At the entrance to Kritou Tera stands Kefalovryso, a stone spring once considered Cyprus’s third-largest spring by water volume.
Water and village life
Historically, Kefalovryso supplied the area with clean water for irrigating large orchards. The spring powered four of the fifteen watermills and fed the troughs of the communal washhouse, where women washed their clothes and bathed. It was therefore part of both the agricultural water supply and the village’s communal daily life.
Museum, churches and buildings
The small museum in Kritou Tera displays exhibits about village life, past customs, and deeply rooted traditions and practices. Among the items on display is the historic carved wooden gate of Archbishop Damaskinos. General themes of village culture are thus presented alongside a specifically identified historical object.
When visiting the churches, it helps to distinguish between names that sound similar: the medieval Church of Agia Aikaterini Fytefkia is in Kritou Tera and dates from the 15th century. The Church of Agia Aikaterini is about three kilometres from the village and opens once a year on the saint’s name day. If you plan to visit on that date, confirm the arrangements locally in advance.
Secular buildings also tell stories of different uses. The two-storey casino served for many years as an entertainment and event centre, as well as a gambling venue. A large mansion, now divided into smaller houses, was the summer residence of the family of Dragoman Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios. The residence of Archbishop Damaskinos is also in Kritou Tera. Together, these examples show that the buildings’ recorded functions ranged from communal entertainment to a family summer residence.
Environmental education at the Cyprus Environmental Studies Centre
Alongside the history of the village and its buildings, Kritou Tera also focuses on environmental education. The Cyprus Environmental Studies Centre offers programmes on forest and freshwater ecology, landscape processes, and the environmental impacts of tourism development. This gives travellers who want to consider environmental issues when choosing a destination a clearly defined subject to explore. The focus on tourism complements the ecological topics by addressing how tourism development affects the environment, so the programme covers both ecological and tourism-related perspectives.
Programmes range from day visits to two-week residential courses; the programme duration is agreed with the centre. If you have a particular timeframe in mind, arrange the format directly with the centre. According to the operator, it welcomes around 3,500 school pupils and university students each year from schools and universities in Cyprus, Western Europe and the Middle East. This annual figure may change.
Discover more destinations: Kissonerga, Chrysochou, Simou, Pomos, Kynousa, Steni, Kallepia, Koili.
See the wider travel overview: Paphos.
