On the borders of the two districts of Larnaca and Limassol, you will find the village of Vasa. There is another village having the same name in the district of Limassol, so its residents called it “Vasa Kellakiou” in order to avoid confusion. Kellaki is the main village in this area.
The village is small. 70 settlers live in it, who mainly deal with pulses production. However, this does not prevent the progressive people from working and taking care of their village. On a small hill, under the dense leaves of the big eucalyptus trees, you will find the offices of the community council.
In the same area but south, there is a football field that is surrounded by a small forest of eucalyptus trees and in it you will find the picnic area of Vasa. If you continue east, there is a small park for children, that has areas with a beautiful, manicured lawn, apart from the small park for children. In the community park, you will find the elementary school with its traditional faucet. This kind of faucets were present in all elementary schools before 1960.
There is also a monument dedicated to the industriousness of the inhabitants of Vasa Kellakiou, found in a beneficial position, at the entrance of the village from side of the offices of the community council. There is also a wagon with the number five (5) on it, on the rails that for dozens of years used to roll and bring metal to the earth’s surface, from the underground galleries of the region.
In the centre of the small village, on the flattened peak of the very small hill, there is a church dedicated to Agios Dimitrios. It is a Basilica with a wooden, gabled roof covered with tiles. It is built out of stone coming from the river of the area, Koufkios, which flows into the big river of Vasiliko. Most of the houses are also built out of stone coming from the river.
During the years when the area where the Church was going to be built was being prepared, the works were stopped due to the fact that there was a huge rock weighing dozens of tons, and at the time it was impossible to move or fritter it. The settlers became distressful, they abandoned their efforts and went home, until a new place for the construction of the Church was to be decided.
Upon arriving at that spot the next day in the morning, they noticed that the rock had disappeared. It was not in the place they left it just a few hours ago. During the night it had rained. Thus, they noticed that on the ground there were marks from horse hooves. They followed it, and in a distance of 1500 metres north, in the riverbed and very close to a natural source of water, they saw the rock literally balancing on a rock a lot smaller compared to this one.
When the horse’s feet stepped on the spot where the water gushed, they sunk one metre into the rock. There is a hole there, and the settlers say that if you put your hand in it, you will realise that it resembles to a horse’s hoof.
The rock’s removal was interpreted as a miracle of Agios Dimitrios and the rock was called “Agiopetra” (holy rock).
On the north shore of the river, they built a small chapel and dedicated it to Agios Dimitrios, and the expenses where covered by a girl from the village, who was cured by the Saint after a long term illness.
After the location where the Agiopetra and the chapel are found, in a distance of two kilometres, there is another chapel. This one is dedicated to Panagia tis Agiopetras or Panagia Vossiena.
The chapel was built by a shepherd, settler of Vasa, after a voting offering he made to the Virgin. The shepherd had more than a thousand sheep in his possession. His folds were scattered on the slopes of the hills surrounding the chapel. For some reason, his animals started to die. When he only had seven of them left, the deaths stopped. A few years later, their number exceeded a thousand and they started dying again. Once more, he was left with seven. He then asked the Virgin for help, and in return he would build a Church in her name. Indeed, the deaths stopped and the shepherd saw his sheep increase. To fulfill his promise, he built a small Church and dedicated it to the Virgin. Ever since, whoever had problems with this animals, turned for help to the small chapel, and thus they called it “Panagia Vossiena”.
