Kato Archimandrita
The Water Mill?

The village is dominated by the ruins of a house that towered over the monastery and the rest of the village. For all I know, it might have actually been part of the monastery at one point. Given the rapid decline of the village after the people left, it is difficult to know for sure.
Anyway, below that building, and to the right of the monastery there is another area just below the main road. It is here where we saw the water mill right at the start. We can explore it in a bit more detail now.

Outdoor Oven

There is an outdoor oven in reasonably good state of repair. Cast your mind back to our Foinikas Revisted blog though. If you remember, there was an outdoor fireplace there that was rather special, as it actually had an opening inside the house as well. So you could feed in logs from the outside, and stir the stifado from the inside. As you can see from this shot, the builders of Kato Archimandrita were unaware of that technique.

We are now at the base of what I am assuming is an old water mill. There is also a trench to the right of this, which presumably acted as an overflow.

Beyond the village, straight between the buildings on the right and the monastery on the left, there is another, small, valley, with a stream running through it. Presumably this flowed through the village and to the water mill.
No More Prayers

The monastery itself is abandoned now. I am sure though, when we first visited this village several years ago, that it was still in use.
I remember why we first visited the village too. There is a very nice multi-part geocache called - if memory serves me correctly - "Where Time Stands Still". This led you on a trail through Archimandrita and finished near here. We did the cache, but when I got to the final location, all I found was the carcass of a goat, which was still relatively fresh. It honked to high heaven, so I never bothered finding the cache. However, it was a lovely walk and a great cache, if you are in to that sort of thing.
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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.
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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.
