Week 4

 Monday 24th March

Today we were tasked with walking a route that Martin has had in his plans for a while but hasn’t been able to complete. This will be a ‘water route’ that interested tourists can walk and identify water cisterns from different time periods. These routes that we have been working on developing are a part of the European IHERIT project that seeks to preserve, restore and manage cultural heritage. On this route we found water cisterns from the Roman empire, Byzantine, Venetian, up to the British rule of Cyprus. We marked there locations on the map and took photos. We ended the day with a hike up a mountain, which was spectacular.

Tuesday – In the morning we went to the Olive Mill to learn some more traditional skills, here we were using lino cuts, paint and t shirts to create traditional artwork on modern clothing in the ‘Lefkaritika’ style. We were using and learning about some of the cultural symbols found in Cyprus. We used for example, the marguerite, an eight-pointed star that symbolised love in the ancient world in Europe. This was in preparation for hosting the Fashion Heritage Network Cyprus on Saturday, they are an organisation that develops a creative youth network aiming to preserve Cypriot fashion heritage.

In the afternoon we went to visit the lost village of Pano Drys. Only about a 10 minute drive from where we live is this abandoned village that contains only the fragmented remains of old walls and buildings. From previous surveying it is thought to be medieval and possibly out of use for over 500 years. We are not allowed the do any excavation unfortunately, but we were able to the take photos that we shall use to plot on the previous survey.

On Wednesday we went on a day trip to Paphos to see some of the famous archaeological sites. The first was the Tomb of the Kings, this is a huge site of underground tombs. Despite the name, there were not actually any kings buried here, they are thought to be the burials of aristocrats and high officials dating from around 400 BC to 300 AD. You can see the development from more basic carvings in the rock to spectacular complexes with Doric columns and frescoed walls cutting into the native rock. In the afternoon we visited Paphos Archaeological Park, which is the remains of an important ancient Greek and Roman city. It contains amazing mosaics in elaborate Roman villas, for example, the House of Dionysos, the House of Aion, the House of Theseus, and more. On the way home we stopped at Aphrodite’s rock.

Thursday was an important day, as we returned to the Islamic graveyard. We did not manage to completely restore the place, but we made a start so a bigger team of people can pick up where we left off. We restored one grave and finished the weeding which made the site look much better.

On Friday we went to Larnaca and visited some more cultural sites. First we followed the remains of the Roman aqueduct from outside the city into the middle of the city to see how they transported water. Then we visited the Hala Sultan Tekke mosque on the outskirts of Larnaca, which lies on the edge of the salt lake. This is an important site for Muslims in Cyprus and a famous one around the world, it is the site connected to the death of Umm Haram (known as Hala Sultan in Turkish tradition), a companion of the prophet Muhammad. This is where Umm Haram fell from her mule and died during a siege of Larnaca.

On Saturday we helped lead the lino cut and print workshop for the Fashion Heritage Network Cyprus. Around 40 people showed up and the day was a success. As I worked today I get Sunday and Monday as my weekend.

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