Latest edition : 23 May 2021
From a distance it looks like a vast amphitheater. At 1100 meters in the Troodos massif, Agros, a village in the district of Limassol, overlooks the valley of roses.
Agros is famous for its roses, indeed, and all the derivative products. The Damask rose, whose Latin name simply means May rose, only blooms in May and June.
The pickers harvest the petals early in the morning to preserve all the scent. Every early summer, when it's time to pick the famous roses, Agros invites you to two festive weekends.
Like all village festivals in Cyprus, good humor and friendliness are on the program. With traditional music and dances, exhibitions, local culinary specialties.
The rosa damascena with 30 petals, would have been imported to Cyprus from Damascus in Mesopotamia. Over a hundred years ago, in 1919, the schoolmaster and writer Nearchos Clerides (uncle of Glafkos Clerides, President of the Republic of Cyprus from 1993 to 2003) encouraged the inhabitants of his village to cultivate this variety of roses which grew naturally to produce rose water.
He even created an association for intensive cultivation in order to create a source of income for the villagers. Each year, members had to plant and care for at least 50 rose bushes.
Among the teacher's pupils was a certain Nicodemos Tsokalis who ended up planting his own rose bushes and building a small factory to make rose water.
The Tsokalis family is still very much involved in the cultivation of roses, in researching the benefits of rose essence and in the development of derivative products.
Several other producers have settled in the village and offer jam, syrup, loukoumis, marshmallows, liqueur, wine, candles, water, tea, soap, vinegar and cosmetic products based on this magnificent flower.
