Palodia

Palodia is a village in the district of Limassol in Cyprus and is located 6 km north of Limassol, 74 kilometers west of Larnaca, 80 km southwest of Nicosia and 72 kilometers east of Paphos.

A village built at an altitude of 235 meters, Palodia is essentially a hilly suburb of Limassol that provides all the necessary infrastructure to its 1,700 residents and the visitors. With private and public schools, private businesses of all types, shops and a pharmacy, the once small community gradually experienced a major residential development, with new cottages and a lot of people coming to live in the area. The very short distance from Limassol, combined with panoramic views, tranquility and fresh air to be found at the settlement, are considered by many as the ideal residence location in a landscape that until 1980 was dominated by vast areas of uncultivated land. The cultivated areas of the settlement are dominated by carob trees, olive trees, wheat and almond trees.

There are two different versions for where the name of the village Palodia comes from. The first refers to a corruption of the word parodia (roadside), after the opening of a narrow passage that had once led to the village, while a second version says that the name is of Frankish origin and also resulted from the corruption of a word. King James A during the Frankish rule forced the Earl of Tripoli to assign the lord of Beirut some villages, including the Palatia (palaces in Greek), today named Palodia.

The area is famous for its threshing floors, a space for the gathering and threshing of grain, which indicates that people were previously engaged in the sowing and harvesting of the earth. The threshing floors of Palodia, at the location of the first settlement and the church of Agios Ilarionas (St. Hilarion), are considered the only ones existing in Cyprus. Later, the settlement was moved due to weather conditions and the Alonia (threshing floors in Greek) were configured into an event space and the location of the Festival of Cypriot Theatre Palodias.

Visitors to the community will see the church of Agios Nikolas (St. Nicholas) and the chapel of Agioi Anargyroi (Saints Anargyroi) located in the area of the ​​Melathron (Edifice) of the Fighters of EOKA. The Melathron of the EOKA Fighters can be found at the entrance of the village and includes housing for the elderly, and outpatient medical care and rehabilitation units.

At the entrance of Palodia, in the courtyard of the elementary school, there is also the monument of the hero of the liberation struggle of EOKA 1955-1959 against the British, Nikos Evagorou who came from the area and gave his name to the youth center that operates with various sports, artistic and cultural activities.

Finally, typical of the community is the survival of two important cultural traits of Cyprus – pottery that you will find in the pottery workshop of the village and beekeeping, since the honey coming from the hills of the area is considered of an excellent quality.