Massari is a small village in the north part of Cyprus which has been under Turkish occupation since 1974. The village has been rename “Sahinler” by the occupying “Turkish authorities”. The village was build on the river banks of the Serrachis river and has been found on maps since 1538 with the name of Masara, which in Francograty meant rural villa.
Until 1974 the village was only habited by Greek Cypriots and had a population of approximately 400 villagers. It developed rapidly mainly due to the fertile land and the continuous water supply from the Massari dam. The cool breeze from the western shores, the fertile land and the fact that it was situated at the crossroads between three main Communities and Towns (Morfhou- Kyrenia- Nicosia) promised fast and vast growth. Now all its residents are scattered in the south part of the island as well as abroad.
The village had its own Primary School and already in 1974 had began the construction of a new building to accommodate the increasing number of students. For secondary education, as with all the other residents of the region, students had to go to either Morfou or Nicosia.
The spiritual father of the village is St Antonios, in the memory of whom is dedicated the it is a small, single-naved domed church with a semicircular arcade on the East, topped by a semi-cupola dated circa 15th century. Based on information collected from the villagers as well as from Rubert Gunnis[1] the chapel walls were originally covered with murals which appear to have been covered over with lime in 1920. The Community Council in collaboration with the Church Committee and the Technical Committee of Cultural Heritage remonstrates in order to include the chapel under the protection of UNESCO, so as to be included into their list of archaeological sites to be restored.
Since 2007 the Community Council has promoted communication with its namesake Community in Rhodes island, aiming at the collaboration of the two parts, the social and cultural exchange between their residents. In January 2009 the Community Council of Massari Cyprus signed a Protocol of twinning with the Masari Community in Rhodes. In 2010, this accord was extended the Municipality of Archangelos in Rhodes, to which Masari Community belongs to.