Tala, Cyprus

Tala (Greek: Τάλα) is a large suburban village 6 km north of Paphos, Cyprus. Many non-Cypriots (mostly British) have moved here permanently or have a summer home in Tala. Agios Neophytos Monastery is 1 km north. Is located 290 meters above sea level. ^[3][4] Tala receives an average annual rainfall of about 520 millimeters; grapevines (wine-making and table grape varieties), citrus fruits (orange trees, lemon trees), locust, olive, almond, and walnut trees, cereals, forage plants, vegetables, and a few banana trees are cultivated in the region. As far as stockbreeding is concerned, it is limited. ^[5][6]

Tala
Tala
Coordinates: 34°50′10″N 32°25′51″E
Country	Cyprus
District	Paphos District
Government [1]
• Community Council President	Areti Pieridou
Elevation	280 m (920 ft)
Highest elevation	614 m (2,014 ft)
Lowest elevation	150 m (490 ft)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	2,695
Climate	Csa
Website	www.tala.org.cy

Church of St Catherine, Tala

History

Tala is the ancestral village of the singer Cat Stevens. His father, Stavros Georgiou, was born here in 1900. Tala is the birthplace of Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, the former Archbishop of Cyprus.

In his book 'Historic Cyprus' (second edition 1947), Rupert Gunnis (at that time Inspector of Antiquities on the island) wrote:

The Church of St. Catherine is a large and well-built edifice in the Byzantine style, with a central dome. The narthex has been added later. A year ago or so two completely unnecessary doors were pierced in the south wall. There are considerable remains of frescoes on the west wall, more especially of the Judgement, and also three heads of animals with water gushing from their mouths, representing the sources of three rivers, perhaps the Jordan, Tigris, and Euphrates. The Gospels and church plate are Russian. About a mile from the village are the ruins of a large church dedicated to St. George. Founders' tombs remain on the north and south walls, with traces of painting in their arches.

Gallery

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  Agios Neophytos Monastery
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Climate

In Tála, the summers are warm, muggy, arid, and clear and the winters are cold, windy, and mostly clear. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 7°C to 30°C and is rarely below 3°C or above 32°C.

Based on the beach/pool score, the best time of year to visit Tála for hot-weather activities is from mid June to late September.

The hot season lasts for 3.4 months, from June 16 to September 28, with an average daily high temperature above 27°C. The hottest month of the year in Tála is August, with an average high of 29°C and low of 20°C.

The cool season lasts for 3.6 months, from December 7 to March 28, with an average daily high temperature below 18°C. The coldest month of the year in Tála is January, with an average low of 7°C and high of 15°C.

In Tála, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year in Tála begins around May 19 and lasts for 4.7 months, ending around October 11.

The clearest month of the year in Tála is July, during which on average the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 100% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 11 and lasts for 7.3 months, ending around May 19.

The cloudiest month of the year in Tála is December, during which on average the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 36% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 1 millimeter of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days in Tála varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 5.1 months, from October 25 to March 28, with a greater than 15% chance of a given day being a wet day. The month with the most wet days in Tála is December, with an average of 8.2 days with at least 1 millimeter of precipitation.

The drier season lasts 6.9 months, from March 28 to October 25. The month with the fewest wet days in Tála is July, with an average of 0.3 days with at least 1 millimeter of precipitation.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. The month with the most days of rain alone in Tála is December, with an average of 8.2 days. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 29% on December 24.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

Tála experiences extreme seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 4.1 months, from June 1 to October 6, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 21% of the time. The month with the most muggy days in Tála is August, with 24.7 days that are muggy or worse.

The least muggy day of the year is February 23, when muggy conditions are essentially unheard of.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Tála experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 4.2 months, from December 1 to April 8, with average wind speeds of more than 16.3 kilometers per hour. The windiest month of the year in Tála is February, with an average hourly wind speed of 18.9 kilometers per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 7.8 months, from April 8 to December 1. The calmest month of the year in Tála is October, with an average hourly wind speed of 13.5 kilometers per hour.

Tála is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average water temperature experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The time of year with warmer water lasts for 3.1 months, from June 30 to October 1, with an average temperature above 25°C. The month of the year in Tála with the warmest water is August, with an average temperature of 28°C.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 4.2 months, from December 21 to April 29, with an average temperature below 19°C. The month of the year in Tála with the coolest water is February, with an average temperature of 16°C.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.5 months, from May 7 to August 25, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 7.3 kWh. The brightest month of the year in Tála is June, with an average of 8.4 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.3 months, from November 4 to February 13, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 3.7 kWh. The darkest month of the year in Tála is December, with an average of 2.6 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Tála are 34.837 deg latitude, 32.433 deg longitude, and 289 m elevation.

The topography within 3 kilometers of Tála contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 564 meters and an average elevation above sea level of 301 meters. Within 16 kilometers contains very significant variations in elevation (701 meters). Within 80 kilometers contains large variations in elevation (1,960 meters).

The area within 3 kilometers of Tála is covered by cropland (46%), artificial surfaces (26%), and shrubs (22%), within 16 kilometers by cropland (37%) and water (31%), and within 80 kilometers by water (76%).^[7]