Kathikas

What’s in a name?

It’s a good name isn’t it? Sort of rolls off the tongue don’t you think? Unlike most Cypriot place names, Kathikas is ‘male’ in the Greek, however, it doe’s have its feminine side which you will discover when you visit. Kathikas is derived from the verb Κάθομαι, which means to sit.

Kathikas is one of many beautiful villages on this stunning island, so what makes it so special and where is it anyway?

Kathikas is ideally situated between Paphos and Latchi; it is a very pretty village built mainly of stone and is set on top of the low hills of the Laona Plateau at 650mtrs. It is a ‘mixed’ village of mainly Greek Cypriots with the remainder, mainly British - 70% and 30% respectively. Kathikas is 25 km from the town of Paphos, on the South coast of the island (which in older days was known as ‘Ktima’) and 14 km from Polis, on the corresponding Northern coast. It can easily be reached by travelling from Paphos via Stroumpi and turning left as you leave the village, or from Coral Bay via Peyia on the new by-pass road, or for the more adventurous, from Coral Bay via Akoursos. The latter will afford the visitor to some of the most spectacular scenery to be seen on the island.

The village has a long history as a resting place of merchants travelling between the towns of Paphos and Polis. Mythology suggests that a King of Paphos chose Kathikas as his resting and holiday place, indeed, recent archaeological discoveries seem to support this idea. Kathikas’ central location makes it an ideal base from which to explore areas such as Polis, Latchi, and The Baths of Aphrodite.

In the centre of the village, the old world charm and character remains. In the heart of the village there is a 150 yr old stone build Church devoted to Our Lady. If visiting during the Christian festivities of Christmas and Easter you will be able to witness some of the customs of the Greek Orthodox Church or if seeking solitude and spiritual renewal you need look no further. Located just outside the village to the south west is the church of St Ypatios, where folklore claims a miracle took place, click on the picture below for the full story.

We are also fortunate in having an abundance of excellent ‘eateries’, these range from Pambos Pub, the Kathikas Inn Sports Bar, or the Akamas Soulvlaki Bar (take-away), to Imogens, Araouzos, Yiannis, Petradaki and the Farmyard.

 

Take a look at the visitors centre just off the main square.

St Ypatios Church, click on the picture for the full story

 

‘Community’ - What is it to you? 

 

Well I knew what I thought it meant - a group of people, living nearby who felt they belonged to the same group, perhaps with common values ………. That’s what I thought anyway, just off the top of my head as it were.  It made me think further and I began to think you could write a thesis on this if you had the inclination!  Perhaps not!  I did think it would be useful to look it up in the thesaurus, just for fun.  I gathered various similar definitions i.e.

 

A group of people who live in the same area

A group of people with a common background or with shared interests

A group of nations with a common history or common economic or political interests.The public or society in general

A useful member of the community.

 

Mmmm …………….. Perhaps all of the above?

 

I went further.

 

What about the word ‘association’?  Again my thoughts led me to a gathering or group of people with similar interests who meet at regular intervals.  I looked this up too, again just for fun, of course!  I came up with:-

 

A group of people joined together for a purpose

A coming together and social interaction between people

People with a connection, perhaps of ideas, memories or feelings with each other or events. I was of course exploring the concept of a Residents Association and whilst I felt I knew exactly what we in Kathikas were about (didn’t I write the Aims and Objections of our organisation and indeed the Constitution) I just wanted to push the boundaries a bit to explore the correlation between my thoughts and concepts and the reality of what we have here in Kathikas.

 

What I came up with was so much deeper and fulfilling than anything that a Dictionary or Thesaurus could come up with.We have here a welcoming group who happily greet any and all new-comers into our group.   We are diverse in back-ground but are  similar in that we are all ex-pats. We have a range of skills and expertise which are willingly shared either with individuals or the group as a whole.  We often offer our time free of charge for the benefit of the association.

 

Sometimes we differ in our opinions to the degree that we feel very strongly about a subject, and sometimes discussions do get a little heated, however we do listen to each others arguments and usually we can be grown-up enough to come to a compromise.

 

Our meetings are usually well attended and are fun and enjoyable.  Do we sound like paragons of virtue? Well, we are definitely not, but we do try to work with one another for the common interest within our community, Cypriots and Ex-pats alike all are valued and treated with respect - and indeed we are aware of individual needs too.

 

I suppose this brings me to the purpose of this missive.  It did come up at one of our meetings that none of us are an island and that we do actually need each other, (whatever our backgrounds, ethnic origin, faith, colour, politics etc).  Additionally that there may be occasions when we may be in need of practical help for one reason or another.  Acknowledging this we all went on our way to reflect upon the days meeting and what it meant to us.

 

It was a very short time after this that I received an email from a member of the Association offering free car journeys to anyone in need, for example for a hospital trip or to collect a prescription or to the bank etc etc. 

For me that was the true essence of a ‘Community Association’ and it made me feel privileged to belong to this particular one.  I am sure that we will develop this idea and broaden it as time goes on, but in the meantime would like to publicly thank Peter for his most generous offer.  Additionally I should like to reinforce to all members of our association that if you do find yourself in difficulties of any kind, I should welcome your emails/phone calls and we will do all we can to be of assistance if appropriate and if we are able.

 

Sandra Dobson Association Chairman