Klonari

Klonari is a village in the district of Limassol in Cyprus and is located about 40 km northeast of Limassol, 90 km from Nicosia, 60 km from Larnaca, and more than 100 km from Paphos.

Built at the foothills of the range of Troodos Mountains, Klonari is a lowland village surrounded by green crops. With nearly 30 permanent residents and some children, it is perhaps on of the few remote villages of the island of Aphrodite, where up to this day, you can still see the housewives seating in their courtyards and in the shadow of the vines preparing their crops. Its inhabitants mainly produce oranges, tangerines and apples, and in recent years more and more get involved with carob trees.

Historically Klonari, like other villages in the area, for example the abandoned settlement of Vikla, where part of a fief. The name comes from the branch of a tree (klonari in Greek means branch) that someone once cut and noticed that it had a cross on it. The most prevalent folk legend about the name, however, is the version that makes reference to the geomorphology of the settlement. In the past, when you would see the village from afar, looking from the top of a nearby hill, it actually looked like a tree branch.

Most visitors coming to Klonari enjoy wandering around the narrow alleys of the village, among the small houses with the tiled roofs and beautifully planted flowers in pots. Also, in a well-hidden place, only known to the locals, there is an oak 400 years old with a hidden burrow carrying water, which sometimes is still used for the village’s water needs.

In Klonari visitors can take a walk to the church of Agios Nicholas (St. Nicholas) with the stone drinking fountain, a church of Franco-Byzantine architecture with a wooden roof, with elaborate frescoes and a carved wooden iconostasis of the 16th century. Adjacent to the church, there are the renovated guest quarters, with earthenware jars of Commandaria (sweet local wine) left in the courtyard. Moreover, the settlement has another small chapel, dedicated to Agia Paraskevi (Saint Paraskevi).

Starting from the village Klonari the traveler can visit alsoa other nearby settlements, such as Kellaki, just 3 km away, and Vikla, approximately 2 km away.