Lemba

Lemba is situated about 6 kilometers northwest of Paphos in the homonymous province of Cyprus, 70 kilometers from Limassol and 150 kilometers southwest of Nicosia.

Built at an altitude of 80 meters from the sea, among many fields where vegetables are grown, Lemba “looks out” over the Mediterranean against the backdrop of its famous banana trees. Originally the village was Turkish Cypriot and after the Turkish invasion of 1974 it has been inhabited by Greek Cypriot refugees. Today the permanent residents of the community are about 500, while most of them are young.

Being one of the most ancient villages of Cyprus, Lemba was first inhabited during the Chalcolithic era (3800-2500 BC), as evidenced by the homonymous Prehistoric Settlement with the three different rooms of bricks excavated in the area, as well as a number of children’s tombs along with their objects, as well as cross figurines associated with ancient religious practices. In addition, animal bone finds testify to the robustness of the economy of those settlements, abandoned at 2,400 BC, as was the case with the Prehistoric Settlements of Kissonerga. However, the most important archaeological find of the settlement, the “Lady of Lemba”, which has been identified with the history of the community, is a cross-shaped limestone figurine dating back to the 3rd millennium BC.

Combined with its rich history, Lemba has a rich, inexhaustible archaeological tradition. In 1970 began an informal experiment. The Archaeological Research Center of Lemba is established by the Archeology Department of Edinburgh and with the inclusion of participants from neighboring villages. Being a kind of a cultural camp, this experiment has been established over the years and has evolved into a separate community, the experimental village of Lemba, which at the same time was the first experimental archeology program in the entire Eastern Mediterranean. More specifically, a large group of archaeologists headed by Edgar Peltenburg attempted to live in the area as our ancestors, and eventually constructed seven structures of stone, wood, clay and plaster, following the construction patterns of the Chalcolithic period. This space, which is now accessible to the public and is part of the Aphrodite Cultural Route, gives visitors the opportunity to come in contact with the circumstances of those times, by directly showcasing elements and objects of the everyday life of prehistoric times.

With the foundation of the Lemba School of Fine Arts in 1981, artist Stas Paraskos made Lemba internationally recognised, while some lucky tourists can now see artists working and in any case get lost in their art and the plentitude of artifacts, most of which are replicas of archaeological finds in the area, as well as other objects – figures that combine traditional with the most modern techniques. The ceramic tradition of the village is concentrated today in the workshop of George Georgiades’ family (located in the heart of the community and next to the community café), initiating artists and visitors in the art of pottery.

Modern artistic creation never stops in Lemba. Recently, the settlement was established as the Cultural Village of Cyprus, followed by the creation of the appropriate infrastructure for its promotion outside the borders of Cyprus (with artists’ hosting programs, a hosting center for artists and students, etc.).

The dense vegetation of the village with the natural monument of the riverbank adjacent to Lemba’s residential center, the wooden bridge with its stone drinking fountain, which leads to the renovated park with the perennial trees, are some of the reasons why someone should visit the village. In addition, the ecclesiastical monuments, the temple of Agios Stefanos and the chapel of Agia Konona (between Lemba and Kissonerga), are some of the attractions that complement the image of the place.

Finally, Lemba is located close to the communities of Emba Paphou, Kissonerga and village of Chloraka, while in the wider region there are many tourist facilities.