Travel Guide Polemi

Situated on a plateau at an altitude of 430 metres, this wine-growing village is renowned for its xinisteri grape variety. But most of the grapes are sold to the large Sodap cooperative, whose main production center is at the Kamantarena estate on the road to Tsada. Fortunately, there's an independent, French-speaking winemaker on site. Popular with the British, the village itself is not very pretty, but rather pleasant, with vineyards, apple trees and tulips all around. Among the shops, there are of course a few tavernas, but also a rather cutting-edge record shop that attracts Cypriot and international vinyl collectors here. Less cheerful is the history of the region in the second half of the 20th century. Many local young people died in the intercommunal conflicts of the 1960s and 1970s. Nearby, the former Turkish Cypriot villages of Pitagorou/Akkargı and Koudara/Kurtağa have remained sadly abandoned since 1975. And, during the Greek Cypriot uprising for independence (1955-1959), the area around Polemi was home to a terrible little British detention camp, now a memorial site that can be visited.