Kato Arodes

Kato Arodes is a village in the province of Paphos in Cyprus and it is situated 28 kilometers northeast of the homonymous city, 90 kilometers northwest of Limassol and 173 kilometers southwest of Nicosia.

Built at an altitude of 600 meters on the plateau of Laona and near the edge of the Akamas National Park, Kato Arodes is an almost abandoned village with many vineyards and is one of the ampelochoria (wine-producing villages of Cyprus) of the island. Until the Turkish invasion of 1974, the village was mainly inhabited by Turkish Cypriots and has since been abandoned by its inhabitants for the occupied areas of northern Cyprus. The mosque without a minaret still stands, recalling the settlement’s past.

According to the sources, the settlement dates back to the Medieval times under the name “Rhodos” because it was the property of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, whose headquarters were until 1522 on the island of Rhodes. Hence the present Arodes.

Very close to the village, at about 1 kilometer are the Pano (Upper) Arodes, where the visitor will see the church of Agios Kalandionas, an 18th century building situated on the paved square and very close to the traditional cafe. This particular church is the only one dedicated to this saint who celebrates on April 26 and was one of the 300 Alaman Saints who came to Cyprus in the 7th century after the Saracens raids in Palestine. Just outside the village, there is also his holy water spring.

Agios Kalandionas came to Cyprus in order to become an eremite together with two others, Agios Agapios and Agios Varlaam, whose marble shrines are situated next to the church. According to the local tradition, the two sarcophagi belong to Saint Agapitiko and the Saint Misitiko (The name of the one comes from the word Agapi, meaning Love and the other one from the word Misos, meaning Hate). In the past, the lovers went to the village priest, who took dust from the shrine of St. Agapitikos, put it in holy water or in food and gave it to them to offer to their unrequited love. On the other hand, those who wanted to change their parents’ opinion about their marriage or even cause erotic aversion, they took dust from the shrine of St. Misitikos.

In Kato Arodes, the white community office stands out, reminiscent of an 18th-century church without its bell tower.

Very close to the community, and in particular 10 km southeast, there is the Avaka Gorge, the most famous in Cyprus and 2 km long, with steep rocks on its two sides up to 80 m high. Not too far, there are also many of the beautiful beaches of the island, such as the beach of Lara.