Tradition

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Traditional Products and Dishes Traditional Products and Dishes

Donkey Milk
The production of donkey milk is not particularly common. However, a lot of scientific work underscores the benefits of using this type of milk.
Yoghurt
Traditional yoghurt or “sour milk” as it is also known is still produced in some villages.
Olive-oil
Olive-oil is one of Cypriots’ favourite products. Several households continue to produce their own olive-oil mainly to cover the needs of their family.
Buns with carob honey

“Buns with carob honey” is one of the traditional delicacies made in many villages.
Arkatena
‘Arkatena’ are traditional buns with a special taste. The most well-known ‘arkatena’ buns are made in Omodos.
Almond Sweet
A sweet with a very special taste is the almond sweet whose main ingredients are pale almonds.
Spoon Sweets
Spoon Sweets are made in several households of Cyprus. In the past, women used to welcome their guests by offering home-made spoon sweets.
Zivania
The traditional alcohlic drink of ‘zivania’ is produced even today in several villages of Cyprus. For the production of the drink one needs a distiller, which consists of a copper boiler, a copper or clay cap and a cooling tube. ‘Zivania’ constitutes a spirit of wine or pomace known as ‘zivana’.
Wine
In several villages of Cyprus people continue to produce local wines using grapes from the vineyards. In particular, they mainly produce dry dark wine, as well as the famous sweet wine ‘commandaria’.
Commandaria
‘Commandaria’ is a sweet wine with a special taste and unique scent. ‘Commandaria’ is produced in multiple semi-mountainous villages of the Lemesos district. The name of the famous wine is linked to the military administration of the Hospitaller Knights that was known as Commanderie or Commandaria.
Resi
One of the traditional dishes of Cyprus is ‘resi’, a wedding dish which was mainly served in the villages of Pafos. ‘Resi’ was made using wheat beans which were cooked in broth taken from various types of meat.
Rose Water
In some villages of Cyprus people still continue to produce rose water, which is in fact used as an ingredient in several homemade sweets.
‘Soutzoukos’ and other grape byproducts
Many delicious traditional sweets are made using grape juice. These include the ‘soutzoukos’, ‘palouzes’ and ‘kiofterka’. In some villages of Cyprus there are women who continue to make these traditional sweets, this way contributing to the survival of the traditional way of preparing them.
Frumenty
Frumenty is traditionally made using goat-sheep milk and ground wheat. The frumenty soup is one of the traditional dishes of Cyprus. Quite often, pieces of ‘halloumi’ cheese are added to the soup to give it a unique taste.
Halloumi
A white cheese which has been made on the island ever since the very old years and it is one of the most popular Cyprus products. In many villages of Cyprus, mainly senior housewives continue to produce the traditional ‘halloumi’ cheese in their houses using goat or sheep milk while following the traditional recipe. However, the industrial production of ‘halloumi’ prevails nowadays.
Village Homemade Bread
In many households of Cyprus residents continue to make village homemade bread, which is baked in traditional clay ovens heated by burning logs.

Sources:
Websites of Community Councils referred in the text.
Ioannis Ionas, Traditional Cyprus Professions, Lefkosia 2001
* Article published in Ethnos Newspaper entitled “It Beautifies and Heals …” March 14^th 2011, retrieved from http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=22733&subid=2&pubid=58020951

Traditional Professions Traditional Professions

Agogiatis (Driver)
One of the professions which had survived on the island was that of the “agogiatis” (driver). The “agogiates (plural form of agogiatis)” were the ones who undertook the transfer of goods mainly by using camels, donkeys, mules or wagons. What is noteworthy is that up until the decade of the 50s there were a lot of camels on the island which were mainly used for the transfer of heavy sacks over long distances, while the “agogiates” would stop to rest and eat in one of the inns or other similar premises.
Barber
According to Ionas, barbers in the village were mainly wandering and would usually offer their services in coffee-shops. In fact, they would undertake not only the haircut and shaving of the villagers but also the extraction of teeth. After shaving they used to put some “zivania” or rose water on the customers’ faces.
Blacksmith
The profession of the blacksmith survived in several Cypriot villages. The services of the blacksmith were necessary for farmers and craftsmen such as shoe-makers and builders. The blacksmiths would make and repair metal tools and parts that other professionals used. The tools and parts they made included shovels, sickles, pruning scissors, shoe-makers’ nails, pulleys and chisels. Also, they would make various useful household objects such as locks, baby cots and bars.
Shepherd
In the agricultural society there were shepherds who had their own flocks, as well as shepherds who took care of flocks that belonged to large land owners.
Kallikas (Horseshoe fixer)
Being a horseshoe fixer was one of the professions that was particularly necessary due to the needs of agricultural life. The horseshoe fixer would attach, once or twice a year, horseshoes to the hoofs of the animals, both to donkeys and mules, which were quite useful for the daily life of farmers, so that they could walk with ease.
Builder
The profession of the builder is one of the oldest professions which survive up until today. According to Ioannis Iona, learning the skill of building would begin at an early age. In particular, the father used to decide whether an 11 or 12-year-old boy would leave school and become an apprentice of a builder to learn the skill of construction. The aforementioned decision of the father was associated with the belief that being a builder would earn them a satisfying income.
Chair Maker
The chair maker would make traditional chairs which constituted part of every household’s furniture. Nowadays, such chairs continue to exist at the coffee shops of the villages.
Silk Processor
One of the most important professions of Cyprus was that of the silk processor, who was a craftsman who would remove the silk from the silk-worm cocoon to produce thread.
Miller
Nowadays, in several villages of Cyprus there are old water and olive mills which have been salvaged over time. The miller of the olive mill and the water mill was responsible for the operation of the mill. The operation of the traditional mills seized approximately in the middle of the 20th century.
Wood Carving
In the past there used to be wood craftsmen who would mainly make various wooden tools, as well as wood carvers who would decorate various wooden household objects, such as mirrors and cupboards.
Mattress Carder
The profession of the mattress carder is one of the traditional professions that were gradually abandoned due to industry. The mattress carder would mainly produce and repair pillows, mattresses and cotton quilts.
Carpenter
The profession of the carpenter or cabinet maker is another one of the traditional professions of Cyprus. The carpenter undertakes the making of furniture such as tables and cupboards, as well as the making of the wooden equipment of houses including the wooden roof and, the doors and the windows of a house.
Stratouras
‘Stratouras’ was the craftsman who made a kind of donkey saddle called ‘stratourka’ and which was placed on both donkeys and mules that were used for transports. The ‘Stratourka’ were particularly resistant and were made of thick cotton materials. These were attached on the back and top of the animals and according to the Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia they had a ‘Π’ shape.
Turner
Turners were workers whose main tool was a turning machine called shaping lathe. This lathe was used to decorate wooden objects and pottery.
Shoe Maker
Up until the end of the 20th century, in several villages of Cyprus there used to be someone who dealt with shoe making. The shoe maker was the person who would make and repair the leather boots of the villagers.
Logger
In the areas neighbouring with forests there were many residents who dealt with logging, although this was not their main occupation.
Pottery
Clay pottery was necessary for every household and mainly for storing various products. Each potter would specialise in a particular style, as well as in the production of pottery that had a specific shape and size.
Silversmithing
Silversmithing works constitute important aspects of folk art. Kato Lefkara is one of the villages of Cyprus with an important history in the art of silversmithing.
Basketry
Basketry is an art that survives even today. In some villages of Cyprus there are people who are familiar with this art and are able to produce various types of baskets, such as ‘tsestos’ and ‘corves’.
Production of ropes
The production of ropes was one of the most demanding tasks a person had to perform. The process of selecting and collecting the plant appropriate to use for the production of the rope up to the preparation of the rope required a lot of effort and several days of hard work.
Production of bricks
In some villages of Cyprus there were workers who used the soil of the area to make bricks and tiles which were first placed into kilns made from soil, the well-known ‘kaminia’.
Pumpkin Decoration
The decoration of the pumpkin called ‘ploumisma’ is an art known to several villages of Cyprus. The pumpkins were used as containers.
Production of textile products and the Art of Embroidery
The arts of producing textile products and embroideries were known to several villages of Cyprus. In the past, women would weave several textile products on the loom, such as dresses, sheets and curtains. In many parts of Cyprus there are distinctive embroideries including the ‘pipila’ made in the village of Omodos, the embroideries made in the village of Fiti, the famous ‘lefkaritika’ embroideries made in the village of Lefkara and embroideries made using a big needle called ‘smili’

Source:
Websites of Community Councils refered in the text.
Ioannis Ionas, Traditional Cyprus Professions, Lefkosia, 2001
Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia, Filokypros Publications, 1986
Cyprus Handicraft Service Website

Customs Customs

Christmas

Some days before Christmas, all the women of the village start preparing for the big feast.

The preparations include cleaning of the house, dusting, cleaning of the furniture, cooking of rusks in the traditional mud ovens, painting of the houses and of the external wall and fencing.

On Christmas day, people goes to church. After the service they receive communion (“paskazei” in the Cypriot dialect) and then they exchange wishes and kisses.

Thereafter, they return to their homes and the entire family sits on the table for the traditional soup “avgolemoni” (made of eggs, lemon and rice) or trachana (traditional soup made of coarse wheat), in a pleasant environment.

A week before Christmas the inhabitants of Dora went in Paphos and bought some pigs. Two or three days before Christmas, they butchered them and with their meat they made lountza (traditional smoked ham), sausage and minced meat. With their tummy, they made dry-salted meat (pasta) and with the feet and head they made “zalatina” (a kind of brawn). The sausages were dipped in wine and then they were exposed to the sun. The other parts of the pig, were semi-cooked and kept in “koumnia” (clay pots) with all their fat, which melted after cooking. This way they had supplies for a very long time.

New Year’s Eve

On New Year’s Eve, the housewives prepare “Vasilopitta” (traditional pie) and put a coin in it. The pie is cut in the afternoon of New Year’s Day. The person who finds the coin, is considered the luckiest person of the year.

On New Year’s Day people go to church to attend to the service and when it is finished they exchange kisses and wishes.

They also play cards in coffee shops and in different houses until morning. Some of these games are “Shiemes”, “Poka”, “Poker”, “Patito” and “Triantaena”.

On the day of the epiphany, all the housewives made “loukoumades” (fried honey puffs) and ate them with their families. One old tradition said that “kalikantzaroi” (goblins) came to the village and roamed at night scaring the people. So, women threw some “loukoumades” on the roofs of their houses believing that “kalikantzaroi” would eat them and leave the village quietly.

After the service, the priest of the village accompanied by a child, went to all the houses and hallowed (sprinkled with holy water).

Lent Period

The Lent period begins on the Sunday of the Prodian Son and continues till the Sunday of “Tyrofagos” (last day of the Carnival).
Usually during this period, a lot of people masqueraded and went to friendly houses where they amused the owners.

On Clean Monday (or Shrove Monday), the inhabitants overflowed the fields where they celebrated the day, eating Lenten food.

Σήκωσες

Οι σήκωσες αρχίζουν από την Κυριακή της Απόκρεω και συνεχίζονταν την επόμενη Κυριακή της Τυροφάγου.
Συνήθως αυτές τις δυο Κυριακές, αρκετά άτομα μασκαρεύονταν και γύριζαν σε συγγενικά και φιλικά σπίτια. Εκεί διασκέδαζαν τον κόσμο με αστεία και η διασκέδαση συνεχιζόταν με φαγοπότι.

Την Δευτέρα της Καθαράς, οι κάτοικοι έβγαιναν στα χωράφια τους, για να κόψουν την «μούττη της Σαρακοστής» τρώγοντας νηστίσιμα φαγητά.

Days before Easter

The days before Easter all the houses were cleaned out and the housewives cooked the traditional rusks (arkatena) and the famous “flaounes” (pastry with cheese and raisins). On Holy Thursday they painted some eggs, usually red, which they would clink after the Resurrection Ceremony.

Saturday of Lazarus

On Saturday of Lazarus, groups of two, mainly young children went to all the houses of the village and chanted “Lazarus”. The housewives offered them eggs and money. This custom has not survived.

Palm Sunday

On Palm Sunday, women took leaves from olive trees to the church. The leaves would remain in the church until Pentecost when they would be hallowed and taken back home for the traditional “kapnisma” (literally smoking). Specifically, the leaves from the olive tree were put in the “kapnistiri” (earthen-plated vessel) with cinder and used for the “kapnisma” of the houses and people. This practice is considered as apostrophic for the evil spirits and it survives to this day.

Holy Thursday

On Holy Thursday, the holy icons of the church are covered with a black veil indicating the bereavement of the faithful. The same night, a replica of the holy cross with Christ on is set. On the right of the cross there is a replica of Apostle John and on the left another replica of Virgin Mary.
All the habitants of the village go to church and genuflect before the holy cross and attend to the service of the 12 gospels concerning the Passion of Christ, His Crucifixion and His death.

Holy Friday

On Holy Friday the faithful decorates the epithaph. Young women chant the dirge (lamentation), while three myrrh-bearing women strew the epitaph with myrrh, aromas and flowers. During the night the procession of the epitaph takes place in the central roads of the village. During the procession, the women of the village strew the epitaph with the “mereha”.

Holy Saturday

During the morning service of Holy Saturday, when the priest says “Anasta o Kirios” (Arise, O God), the faithful slam the church’s stools and the black veils, which cover the holy icons fall.

Around 11 pm, the bells toll merrily in order to invite the Christians to the happiest service of the Christian church.

Outside of the church there is a big fire, called “Lampratzia” (eastern bonfire). At midnight the priest says “ defte lavete fos ek tou anesperou fotos” (come forward and receive light from the eternal light) and comes out of the church with the lay clerks for the Procession. People light their candles from the holy light and they all go in the yard of the church for the Resurrection Ceremony.

After the service, people return to their homes, with their candles and keep the holy light for 40 days. They eat the traditional soup “avgolemoni” (made with eggs, lemon and rice) or trachana, flaounes.

On Sunday, after the service, people make the traditional lamb on charcoals and they celebrate the day. In the afternoon, the Community Council organizes some events (including traditional games) in the village’s plaza. The events continue until Easter Monday and Tuesday.

Easter Sunday

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The information was obtained from both the Community Council and the Community Council’s website.

Traditional Products and Dishes Traditional Products and Dishes

Traditional Professions Traditional Professions

Customs Customs

Under the supervision of NETinfo Group of Companies

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