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Savouring Cyprus - by
Dr. Derrick Hurlin
pg. 3 - The Village
of Pano Lefkara
picture of
Pano Lefkara by http://www.vanerp.net/
Sunday was a Festival Day in the nearby
village of Pano Lefkara. So there we went, to see the beautiful hand-made
lace for which Lefkara has long been renowned. Much of it is now machine-made,
but there are still women in the village who practise the ancient craft.
We visited many of the "Lefkarita" (Lefkara lace) shops in
the narrow, winding streets of the village, and enjoyed the Festival
with the locals among the stalls set up in the Church Square.
Near Lefkara, is the Stavrovouni Monastery, high up in the mountains.
So we drove up, up the hair-pinned road - up to the car park in front
of the old Stavrovouni church. The view from the parapet wall was stunning.
Way out over the hills, valleys and fields below, through a haze of
distance that leant an air of remoteness. The Monastery itself, was
higher still, a long climb for me up the steps. For me, because only
men are allowed in the Monastery! No women, no cameras, no noise. Perhaps
it was worth it for the view, but not much else. It's not of course
the original building. The Monastery was founded in the fourth century
by St. Helena, the mother of Constantine. Tradition has it that it was
she who found The Cross, and that she left a piece of it to the Monastery.
On our way to Lemesos the next day, we stopped to see the Choirokoita
site. These excavations, and the few re-constructions, showed us a truly
ancient Cyprus, and how the lived back in Neolithic times - thousands
of years BC. We went to a nearby restaurant to get something to eat
but - can you believe it - the restaurant was closed for lunch! We found
this a number of times. Enigmatic Cyprus.
On the map, the drive from Larnaka to Lemesos is half way across the
island. But once we were out of the city, it was barely an hour along
the splendid A5 motorway. Our little green car carries us through the
gentle hills of the coastal lowlands. As we neared Lemesos, glimpses
of the Mediterranean were promises of treats to come.
next page - pg. 4 -
Polis and the Southwestern drive
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