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The Urban House
The transition from the rural to the urban type of
dwelling began toward the end of the 19
th
century,
almost coinciding with the end of the Ottoman era.
This transition also coincided with the emergence
of the Cypriot middle class, the result of a socio-
economic restructuring that brought with it a new
perception of social and economic practices. The
island’s vernacular architecture soon began to re-
flect the changes in Cypriot society.
The location of the main house at the far end of the
building plot became outmoded – the new urban
dwelling, projected as one finite unit, needed to
be displayed so it could communicate its owner’s
social status. Thus it was gradually brought for-
ward toward the front of the building plot, where
it bordered the street. The new style, as dictated by
modernisation, was neoclassical; its morphologi-
cal elements adorned city mansions but also influ-
enced the humble buildings of the period in both
urban and rural environments.
The main rooms of the urban dwelling were de-
fined, organised and built together at the same
time. The middle-class owner began to create his
own dwelling space, suited to his own specific
needs – this space still borrowed from the basic
layout of the rural dwelling (which had by then
become unsuited to the middle-class urban life-
style). For some time, various areas, such as the
kitchen, washroom and laundry room, remained in
separate units from the main building because of
their diminished importance as spaces for social
functions.
The individual rooms in a house were organised
around a principle which was to become the nu-
cleus for each urban housing unit. The central hall-
way or
iliakos
served as an entry from the street,
while one or two rooms (
makrinaria
) were located
symmetrically on either side of it. If the width of
the plot allowed, one of these
makrinaria
would
become a
dichoro
by the inclusion of an arch.
Originally, the
iliakos
itself used to have an open
arch toward the courtyard in the back – this open
arch was later was closed off with a door. Despite
small changes, the
iliakos
remained the main room
of the house.
Later, the strict symmetry governing the layout
of the house became more elastic. Serving as a
central hallway, the
iliakos
continued to have the
same ample proportions, but one of the side rooms
became wider to accommodate important social
functions and evolved into the salon, while other
rooms became smaller. The final phase in the evo-
lution of the urban dwelling was completed when
the house included all its necessary spaces under
one roof and became one individual free-standing
unit, situated within an urban fabric of similar
units. Inside the dwelling, the tripartite organisa-
tion of rooms persisted, but over time this became
subject to numerous alterations with a noticeable
shift away from its original symmetry. One end
of the
iliakos
could be separated down the middle
with glazing, while often a verandah appeared in
place of the
iliakos
at the back of the house. De-
spite variations, the whole building was gathered
under a four-pitched tiled roof.
Modern addition on traditional building. Photo: Irene Hadjisavva
Restored flour mill. Photo: Irene Hadjisavva