How the Village of St. Nicholas in Solia Got Its Name

The village of Saint Nicholas in Solia (Solia is a mountainous area of ​​Cyprus in the Nicosia district at an altitude of 300-1300m and is located on the north side of the Troodos Mountains.) did not have its name from the beginning. But a miracle of St. Nicholas prompted the residents to rename their village.

One day a farmer, while tilling his field, came upon a difficulty. The ploughshare of the plow was caught under a large stone. With a spade, the farmer unearthed the stone and pulled it to the surface of the field. There he noticed the stone had a hole at one end equal to another at the other end. The farmer thought that such a stone was useful, and in the afternoon went home carrying it to his yard. Through the hole he passed the cord of his ox to tie him there. In the morning when he woke up, he found his ox dead. He called his neighbors to tell him how his ox died from the stone, since it may have carried demonic energy. His neighbor said his ox died from some grass, and not from the stone. The farmer insisted, however, to the point that one day an old man told him how the ox had died. He said it was a miracle of St. Nicholas, because he heard from his grandfather that in the area where the stone was found a church was destroyed by the Saracenes.

The farmer suspected the old man to be right. One Saturday night St. Nicholas appeared to him and told him that in the area the stone was found there existed his church which was buried deep. He was then ordered to uncover it.

That Sunday the farmer went to church, and after the Liturgy told the villagers of his vision, and begged them to go there with him to uncover the church. Before sunset they followed him, and the found the walls of the church. They dug around the church till the walls came up to their waists, and they were painted. On one wall was an icon of St. Nicholas full-bodied. The villagers then decided to build a church on that spot and named their village after St. Nicholas.

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