The small, abandoned settlement of the Venetian Empire on the island of Cyprus, carrying the name of an administrative region of southern Italy, Drapia, is another “monument” of residue.
It is built on a hill slope, northwest of the village of Kalavasos, halfway on the road taking you to another abandoned settlement, that of Parsata. The two settlements are found in the limits of the administrative periphery of the Ora village.
The two small “villages” have a common predestination and a largely common history. They were built for the same reason and were abandoned for the same reason too.
In the ancient years, humans dug and found many precious metals in the mountains surrounding Kalavasos. They created many mines and miners from different areas of Cyprus coming from as far as Paphos, arrived in Kalavasos looking for a job.
Need for housing lead them to building two settlements. The first one, Parsata was on the peak of the hill dominating the valley of the river of Vasiliko and Drapia was on its feet. The were connected by a meandric dirt road, since the area is “divided” by many ravines.
Drapia was built out of stone, following the characteristic architecture of the semi mountain areas of Cyprus that frontiered with coastal areas. High surrounding walls, a central door of a less significant height and two-storey houses without windows on the ground floor. The ground floor was entirely built out of stone and the one above it was made up of plinth.
They had large beams on the ceilings and above them there were reeds tied together. Subsequently they placed a layer of liquid clay, which when dry it became impervious to water. On the roof of the house they placed Byzantine type tiles, and on the ceiling of the ground floor they put square marble. Their walls were "dressed" with a layer of gypsum which was whitewashed in the end.
Life in Drapia, was hard and difficult. Men closed the doors of their houses from very early in the morning, well before the sun arose from the waters of the sea of Kalavasos, having hoes on their shoulders, and descended to the chapel of Agios Georgios. They hastily made their cross without stopping, invoking the help of the Holy for safe return from the mine and continued going downhill to the bottom of the valley where the river of Vasilikos flows. Then, depending on what mine they would "sneak" in to earn their wages, they followed different paths, this time ascending the slopes of the mountains of Kalavasos.
When the darkness did not allow them to continue digging, they took the way back. Upon arriving at the chapel, they waved goodbye to their colleagues who would continue the journey to Parsata and hastily "hid" in the safety of their home.
The years went by and the mountain stopped giving. It dried up. The mines closed their doors and the miners were left without jobs or wages. Without a lot of thinking, they packed up their belongings, took their families closed the doors of their homes behind them and ascended to other areas. Some went to Amiantos and others to Mitsero. They pulled to where the land still offered its possessions to the people.
The two settlements were quickly abandoned. In their place there are a few ruined houses, reminding us that the people who built them with their sweat, fought, struggled through the bowels of the earth and died for us to live a better life today.
The two settlements, could be two "live" community cells of our society. A progressive entrepreneur, created a plan for the reconstruction of the two settlements to their original architecture basis. Unfortunately, people who do not have vision and not love local history, refused. The result is visible and it is not at all pleasant.
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