Tala is a large suburban village 6 km due north of the city centre of Paphos

Paphos

Paphos , sometimes referred to as Pafos, is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, about west of the...

, Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

. Many non-Cypriots

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 (mostly British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

) have moved here permanently or have a summer home in Tala. Ayios Neofytos Monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 is 1 km north.

Tala is the ancestral village of the singer Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens

Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

. His father, Stavros Georgiou, was born here in 1900.

In his book 'Historic Cyprus' (second edition 1947), Rupert Gunnis

Rupert Gunnis

Rupert Forbes Gunnis was an English collector and historian of British sculpture. He is best known for his Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, which "revolutionized the study of British sculpture, providing the foundation for all later studies on the subject".-Life:Born in Cadogan Square,...

 (at that time Inspector of Antiquities on the island) wrote:

"The Church of St. Catherine

St. Catherine

-People:*Saint Catherine of Alexandria , also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine*Saint Caterina Volpicelli *Saint Catherine of Bologna *Saint Catherine of Genoa...

is a large and well-built edifice in the Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 style, with a central dome. The narthex

Narthex

The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...

 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

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, Tigris

Tigris

The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...

, and Euphrates

Euphrates

The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...

. The Gospels and church plate are Russian

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. 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."