Foinikas Revisited
Distant Castle
Anyway, it is time to go, lets have one last look at the castle. You can see from here how the ovens have survived a lot of the buildings. I think Foinikas is unusual, because it is an abandoned village which contains within it an abandoned village, if that makes sense. You are seeing at least two layers of history.
Foinikas From The Coast Side
This is the second of the Foinikas views, showing the coast side of the village.
Now, to continue onwards to the coast, and Paphos, you can either go along the waterline, or take the high road that goes above Foinikas This is NOT the track you can see to the left of this picture. If you go along the waterline, you will eventually cross a little bridge and rejoin the main track. At which point you will turn left if you want the easy route, or right for the hard route out.
Now, if the water level is higher, this route will be unavailable. You will need to leave Foinikas the way you came, and either turn right, to take you back to Nata, or turn left, to take you on the high road. I will assume you are going on the high road.
The Hard Route
If you take the high road, you will eventually come down over the other side of a hill, and be presented with the following junction. You have two options. The hard route is good fun if you have a decent 4x4. After rain it can get very treacherous though. So if you are at all unsure, do NOT take the route up here, instead, take the left turn.
The Easy Route
The left hand lane will soon fork again. If you go left you will loop back to Foinikas, over a little bridge. If you go right you will be on the main route out, visible at the top right of this picture. This is in very good condition at the moment. However, when the reservoir is full, (last happened in 2012), this route is flooded, and you will have to go back through Nata, if you can.
Our Route Through The Ruins
So, there you have it. The hardest task I had constructing this blog was whittling down the hundreds of pictures I took. Congratulations for battling through the 65 I finally posted!
Foinikas is a fascinating place. It is an abandoned TC village, yes, but it's history goes back far further than that. What's more, it's history is easily accessible. Walking through the ruins, it is easy to imagine what it must have looked like in the middle ages. And if you should happen to visit in the springtime, you will also have the benefit of a truly stunning floral display. If you have any energy left in you after reading through that lot, you can check out my Spring Visit to Foinikas, and see how pretty the place looks then.
If you do visit though, remember to take your rubbish home with you, and leave the ruins as your found them. That way, they will be here for many more years to come.
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Related Blogs:
Foinikas Views
We just can't keep away from Foinikas. Somebody posted some pics of the abandoned village on our Paphos Chat facebook group, and people were asking how to get there. We bumped an old blog showing the route, but decided that a film was also needed. While we were out shooting it, we decided to take some more shots, but this time we went for some outstanding views...
Foinikas by the Lake
The abandoned village of Foinikas lies on the banks of the Asprokremmos Reservoir. Now that the waters are lapping at the village boundaries, we thought we would pay it another visit, to see how it looks now.
Foinikas Is Cut Off!
While Paphos waits for the Asprokremmos Dam to overflow, we thought we might as well photograph the rest of the reservoir, which is to all intents and purposes, now full. So we set off to Foinikas looking for some beautiful landscape nature shots. We didn't get very far though...
Who is Vandalising Foinikas?
The Asprokremmos is filling up fast, so we decided to see if we could still drive to Foinikas, the abandoned historical village which lies on its banks. We succeeded, and took some lovely photographs, but also had a nasty surprise...
Abandoned Villages - Kato Archimandrita
A few weeks ago we visited the sleepy hamlet of Archimandrita. We touched briefly then, on its abandoned neighbour, but got distracted with other things before we were able to visit it and tell you what we found. Better late than never, here is our look at Kato Archimandrita, a village abandoned due to its remoteness and ruled now by goats.
Old Choletria
Modern Choletria lies on the F617. You might drive through it if you are headed up to the Troodos from Paphos. However, if you are approaching from the direction of Nata, you will first arrive at Old Choletria. At first glance, there is not much to see here, but it is worth taking a slight detour to explore...
Abandoned Villages - Statos
Statos is unusual, as abandoned villages go. People deserted it not because of inter-communal fighting, but because of the threat of landslides. And then, no sooner had they emptied, some of the abandoned buildings were repopulated. Were villagers returning, or had outsiders moved in, prepared to take the risk of landslide?
Foinikas Heights
We love Foinikas, the abandoned village on the banks of the Asprokremmos Reservoir. We've already blogged about it twice though, so we thought we would take a look at some of the surrounding countryside, and see what else the valley has to offer. Hopefully we will show you that you can find stunning, remote scenery only a stones-throw from Paphos. You don't need to travel all the way to the Akamas or Troodos to lose yourself in rugged beauty...
Abandoned Villages - Foinikas
Foinikas has a special place in our family's hearts. It was the first abandoned village we explored in Cyprus, some ten years ago. We have returned to it each time we visited Cyprus, and consquently have more pictures than we could ever possibly want of the village and surrounding area. We posted some of them on our blog about the Asprokremmos Reservoir. We wanted some up-to-date photos for the Abandoned Village blog series. So last saturday we revisited Foinikas, and couldn't believe what we found when we got there...
Should We Be Worried About Our Water?
Over the last few years, the water level in the Asprokremmos has gotten lower and lower. Should we be alarmed? Has it been this low before?
Abandoned Villages - Souskiou
It's time to return once more to the Diarizos Valley, which lies on the border of Paphos and Limassol. Before Easter we had been exploring the abandoned villages and sleepy hamlets, and I want to show some more of the pictures we took, before the approaching summer heat makes them unrecognisable. So on this blog we shall visit Souskiou. Easy to miss as you drive up the valley, it is nevertheless one of the largest abandoned villages you will likely meet on your travels in Cyprus.
Abandoned Villages - Maronas
Last saturday my wife and I were in Paphos with a couple of hours to kill. So we decided to take a trip up the Diarizos Valley. Being on the Paphos / Limassol border, this valley is on the edge of the Paphos Life radar. However, it has a wealth of sites to visit, as you shall see over the coming weeks. Our specific destination was the abandoned village of Gerovasa. There is a fascinating bridge near to it, and we visited the village itself a few years ago, to do a geocache. However, on our way up the valley, we spotted some ramshackle buildings on the other side of the valley, and decided to take a detour...
Abandoned Villages - Evretou
Evretou is just off the B7 near Polis. It lies on the banks of the Evretou Reservoir, and is another sad testament to the troubles of 1974.
Abandoned Villages - Makounta
We recently assisted on a litter cleanup along the nature trail to Argaka Reservoir. While we were there, we couldn't help but notice the abandoned village of Makounta on the other side of the valley. We were also curious where the nature trail went once it passed the reservoir. So the other day we returned with our camera. This is what we found...Related Pages
Video ClipDriving Off Road Through Foinikas
A quick clip of a drive through the abandoned village of Foinikas near Paphos, in the spring of 2018. The area is about to become a sea of yellow.
360 PanoramaFoinikas Virtual Tour
Join us as we take a virtual tour of Foinikas in springtime. We originally produced this for an Easter Egg competion.
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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.
