Athalassa can be described as the “green lung” of a rapidly expanding city with minimal green grounds, Nicosia. The Athalassa area is situated to the south-east of Nicosia, at a distance of about 5 Km from it and is surrounded by Aglandjia to the north and east, Strovolos to the west, and Yeri and Latsia to the south. It is supposed to have taken its name (Athalassa = no sea, in Greek) from the fact that in recent geological years it was, like the rest of Mesaoria, below sea, that's why the conches one runs into the area are abundant. In medieval maps, a settlement is mentioned (area of government manor house and Saint George) with the names Ailasa, Ailaza or Atalassa, providing an explanation for the ruins of the medieval castle and nunnery La Cava on little Aronas, built by King James I. It is very likely that the first houses Giovanni Mariti saw in 1767 were in the vicinity of the Farming Manor. The terrain of the area is relatively plane (130-190 metres), with the exception of the two trapezoid Aronas mountains, little Aronas and big Aronas (Lion's hill), while torrent Vathys with its two confluents flow through the area. There are two reservoirs in Athalassa, the small reservoir of Saint George and the Athalassa dam. The Athalassa dam was built in 1962, at the junction of the torrents Vathys and Kaloyeros, for irrigation purposes. It is earth-filled, 18 metres tall, 447 metres long, it has a 230.000 sq. m. surface, 791.000 cubic m. capacity and 103.000 cubic m. volume.

Geologically, Athalassa is part of the circum-Troodos sedimentary succession and, lithologically, consists of three (3) major geological formations, all of which were formed during the Cenozoic Era. The dominant formation of the area is the Athalassa Formation (biocalcarenites, sandstones, sandy marls and conglomerates), which has received its name because of its greater compact ground in the Athalassa area, while there are small regions that belong to the Nicosia Formation (biocalcarenites, sandstones, silts, gravels, sandy marls, marls, limestones and conglomerates), as well as a small ground of the Alluvium-Colluvium Formation (sands, silts, clays and gravels). The formations are marked on the map as Q (orange), Pl (yellow) and H (ochre), respectively.

In the Athalassa Park, a gem of perdurable forest and cultivating efforts, over 300 silvan, shrubby and herbaceous vegetal species exist (mainly exotic, while there are also 10 indigenous herbaceous and shrubby species, as well as 11 rare ones), while the fauna of the Park is equally admirable, with 173 bird species, 27 butterfly species, 7 mammal species, 6 reptile species and an amphibian. Let it be noted that the only natural plant community is the one in the region of the dam, with hygrophilous vegetation. The wide variety of aquatic mainly migrant birds, of which some hibernate while most of them lay over here during the grand migrations of Autumn and Spring, is mainly due to the waters of the two dams and the generic climatic conditions.

The Athalassa area receives around 308 mm average annual rainfall, which is one of the lowest of the island. In combination with its typical semi-dry Mediterranean climate, with high temperatures (mainly between May and October) and low humidity, as well as the extremely poor moisture capacity of the subsoil (in the largest part of the area there is no aquifer or, if there is, the water is subsaline), it is not surprising that until the beginning of the 20th century it was practically a barren naked land with exiguous signs of bush vegetation, mainly palloures and konnarka (bristly bushes), tamarisks and salt cedars. In 1904, the Greek director of the Department of Agriculture, Panayiotis Yennadhios, succeeded in persuading the colonial government to acquire this private parcel of land, intending to turn it into a government manor. Since October 1904, the Forests Department started an unprecedented intensive afforestation, with various silvan species - mainly pines, eucalyptus trees, cypresses, acacias and casuarinas - its result being the present Athalassa forest, an entirely manmade forest.

In 1926 the Forest nursery was founded, while in 1940 an area of 863 ha (1 hectare = 10.000 sq. m.) is declared as “Athalassa Main State Forest”, with the result that a large area of the Forest was until recently gradually granted into various government bureaus (Agricultural Research Institute, Athalassa Agricultural Manor, Athalassa Mental Institution, Centre of Energy Applications of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Forest Nursery, Department of Veterinary Services, Higher Technical Institute, Meteorological Service (radiosondes), Service for Collection of old items and Agrarian life, four National Guard and ELDYK Army Camps etc). In 1963-1964 the Botanical Garden was established (area of 3 ha), in which around 200 exotic and self-grown tree and bush species are planted, while in 1967 the Pines' Clone Bank was established (area of 7 ha), with about 1000 pines, and in 1975 the Seed Production Garden (area 7 ha) with about 3000 spawns of Turkish pines. Other forest experiments of the Forest Research Branch are the Experimental Eucalyptus ground (area of 15 ha), with 75 eucalyptus species and the Pine Hybrids (area of 2,5 ha).

Since August 1974, approximately 40 ha of the Athalassa Main State Forest are within the UN Buffer Zone (the area to the east of the blue line on the map). In 1985, in an effort to preserve the place from private and other interventions, about 357 hectares were declared as “Athalassa National Forest Park”, the only one on the island. Part of the Athalassa Main State Forest, other than the aforementioned usages, is covered by the New Nicosia General Hospital (which is expected to be completed by 2006), as well as the University Campus (which began to be built in 2002). Cows, goats, sheep and pigs are bred in the Farming Manor of the Department of Agriculture, in special stables and pigsties, while various cultivations are tested in the Experimental Mansion of the Department of Agriculture. It was here that the British created the first farming unit, with the first constructions been built in 1912 and 1921. Hares and partridges are bred in the aviculture wing, while various olive varieties are developed in the hydroponic greenhouse. The “Park of Nations” is found in Athalassa, in which foreign Heads of States plant trees in remembrance of their visit, while here is also the Artillery Recruitment Centre (KEPB).

The Athalassa Park is the largest and most important green ground of greater Nicosia, acting as a stopper against the pollution and exacerbation of the natural environment, coinstantaneously offering various forms of entertainment, such as physical exercise, environmental training and ecological agrotourism. The landscape, even during the aestival months, is impressive, with a belt of green lying on the land. Other than its main function, that is forest and cultivation research, the park is also used as a picnic place, fishing spot, for apiculture, collecting flowers, billets and snails, bird watching, bicycling, as a nature trail (there are over 20 Km of trails), sports ground (with football, volleyball and basketball grounds) and military exercises. Hunting is strictly prohibited. An important contribution to the development of the park is the customary tree planting by schools and organised groups on Tree Day.

Map of Athalassa

Geological Map