Arminou

Arminou is a village in the province of Paphos, situated 42 kilometers northeast of the homonymous city, 52 kilometers northwest of Limassol and 102 kilometers southwest of Nicosia. Built on a hillside overlooking the valley of Diarizos and among the wild vegetation of the area, the vegetables and the fruit trees, Arminou of the approximately 20 inhabitants, is one of the ampelochoria (wine-producing villages) of Cyprus. The community is a beautiful scarcely populated settlement with traditional stone houses, narrow streets and a restored stone-built faucet.

Regarding the origins of the name of the village there are two versions, the first one being associated with its first inhabitant, called Arminos, while the second version links the name with the settlement of Armenians in the area during the Byzantine times.

The main church in Arminou is dedicated to Agia Marina, while in the area there is a tin chapel of the saint built in the ruins of an old temple, as well as the chapel of the Timios Stavros (Holy Cross), which is the only one left of the 18th century monastery. The temple of the monastery, which today functions as an archaeological site, once used to host a large wooden gold-plated cross, which, according to tradition, left on its own from the village of Suskiou and came to Arminou. The Greek inhabitants of Suskiou asked for its return, but after negotiations between the two villages and in order to avoid bloodshed, an exchange of the cross with the small chapel belonging to Arminou was agreed upon. So the community kept the cross and after losing its temple, it built today’s church, which is the own that hosts the cross.

One of the area’s attractions is the homonymous dam, built on the banks of Diarizos and which was inaugurated in December 1998 and gave life to the settlement by irrigating the acres of land around the village. The view of the mountains and trees that embrace the lake is magnificent, offering moments of peace to the visitor.

Just outside of the village and towards Milikouri, the visitor also will find an ancient olive tree and the famous Venetian Bridge of Tzelefou, one of the most interesting sights of nature on the island and the largest one in Cyprus.

Finally, in 2011, a Canadian company after geophysical surveys conducted in the area, announced that gold has been discovered in Arminou. As a matter of fact, in the community there is still the abandoned gold mine from years ago.