This is the Cyprus that we once knew
Source: Cyprus Mail
Seen for the first time in the Cyprus Mail, these photos tell the story of life on the island from 1965 to 1974
In the years leading up to 1974, Eleni Papademetriou travelled the island.
A renowned ethnographer, philologist and photographer, she documented a way of life that has since been reshaped beyond recognition by war, modernity, and time.
Today, she has published her work in The Cyprus I Knew. The following are a few of the fascinating field notes and photos from that book.
MESAORIA
“The spacious houses, built with bricks of raw mud and straw and whitened in places with plaster, merged with the colours of the plain; every Easter the housewives whitewashed the frontage and the high surrounding wall (simintirin). In Lefkoniko the village mayor, Antonis Paraskevas, took us to many weavers. Vasilis Dakkas showed us around his mansion and his collection of folk art in the National Collection of the Patriots, beneath the austere eye of Grigoris Afxentiou, hero of the Liberation Struggle 1955-59, who looked down from his photograph.”
TYLLIRIA
“In the autumn of 1969, we began research in the Tillyria area. The villages are sparsely situated; carob and olive trees, scattered between fields of grain, occupying the larger part of the area. The dwellings are primitive, built of stone and mud with a coat of red earth instead of whitewash. In the village of Varisha, Savvas Michaelis made sweet-toned bells for the flocks; in Pigenia and Loutros, Doula Stylianou and Revecca Phylactou wove cotton and wool sheets. The majority of inhabitants were elderly. The men wore vraka with waistcoat, and the women dresses from dark-coloured alatzia.”
KARPASIA
“April of 1970 in the Karpas peninsula was unforgettable: springtime, the fields filled with multicoloured wildflowers and fragrant shrubs. The sea air was balmy. Interspersed between the wheat fields grew low bushes of wild Rooibos, aromatic mastic, pine, and large swathes of carob and olive trees.
It was linked to the rest of the island only by roads fit for animals, the so-called donkey-paths and camel-paths, and it was not until 1880 that dirt roads for carriages began to open. The monastery of Apostolos Andreas, at the end of the peninsula, is one of the island’s most important places of pilgrimage.”
PITSILIA
“My research in the villages of Pitsilia lasted for one week, in the summer of 1971. I stayed in the small guesthouse above Sophia’s coffee-shop.
The villages are enclosed in valleys between the mountain peaks of Troodos, where the winters are cold and wet. Grapevines are cultivated in terraces on the sides of the mountains, while vegetables and fruit trees are planted in small irrigated orchards; wild, fragrant roses are nurtured along the borders of the planted areas, from which excellent rosewater is distilled. The inhabitants work hard in order to survive on this harsh, mountainous terrain.”
KYRENIA
“In Kyrenia, research continued throughout July of 1971. Kyrenia is perhaps the most beautiful area of Cyprus. The mountain range of Pentadactylos descends smoothly to the northern coast, on its slopes villages full of light and colour stand out amongst the greenery, facing the sea. The inhabitants, farmers, craftsmen, and fishermen, combine characteristics of both the sea and the mountains, flexible and open to new trends and products. The peaks of the mountain range form the ‘five fingers’ of Pentadactylos, site of medieval castles and imposing architecture.”
LAPITHOS AND KARAVAS
“The twin villages of Karavas and Lapithos, west of the main city of Kyrenia, were blessed by the natural environment and water sources. Springs gushed all year round from Pentadactylos, watering the trees and crops and turning the flour mills. The stone houses, one or two storeys, surrounded by orchards, were in an urban style and indicative of the relative prosperity of the area. The mixed agricultural and industrial economies of Lapithos and Karavas contributed to their growth as regional agricultural markets and craft centres which could rival the towns.”
LARNACA VILLAGES
“In the period from 1971 to 1972, I travelled to Upper and Lower Lefkara and the surrounding villages. The economic affluence of the Lefkara villages is evident in the two-storied stone buildings. The renowned cut and frayed embroideries, art and hallmark of the women of Lefkara, have also become famous outside Cyprus, known as lefkaritika. They were sold to wealthy Greek communities abroad by travelling salesmen from Lefkara, who contributed to the villages’ economic development; indeed, the most successful of them grew rich and settled their families abroad.”
RURAL PAPHOS
“From 1971 to 1974, research was extended to remotest Paphos. The yellow silk of the mountain villages was considered the strongest and most suitable for commerce; indeed, from 1925 to 1945, a foreign company ran the Silk Factory, the Metaksourgeio, in the village of Geroskipou, which employed many women from the area. The mountain villages Fyti and Theletra are well known for their multicoloured woven materials with characteristic embroideries (fidkiotika) of geometric and stylised plant motifs on sheets, towels, tablecloths, pillows, and cotton wool bed covers (ichramia).”
NICOSIA
“On the southern slopes of Pentadactylos, northeast of Nicosia, Kythrea quickly became urbanised, being in easy reach of the capital for work. The Kefalovryso Spring made the place especially prosperous, for as the river rushed downward, it turned the water wheels for the flour mills, contributing to the economic well-being of the village. The area produced silk, oil, cotton, nuts and cereals. The women were skilful weavers of silk and cotton, while the men excelled in the carpentry of chests and iconostases for churches.”
In July 1974, the Cyprus Eleni knew came to an abrupt end. The villages she visited, the artisans she met, the rhythms of life she recorded were lost to war, displacement, and the march of modernity.
Through her lens and notes, we remember what was. And in The Cyprus I Knew our past is, once more, achingly alive.
The Cyprus I Knew is published by En Tipis Publications
The original article: belongs to Cyprus Mail .
