RSS
Home | Settlement K | Kissonerga
|
|
|
Kissonerga is about eight kilometres down the main road from Paphos towards Coral Bay. Along the coast road are several hotels, mini-markets, numerous bars and taverns, as well as small complexes of shops mainly catering for tourists. Away from the coast road, Kissonerga village has a main street where there are restaurants, several mini-markets, two banks, two coffee shops (one of which also operates as a sub post office), a bookshop, florist, chemist, a couple of hairdressers, and more. There is also an internet cafe near the playground. At the far end of the main street, opposite the school, which caters for children from nursery age up to 11 years old, there is a communal area which is mainly used as a playground. Bordering on this area is a monument dedicated to two young men of the village, Christos Miltiadous Kkelis (23) and Georgios Michalis (17) who were members of EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) and who died for their cause. The inscriptions read - ΑΓΩΝΙΣΤΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΟΚΑ 1955-59 ΕΠΕΣΕ ΜΑΧΟΜΕΝΟΣ ΥΠΕΡ ΠΙΣΤΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΤΡΙΔΟΣ (EOKA FIGHTER OF 1955-59 - FELL FIGHTING FOR FAITH AND HOMELAND). The main street that runs through Kissonerga is named after Kkelis. EOKA started a guerrilla campaign against British colonial rule aimed at union with Greece (Enosis) on 1 April 1955. The campaign lasted until 1959 and caused the deaths of more Greek Cypriot civilians than the total of British killed. It created civil strife and mistrust between the two Cypriot communities. The first British soldier to be killed in the conflict, Lance Corporal A. R. L. Milne, was killed in Kissonerga when a bomb was thrown into his vehicle. Across the road from the playground is the Church of the Transfiguration (also known as Metamorphosis) and not far from this church are the ruins of a tiny chapel dedicated to Saints Zinovia and Filonilli. It is a modern church but preserves the icons from the 1775 church. These two saints accompanied St Paul to Paphos to help spread Christianity. They died and were buried in Kissonerga. To the north of Kissonerga a new football stadium has recently been built in amongst the numerous plantations of bananas. Before the advent of EU directives, Kissonerga was awash with these thriving plantations, but now, sadly, many of them have fallen into decay as the bananas produced did not fit the exacting criteria that allowed them to be exported within the EU. Among the establishments to be found in Kissonerga, are a horse-riding centre and the boat yard which sells, repairs and services boats of all shapes and sizes. Construction of Paphos Marina has long been planned for the Potima Bay area, located to the North of Kissonerga. The marina will be the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean and will have a capacity to accommodate 1.000 vessels. Construction is expected to begin in 2009. |
