In the location where the village of Arsos is found built today, in the district of Limassol, on the south slope of the “Laona” mountain, people chose to create a heaven on earth in a beautiful grove. They dedicated it to the Goddess of beauty, the Cypriot Aphordite.
In the same area, years later, a village was built. They called it “Arsos” that still “shines” today from the beauty of the landscape. The land gives the forest and the people one of the most precious goods from everywhere; water.
Natural sources gush through the limestone slabs, that “gather” the water from the rain and then give it back to the environment. In one only stream there are 6 points from where the wild water upwells from the bowels of the earth.
People tried to trap the water and to guide it so as to make it come out from specific points of the earth. They built faucets.
For dozens of years they irrigated their fields from these faucets. Women washed the clothes of their families at these faucets. They also provided themselves with the necessary water for their households and their animals from these faucets.
As time went by, with the creation of aqueducts, the faucets became useless. For many years, they remained covered in dense plantation, until the day when people decided to give the faucets the care that each historical monument needed.
They created a path tat connects all six faucets. In the 1250 metres, which is the length of the journey from the beginning, the faucet of Athkion (willows) until its end that is found at the faucet “poullin” (bird), the visitor will pass through a dense and cool forest. He will be “accompanied” along the whole journey by the water running through the faucets as well as the dozens of small sources. The colours of the wild bushes and wildflowers connect with the polychromy of the leaves such of the forest trees as of the fruit trees.
At some points vegetation is so dense that the path forms stoae in them. Dozens of signs are posted with the names of the plants, the bushes and the trees.
The path is linear. Nevertheless it is worth being walked by someone also from the end to the beginning. Moreover it is only 1250 long and upon returning you will have the opportunity to see everything you “forgot” while walking from the beginning to the end.
The beginning is found 500 metres west of the village of Arsos, exactly opposite the faucet of “Athkies”. There is a map next to the faucet with a scheme of the journey, as well as a sign indicating the entrance to the stream where the path is found.
We would like to remind you that you should not eradicate nor cut off wildflowers. You should not cut branches from flowering bushes and you should not “disturb” fruit trees that are found in the fields. Along the length of the journey there are quite a few fruit trees that are part of the forest flora and they do not belong to private citizens.
The path “Exi Vrises” is a destination that every visitor of Cyprus, as well as each of its residents should visit and walk along.
Walkes carrying long withes give a bad impression. To be a walker in nature you should have the relative love towards all the creatures that make it. If you are afraid of snakes, it is better that you stay at home, it is not necessary to kill them just because you are afraid of them.
The faucets are...
- 1: Vrisi Athkion
- 2: Vrisi Oss'Arkatzin
- 3: Pano Vrisi
- 4: Vrisi Koupas
- 5: Vrisi Kostenas
- 6: Vrisi Poullin
