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Home | Settlement A | Arodhes
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In 1975 (a year after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus), Kato Arodhes was abandoned and many of the buildings fell into disrepair. Some houses have now been renovated and made into holiday homes on the provision they be returned to their rightful owners in case of a settlement in the Cyprus dispute. Most residents of Kato Arodhes moved to Kapouti (known as Kalkanli by Turkish Cypriots) to the north of the island. In 1995 an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale destroyed 20 stone houses. The population of Pano Arodhes has decreased in the past 30 years as the population has aged and younger residents move to towns for employment. In his book "Historic Cyprus" (Second ed. 1947) at page 177, Rupert Gunnis (who was Inspector of Antiquities on the island at the time) described the village as follows: "The mediaeval name of the village was Rhodes, from the fact that it was the property of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, whose headquarters were until 1522 in the island of Rhodes. "The Christian village contains an eighteenth-century Church of St. Kelandion, an early bishop of Paphos. To the north side of the church lies the large stone sarcophagus of St. Agapiticos, while the companion one of St. Misiticos is to the south. The village legend is that those who wish to win the love of a person, be it a girl or boy, come secretly at night and chip off a fragment of the sarcophagus of St. Agapiticos. This is powedered and introduced into the loved one's drink, who will immediately reciprocate the donor's passion. Conversely, should a person desire to quarrel with another, he merely carries out the same procedure with powedered stone from the sarcophagus of St. Misiticos. It is interesting to note that the latter is far more worn away than that of St. Agapiticos, but this is explained by the fact that its powers are much in request by young men and women who wish to change their lovers." |
