Viticulture has historically been an important part of the social and economic life in the Mediterranean, while wine is reckoned among the oldest documented trades. The aim of the study is to record, evaluate and analyze spatial data from historical sources in order to gain insights into the dynamics of the viticultural landscape from the beginning of the Ottoman period to the present day. The study was based on (a) three historical maps published in 1885, 1942 and 1969, (b) records from historical surveys—two from the Ottoman period (1572 fiscal survey, 1832/33 property survey) and the British agricultural census of 1931, (c) present-day records from the vineyard survey of 2009 carried out by the Republic of Cyprus. In the beginning of the study period the center of viticulture was well established within the area of the southern and eastern slopes of Troodos massif. The vineyards expanded mainly around the same growing area until WW2 when they gradually began to be relocated in southwest direction to lower altitudes. This long-term trajectory of spatial patterns was driven by external demand for the product but also by the interplay of environmental, topographic and cultural factors, as well as by the state’s policy framework which largely reflected long-term Mediterranean-wide patterns.

This chapter examines the unequal distribution of wealth in Ottoman Cyprus as reflected in the 1832/33 property survey of the island, which records the holdings of more than 20,000 individuals. The statistical analysis of the data offers important insights into the social stratification on the island: namely, that it was a highly polarized one. Attempting to better understand the cause of and effect of wealth inequality in the short term, the chapter situates this discussion within the context of larger debates about whether, or the degree to which, agrarian capitalism was functioning in the Ottoman world. It revisits the çiftlik debate and identifies evidence for a differentiated mode of organization that would maximize efficiency and cost reduction, leaving the question of commercial agriculture and agrarian capitalism open. It further employs geospatial and geostatistical analysis to examine the correlations between the unequal distribution of wealth and the supply of labor in çiftliks. Specifically, it focuses on indexes of poverty in settlements in close proximity to çiftliks and how these relate to the equivalent indexes for the rest of Cyprus. In doing so, it seeks insights into a better understanding of the social and economic role of çiftliks with reference to landholding and labor. <!----> <!----> <!----> <!---->

This study reconstructs the agricultural landscape of Cyprus in the early 1830s, a time of extraordinary socio-economic pressures on the island and immediately prior to the economic and administrative transformations of the later nineteenth century, drawing on the Ottoman property survey of 1832/33, an island-wide register documenting over 20,000 households and their assets across 622 principal settlements. The records were converted into a geospatial database and analysed through GIS, spatial statistics, and a transparent, reproducible landscape classification framework, complemented by historical cartographic evidence. The reconstruction reveals distinct agricultural regions shaped by environmental conditions, settlement patterns, and the interplay between subsistence and market-oriented production, with marked concentrations of viticulture, olive cultivation, cotton, grain, sericulture, and pastoralism. A hierarchical classification assigns 471 settlements (77%) to a single-dominant landscape type, 92 (15%) to co-dominant zones, and 50 (8%) to diversified categories, collectively synthesised into a broader interpretation of the landscape as an integrated socioecological system. The findings demonstrate that Ottoman surveys offer considerable, albeit bounded, potential for historical landscape reconstruction, providing a dated baseline for the study of Mediterranean agricultural landscapes and a transferable methodological framework applicable to any region with comparable historical records.