Astromeritis (Greek: Αστρομερίτης) is a large village in the Morphou Department of the Nicosia District of Cyprus. It is located 30 km from the capital Nicosia.
Some of the nearest villages are Peristerona, Potami and the occupied villages Zodia and Katokopia.
The village appears in the early Venetian maps as Astromoriti.
The inhabitants of the village are 4.500. It grew bigger after the Turkish invasion of 1974.
The most of the inhabitants are farmers but many others now work in the capital.
The factory SEDIGEP (ΣΕΔΥΓΕΠ) is responsible for the packaging and the manufacture of agricultural products and has contributed to the agricultural development not only of the village but also of the entire area. There are also several smaller factories. These factories have helped many inhabitants of the village who work there. The main agricultural products are grain, potatoes, citrus fruits, melons and water melons (during summer).
The elementary school of Astromeritis has 220 students and 18 teachers. There is also a pre-elementary class.
The church of Saint Afxivios
In the centre of the village and on a small hill you can see the church of Saint Afxivios. The church was built in 1875. It has a big Basilica and can accommodate 300 people. The church is made of stones and its colour is grey. It was recently renovated and painted. The old bell tower was demolished and a new one was built with three electronic bells.
Architecture
The first settlement of Astromeritis is consisted of mud brick houses and stone made roads. Around the main entrance of the houses you can usually find sculpted frames. There are also some very interesting old houses with the “dichoro” (two roomed bedroom), traditional kitchen (which was independent from the other rooms), paved yard with beautiful flowers, barn stable, traditional mud oven and all of them with high walls around the houses.
Recently the village has started to expand to the new road of Troodos - Astromeritis. In this location of the village there are mainly new houses. On the west side of the village there are two settlements built for the refugees of 1974.
Location
The location of the village is very important. It connects Nicosia, Morfou, Tilliria, Solia, Marathasa and Troodos.
Green Line crossing
Astromeritis is the location of one of six crossings across the UN Buffer Zone between the area effectively controlled by the Republic of Cyprus and the unrecognised ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’. The town on the northern side of the border is Zodhia. The crossing is only for vehicular traffic. The crossing was opened on 31 August 2005.
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