Kambi Levkosias
Kambi Levkosias is a village in the province of Cyprus and it is situated 48 kilometers southwest of the homonymous city, 49 kilometers northeast of Limassol, 72 kilometers west of Larnaca and 113 kilometers northeast of Paphos.
Built at an altitude of 860 meters in the Troodos Mountains and in a valley of the Maroulene tributary, in the central part of Cyprus and very close to the border with the Larnaca province, Kambi of Nicosia is an area of vineyards, walnuts, olives and almonds. The settlement is characterized by stone houses and narrow and picturesque streets leading to the slopes or to the depth of the valley.
Regarding the origins of the name of the village there are various versions, the most prevalent being that which refers to a small village with a plain (kambos is “plain” in Greek and kambi is a diminutive), while another speaks about the noble Cypriot Petros de Cabin, who in 1367 was sent by King Peter I as an ambassador to Egypt and probably was the owner of the village. A third version is linked to its location on the mountain curve (kampi) and the fourth version connects the village with neighboring Farmaka, as it is also known as “Kambi tou Farmaka” due to its proximity to this community.
Kambi Levkosias has existed since the medieval years and during the Frankish rule, it was one of the two Cypriot villages originally given to the Knights of the Templar Order, and when the Order was dissolved, the village was passed on to the Knights of the Order of Saint John. In the past, it was built in the Ftericha area on the west bank of the Pharmaka river and was called Agios Georgios, but after an epidemic broke out, it forced the residents to move and settle in the current location.
The only church of the village is dedicated to St. George and was built in 1700 AD. The stone-built building in the center of the village was renovated in the late 19th century and in the middle of the 20th century and is a one-aisled church with a white bell tower and a wooden roof that used to touch the ground, but after the 1950 renovation, it is now two meters high. In the interior of the temple, the women’s quarters are entirely made of wood, with impressive carvings, that can also be found on the Holy Cross of Omodos. The icons of Virgin Mary, Christ, St. John the Theologian, John the Baptist, St. Spyridon and the icon of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, date back to the 17th century (1600-1680 AD), while two gospels are kept in the temple, of 1624 and 1818. The miraculous icon of Saint George was found in the ruins of the church, in the area formerly occupied by the village and dates back to 1600 AD. On the site where the picture was found, there is a large stone with engraved letters that have not been deciphered yet. According to tradition, the icon was found after a villager’s vision, where the Saint pointed out where the icon is and where to build his chapel.
In the courtyard of the church, the cultural center is found, while a few meters further north of the small park, there is the Hero’s monument to the three missing since the Turkish invasion of 1974 (Antonis Andreas Kourea, Andreas Panayi Papayiannis and Andreas Panayi Charalambous).
To the west of the village, the two beautiful bridges over the river Kambi offer magnificent views from their location. The first was built in 1942 by the English government of the island and is a stone-built single-arched bridge and beside it there are wooden picnic tables. The second, a few hundred meters further, is a wooden bridge resting on stone pillars and wooden benches around it, ideal for resting under the plane trees and next to the riverbed.
Traditional Cypriot cuisine and delicious appetizers (mezedes) are served in the tavern of the community.