Pantheon Hall - Part 2: The Big Bang Theory.

Published 2nd of June, 2020

Back In The Day

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An Oldie shows the pizza oven in action back in the glory days. Again though, there is the issue of a timeline. On the previous picture, you can see nothing on the left hand wall other than a hand sanitiser (how prophetic!) and a hand drier. Yet on this picture, posted in 2017, you can see a work preparation area and what looks like an array of ovens. This must have been in place before 2015. If, as we think, the boxing tournament in 2015 was the hall's swansong, then whoever removed the ovens must have done so before that, because otherwise they wouldn't bothered putting up th hand drier.

So the pictures clearly must be before 2015.

Kitchen

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Moving behind the bar and out of the main arena, we enter the kitchens. Note there is a similar soap dispenser on the left. And what I thought was a hand drier actually looks more like a paper towel dispenser.

Old Kitchens

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But look at this Oldie shot, taken slightly further back. There is nothing on the wall there. Strange that during a re-fit, somebody would decide to remove ovens and install soap dispensers in their place.

There is no punchline to this observation, it's just something I find curious.

Store Cupboard

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As you would expect from a Cypriot kitchen, there was a lot of lemon juice in the cupboard.

The Moment of Truth?

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So, we have had a look around most of the place now. Clearly the resort used to be more than a boxing arena. In fact, it used to be called "Aphrodite's Temple" and was billed as a high class health spa.

However, a press report located in 2014 implies that it might well have been a lot more than that. This led to a whole series of stories which enabled me to cobble together some sort of timeline. I will include links to the relevent news stories at the end of the blog, but for now, here is a potted summary.

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The premises opened originally in 2014. It was built without the proper planning permission and license, and was originally billed as: "FKK Sauna Club. Temple of Aphrodite. We are open from 8pm till 4am". After 5 months, it was raided by police, and the owner was charged with running a brothel. The case went to court and the owner threatened to publish the client list. This would allegedly have embarassed several high-ranking public figures. The owner was acquitted, due to lack of evidence. The building was then rebranded as a more traditional venue, and had a re-opening attended by the Arch Bishop of Cyprus. However, it looks like the bad name stuck, and the venue is currently in a state of decaying limbo.

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Now, apart from possibly that curtained room, nothing we have seen so far suggests a brothel. But look at the picture above. What do you think is through that first-floor doorway?

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