Yeni Iskele

On the return from Karpaz to Famagusta you pass the village Yeni Iskele. The Greek name of the village is Trikomo. The name Yeni Iskele is a reminder of the relocation of Turk Cypriots from the Turkish district Iskele (Scala) in the city of Larnaca on the island's south coast. The Turk Cypriots who lived there before had to go away after the war. They moved in 1975 to Trikomo, which was renamed to Yeni (new) Iskele. At the centre of the village there's the 15th century church of St. Jacob (Ayios Iakovos). There's an odd coincidence in the fact that the village was the birthplace of the EOKA-colonel George Grivas. He was a leading spokesman of Cyprus reunion with Greece. Grivas died six months before the war in 1974.