tulip bowl of red polished ware with incised decoration, early Bronze Age (2400-2100 BC), Rizokarpaso

22.7.15 Sunset at Agios Filonas, Rizokarpaso.

The largest village in Cyprus, its land reaches the sea both to the north and to the south. Sparsely built, its inhabitants lived in autonomy and self-sufficiency, as the area is located far from any administrative centre and is blessed with fertile land, hunting areas, the sea, there is abundance. In Rizokarpaso I met and loved people who had led a life with a knowledge that we have lost, they cut trees and carried the trunks, they carried the soil, the stones, the algae in order to build their houses and construct the roof, they grew cotton and made thread to weave their clothes, in Rizokarpaso I discovered my roots. Today, in almost every field there is a ‘For sale’ sign. The elders are gone, very few of the younger generation carry the knowledge and memory of the place. To the north of the village, at Agios Filonas, the sun sets in the sea; to the south, the sun rises from the sea.