Exploring Paphos In The Rain - Part 2
View From Pentalia
The road winds its way up the side of the valley to Galataria, and from there I headed towards Pentalia. I stopped at the main Paphos to Panagia road to take this picture, looking back down the valley. The final place I wanted to visit on the way home was Choulou. I had heard about a waterfall there and wanted to check it out. To get there I had to drive through the abandoned village of Agios Fotios.
Old School
Agios Fotios, like its neighbour, Statos, had been abandoned because of the risk of landslides. A replacement village was built further up the hill, to house residents from both communities. The new village - Statos Agios Fotios - is now justifiably famous for, amongst other things, a really good festival at the end of summer.
I wrote a blog about Agios Fotios some time ago. And it also appears in our first Road Trip eBook (as does Choulou). But for some reason, when I first visited, I didn't notice this building, or other buildings behind it.
Hidden Agios Fotios
So naturally I stopped to take a look.
Another Church
I was surprised to find another church here too. If you look at our Agios Fotios blog (see links below) you will see that there is a church in the main part of the village. I wonder how often they get used?
More Ruins
I think I might have to revisit Agios Fotios at some point, to give the other buildings a closer look.
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Related Blogs:
Exploring Paphos In The Rain - Part 1
Recently I've been going stir-crazy waiting for the rains to abate enough for me to go out and do some exploring. Well, after yet another yellow alert I finally decided to just drive off into the rain and take my chances. As it was, I had a great time revisiting old haunts and finding some new surprises...
The Murals of Agios Nikolaos
We've featured a lot of churches in our blogs. This is not surprising, as they are lovely building ornately decorated, and great places for quiet reflection on a hot summer's day. The more modern churches often have fantastic murals which take your breath away. But this is not a new tradition. A visit to the remote church of Agios Nikolaos, near Galataria, will show you that fully immersive church murals have been around for centuries...
Sinti Monastery Revisited
Sinti Monastery is one of the hidden jewels of the Cyprus countryside. A couple of years ago we published a blog by our friend Max, who did a nice road-trip to the site. We recently returned, with our drone, to see how it was coping with the pandemic...
Abandoned Villages - Agios Fotios
Given that I wrote a blog about Statos last week, it would be unfair of me not to cover its close neighbour, Agios Fotios. Their histories are intertwined, as they were both abandoned for the same reason. Indeed, they merged to form a new, single town, called Statos Agios - Fotios. So what was left behind...Related Pages
MapExploring Paphos In The Rain - Part 2
In the second half of my recent excursion into the wet Paphos countryside, I go valley hopping through Xeros and Ezousa, become re-acquainted with an abandoned village, and end up scrabbling through mud at a waterfall I hadn't seen before, tucked away behind the church in Choulou.
Good Pages To Visit
FB PagePaphos Life on Facebook
Like us on Facebook and stay notified of new blog posts.
FB PageOur Facebook Chat Group
Paphos Chat has been created for people who like our site and want to chat using Facebook. You can also easily upload photos of any size here. A lot of people are members of the Facebook chat group and the main forum. It's entirely up to you.
ListBlog Locations
Planning a day out? Then use our map of blog locations as a handy guide. Some of the places we visit our closer to each other than you might think, so take a look and start planning your next adventure...
eBookCyprus Road Trip 01: the Kathikas - Panagia Loop
Let me take you on a journey around the region of Paphos, Cyprus. Starting at Paphos itself, we travel to Akoursos, then Kathikas, Kritou Terra and Simou. We continue past Lasa and Kannaviou, before taking in the delights of Panagia. Getting a bit more adventurous, we visit the abandoned villages of Statos and Agios Fotios, before passing through Choulou, Letymbou and Polemi, and rejoining the main Paphos - Polis road.
The route is suitable for all types of vehicle, and requires no off-roading. The guide contains about 130 photographs including shots of all the road signs you need to pay attention to, as well as some of the highlights you may experience along the way.
There are also several maps which will help you keep your bearings.
You can do this journey in a day, or you can break it up into chunks. You can also do it in reverse, to get some completely different views. It is entirely up to you.
