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Beautiful but deserted, every August the remote village of Lofou lives again

Just a short distance from Limassol and hidden away in the Troodos foothills lies one of Cyprus’ most picturesque gems, the peaceful and unique village of Lofou.

Famous for its resistance to modern life, Lofou’s honeycomb maze of narrow cobbled streets are virtually free from the relentless development seen elsewhere on the island. The local stone built enclave is preserved in a time gone by, no concrete, no litter, no property development signs, and stranger yet… virtually no people.

Lofou is somewhat of a success story, having been saved from extinction by a handful of local visionaries who began transforming the derelict village in the early 1990s. Now it is experiencing a property boom and the majority of its 2000 stone buildings have been restored to their former glory in accordance with strict planning guidelines to retain Lofou’s old charm. Only a fraction of these are permanent homes inhabited by 30 or so year-round residents, that is until late July and August when the population explodes with 2,000 Ypsonas refugees, escaping the city heat with a return to their ancestral roots in the hills.

The village has always led a double life; traditionally the inhabitants would work the vineyards on its stepped hillsides over the summer months and migrate to Ypsonas during the winter to farm the lowlands. After the Second World War, times were harder and a slow exodus of inhabitants moved lock, stock and barrel down to the suburbs of Limassol, to find better paid work in the factories and to enable their children to attend high school.

Today, there is some hostility toward the annual influx of the prodigal Ypsonians who abandoned the village, stripping its buildings to construct their new homes near the coast. Resentment of the noise that descends with their arrival comes partly from the old inhabitants, but predominantly from the incomers who have made a permanent home here. Now the residents of Lofou face an identity crisis, questioning whether the village can retain its personality in opening itself up to the lucrative tourist market or if they should raise the barricades and keep a piece of old Cyprus for themselves. The village remains divided, but Lofou residents are united in their dread of an onslaught of tour buses and retinue of souvenir shops, knowing that once they arrive in the village, things will change forever.

Village President, George Danos was coaxed from retirement 16 years ago to take on the job of reviving the village he had left more than 40 years before. When he took up permanent residence in the hills, he faced a mammoth task. “I was asked to see what was going on, the village president here was an old man and he was not able to do anything. When I came, everything was destroyed, even the school, there were not even windows or doors, nothing at all,” he says. George accepted the challenge and using a £300,000 government grant, set to work renovating the school and asphalting the access road to the village. Five years later work began on re-cobbling the streets and restoration of the old olive press before embarking on the conversion of a dilapidated property to serve as the local council office.

The school remains closed as it has since the last teacher left in 1970 and it is unclear whether children will ever again be seen playing in the school yard here. George retains some hope, with plans to bring elementary school pupils from Ypsonas for summer breaks in the future.

Placed under government protection in 1993, many of Lofou’s homes and buildings have been renovated using grants to finance half of the restoration costs. The council now benefits from a steady flow of income from the property taxes due on 1,500 restored buildings, but has only recently installed a computer to transfer the details from a huge manually-kept ledger of property owners.

Lofou’s appeal is its simplicity; quiet streets, clean air and miles of hiking trails with panoramic views of the hills, mountains and coast. There is little more for visitors to see aside from the olive mill, an old cave and Lofou church with its ecclesiastical museum. Several villagers keep keys to unlock the attractions and are usually delighted to guide visitors as an opportunity to have a chat about life in Lofou.

Internally, the village church, built in 1872 and dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mother, belies its plain exterior with a ceiling covered in stars supporting colourful chandeliers and walls packed with 19th century icons. Aside from a solid gold icon on the main wall, Lofou’s most treasured piece is an 800-year-old icon of the Virgin Mary found by shepherds in what was then a forest. The museum can be visited by arrangement with Lofou’s priest who, you’ve guessed it, lives in Ypsonas, but visits once a week to deliver an enthusiastic Sunday service, broadcast across the village by tannoy to rouse the less virtuous of its residents.

Further down the hill is the restored olive press, while toward the centre is the birthplace of the village, a large cavern cut into the rock face, once used to shelter travelling shepherds centuries ago. Settlement in Lofou began from this area and the cave now awaits preservation as an important heritage site.

Nowadays, Lofou’s heart beats within the three local tavernas where residents and visitors gather to eat and pass the time. Lofou Tavern owner Costas Violaris arrived in the village in 1993, immediately setting about extending and restoring the old hostelry before tackling conversion of several homes into holiday studios and a coffee shop. “When we came here, the village looked like a cemetery,” says an undeterred Costas, who continued his mission to redevelop the village with a firm belief that one day it would attract tourists. His investment proved to be a shrewd one and despite a recent offer of £100,000 for the once ramshackle building, he is content to run the business, occasionally entertaining guests with bouzouki performances in the traditional courtyard restaurant.

Property is in demand here and prices in Lofou have risen by more than the island average over the past 15 years. One village building badly in need of repair is currently on the market for £80,000, providing a considerable profit for its owner who would have been lucky to sell for a couple of thousand pounds before the transformation of Lofou began.

Across the way, Lofou’s first hotel is nearing completion, and the locals agree it will not take long for the Limassol-based owners to recoup their £2 million investment in the project. The aim is to target German tourists for whom the peace and hiking trails of Lofou have become popular. Many ex-locals recognise the financial benefits of tourism and have converted old family homes into high-yield rental properties. Limassol Customs Officer, Evros Diogenous, has just completed his third refurbishment, a beautiful 150-year-old, two storey house featuring romantic four poster beds, cosy fireplaces and traditional Cypriot cane ceilings. “I want to rent it to someone who loves the house and appreciates the style,” he says, and with a monthly price tag of £500 he is aiming straight for the most affluent tourist market.

Tourism has yet to gain a foothold and the closest thing visitors will find to a souvenir shop, or indeed any kind of retail experience, is the small shelf of dried groceries and home-made preserves sold from a room in the home of pensioners Kyriacos and Polymnia Stylianou. The couple look forward to the annual influx from Ypsonas: “We like it. We prefer it because it gets very lonely, now there will be people and company,” Polymnia says as she prepares early morning coffee for a handful of locals who come for a chat and an occasional game of Tavli (backgammon).

Paul and Kathryn Lewis are one of five foreign families who have made a permanent home in Lofou. After four years here, they admit that they have become very protective of their idyllic lifestyle and are resistant to any changes tourism will bring. “We sense that it won’t stay this way,” says Kathryn regretfully, while husband Paul concedes that tourism will bring benefits to the villagers, but at a price, “Lofou will decline in the sense that it will lose its tranquillity,” he predicts. “People will come by the busload like they do in Omodos and elsewhere. Do we want it? No,” he says with passion.

Turning back the tide of progress may seem futile, but all the same, one can only hope that the villagers can find a sustainable solution to retaining Lofou’s intangible charms as successfully as its aesthetics; only time will tell.