Agia Varvara Levkosias

Agia Varvara Levkosias is a village of the homonymous province in Cyprus and it is situated 26 kilometers south of Nicosia, 66 kilometers northeast of Limassol, 29 kilometers northwest of Larnaca and 131 kilometers from Paphos.

Built at an altitude of 310 meters and in the central part of Cyprus, with wild vegetation of pine, acacia and many cypress trees, Agia Varvara of Nicosia is a region of grain crops, legumes, olives, almonds and vineyards, while its permanent inhabitants are more than 1,500 and are constantly increasing due to residential development with modern dwellings and the proximity to the urban center of Nicosia. Many work in the neighboring capital, others are engaged in agriculture and livestock farming, while others are employed in factories in the industrial zone and the pottery situated outside the village. In the settlement, besides the many crafts’ workshops and industrial units, there is a kindergarten, elementary school and high school.

Historically, the community has existed since antiquity, as various caves with carved cross-shaped roofs have been found in the area, testifying to their use as catacombs by the early Christians. Under the Frankish rule, the settlement was a feudal land, while later during the Ottoman domination, it was a mixed village where some Turkish Cypriot families lived. Indeed, many Turks, when they settled in the neighboring Nisou, expelled several of the locals who then moved to Agia Varvara Levkosias. In the past and in the Middle Ages, there was the small settlement of Agios Georgios in the area, but after the catastrophic fire in the then temple and the rescue of the icon of Agia Varvara, the locals rebuilt the church and dedicated it to Saint Varvara, who gave her name to the village.

In the area the visitor can eat in the taverns and the grill houses of the village, but also tour the many sights of the community. In the site of Almyras and in the Sia valley in 1982, a unique in Cyprus copper processing and copper production unit, dating back thousands of years, was found here, belonging to the Cypro-Archaic (circa 600 BC), Cypro-Classical (400 BC), and in the Cypro- Hellenistic period (around 150 BC). In particular, the excavations brought to light an ore mine with mine remnants, two kiln furnaces, and various types of copper melting furnaces. The findings of written pottery, the clay anthropomorphic figurines and the limestone ram statuette show that worship rituals also took place in the area.

The main church in the community is Agia Varvara, and there is the chapel of the Timios Stavros (Holy Cross), the chapel of Agia Paraskevi and Agios Nektarios. The Monument of Heroes with two vertical marble slabs and three columns is dedicated to the memory of the victims who fought or fell for their homeland. But one of the most important sights is the workshop of Agia Varvara Levkosias, a pioneering workshop where a flour mill, a barley mill, an olive mill and others are moved by a single machine. The space with the impressive machines built by the local “Mastre- Glioris” has been transformed into a museum and today it has been included in the programs of the Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO).

The impressive sculpture park of the settlement and the “Fitorio (Nursery)”, a green area with pine trees, cypress trees and acacia trees, as well as the beautiful stone built dam in the “Kourkas” area on the Yialia River to the northwest of the village, complete the image of Agia Varvara Levkosias.