461. Delikipos also appears on Venetian maps as well as in a manuscript by Leimonidas. The Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia adds that the village is marked on medieval maps as “Dilichiper”.

Naming

The following versions are available with regards to the naming of the village.

• The first version, as the Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia preserves, links the naming of the village with the name of the first owner of the area who was named Delis. More specifically, the name of the village derives from the phrase “the garden (kipos) of Delis”.
• Another version supports that the village’s name is a compound word formed by the Italian word “bella” which means beautiful and the Greek word “kipos” which means garden, concluding that the meaning of the compound name is “beautiful garden”. According to the Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia, this version is the most correct one due to the fact that the village existed prior to the Turkish occupation (1570-71).

Sources:
Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia, vol.4, Philokypros Publications, Nicosia 1986
Giorgos Karouzis, Strolling around Cyprus, Larnaca, City and District, Nicosia 2007, p.100-101