Demetrios came to Belgrade as the ambassador of Cyprus in 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. When he left last summer, he was remembered as one of the most active members of the Serbian capital's diplomatic corps.
I contacted him after landing in Cyprus and here we are a day later, drinking beer in the garden of our hotel in Limassol. He tells me about the challenges his country is facing, primarily due to the large number of migrants who arrive in Cyprus by boat from Lebanon and Syria or cross the dividing line with Northern Cyprus after arriving there from Turkey.
The next day I decided to explore the city and its surroundings, of course, on a bicycle. If you are in Limassol, the easiest and cheapest way is to pick up one of the bikes that are usually located next to the city bus stop, download the "nextbike" app, pay online 10 euros for the ride, scan the QR code on the selected two-wheeler and enter the four-digit code to unlock the wheel . After that, you just have to turn the pedals with caution in traffic, because in Cyprus, as in most former British colonies, but also in some countries that never were (Japan, Thailand, Suriname, Indonesia...) - drive on the left side. In most parts of the city there are very well marked and maintained bicycle paths, so riding is a real pleasure.
The medieval Limassol Fortress in the city center, in its present form, was created in 1590 during the Turkish rule. Archaeological research confirms that this place was home to an early Christian basilica from the period 4-7. century and a Byzantine monument from the 10th century. Since then, it has been demolished and rebuilt by the Crusaders, the Venetians and the Turks. The basement of the fortress was used as a prison until 1950.
According to legend, Richard the Lionheart married Berengaria of Navarre here in 1191 and crowned her as Queen of England. After that he went on a crusade and the two never met again.
The fortress was completely renovated with the help of the EU and is very well maintained, and the entrance is free. From the flat roof there is an excellent view of the city center, the churches and the mosque on one side and the harbor and marina on the other side. The water tower from 1931 is a great example of industrial heritage in the center of Limassol. The order for its construction was given by the then mayor Christodoulos Hadjipavlou, and the works were carried out by the British company "Williamson-Pegkeley" at a price of then 9 pounds sterling. The water tower has a capacity of 000 cubic meters, is 500 meters high, and the water container is made of 40 mm thick sheet steel, with a diameter of 8 meters. It was in operation until 9 when Limassol got a water supply system. In its surroundings there is a large number of houses with preserved Mediterranean architecture from the beginning of the 1947th century.
"Everything will be fine" is the slogan of the Russian-language radio that broadcasts its program in Cyprus. In Limassol, a city of 240.000 inhabitants, today there are as many as 50.000 Russians, one in five. They started arriving at the beginning of the collapse of the USSR at the end of the eighties, but their number increased especially after 2014 and especially after 2022 and the Russian aggression against Ukraine. In the suburbs of Limassol, the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas was opened in 2019.
photo: Robert Choban...and the Greek Orthodox Church
In addition to the Russian one, the city has a large number of Greek Orthodox churches as well as several Roman Catholic and Anglican places of worship, as well as two mosques and a synagogue. In the suburb of Ipsonas there is also the Church of St. Sava, which belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Such religious diversity, which only a century ago graced the entire Mediterranean, today, in addition to Cyprus, is present only in the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on Moroccan soil, as well as to some extent in Lebanon (but without synagogues). The rest of the Mediterranean has become, unfortunately, mostly religiously and ethnically exclusive and "pure" in the past hundred years.
The most famous church in the city is certainly the Agia Napa Cathedral, which was built in 1910 on the site of a demolished old church. The idea of building a large Orthodox temple appeared a few years after the British took control of Cyprus from the Turks in 1878 after the Congress of Berlin. However, it was not until 1891 that the long-awaited architectural solution for the cathedral arrived from Athens, which was opened two decades later.
Lady's Mile Beach is located in the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri. The areas of Akrotiti (next to Limassol) and Dekelia (in the east of the island, next to Ayia Napa), which include the bases and surrounding land, remained under British control after the 1960 independence agreement approved and signed by the United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey and representatives of the Greek and the Turkish Cypriot community, which granted the independence of the Crown Colony of Cyprus. The proximity of the Suez Canal and the Middle East caused the British to demand Cyprus at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, and for the same reason they kept these two territories on the island in 1960.
About 14.000 inhabitants live in bases. About 7.000 Cypriots work in bases or engage in agriculture in that territory. British soldiers and their families make up the rest of the population.
July will also mark the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of the northern part of the island, after which Cyprus remains divided to this day. Turkey established the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Ankara. This did not affect the status of the bases because Britain was not involved in the conflict, and the Greek Cypriots from the north were allowed to pass through the Dekely base, where they received humanitarian aid. The Turkish army did not dare to attack the bases for fear of war with the United Kingdom. For four years after independence in 1960, the British government paid base rent to the Republic of Cyprus. After the conflict in 1963/64. the rent payment stopped, under the pretext that both parties in Cyprus did not have a contribution from that money. The Cypriot government is still asking for money from 1964 until today, and it is estimated that for that period the arrears are worth up to one billion euros.
In July 2001, local Cypriot protests erupted at the bases over British plans to build a radio transmitter on the territory, under the pretext of improving links with other British bases around the world. The local population claimed that there was a danger to their health, as well as a negative impact on the nature in the area. The British government rejected the claims.
Great Britain expressed no intention of surrendering these two bases, but offered to surrender 45 square miles (about 97 km2) of the country if Kofi Annan's plan for the reunification of Cyprus is adopted. Today, there are about 3.000 soldiers of the United Kingdom in the territories, the administrators of those territories are officially appointed by the British monarch, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Defense. The administrator has executive and legislative powers as governor in the overseas territories. The administrator appoints a chief officer, who is in charge of the day-to-day civilian administration. The bases have their own laws, different from the UK and Cyprus. They consist of the laws of the colony of Cyprus from before August 1960 with various amendments, so the laws in Akrotiri and Delelia are very similar to the laws of Cyprus. The court in the territory serves only for legal offenses against civilians committed within Akrotiri and Decelia; there is a military court for soldiers.
Akrotiri and Dekelia cover 3 percent of the surface of the island of Cyprus, which is 254 km2 (Akrotiri 123 km2, and Dekelija 131 km2). 60 percent of the land is privately owned by the British or Cypriot population, while 40 percent belongs to the Ministry of Defense or is classified as royal property. Akrotiri is surrounded by land controlled by Cyprus, and Dekelia borders both UN-controlled territory and the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Limassol could certainly join the list of "cat capitals", side by side with Kotor, Istanbul and other cities where cats are "sacred animals" and you can see them petted and cared for at every step. At our hotel, every morning when I went to the beach, I was cheerfully greeted by a large tribe like the one from the musical Cats, so I would always stop to pet them and whistle their track Memory from that famous Broadway show.
