About twenty kilometres north of
the city of Limassol, at an altitude of 410 meters above sea level,
stands Apsiou. The river Garyllis flows at the foot of the village.
The gardens that surround the village, with the vines across, mixed
with the olive and locust trees as well as the forest that's north-east,
compose a unique picturesque landscape.
Apsiou is connected by road to the main Limassol
- Kalo Chorio road in the west, with Louvara in the north, with
Fasoula in the south, and with Mathikoloni in the southeast. In
the east the road continues up to the Amirou monastery.
The community's population has gone through many
fluctuations in its age long history. In 1881 the inhabitants of
Apsiou were 183, increasing to 262 in 1921, decreasing to 244 in
1931, again increasing to 304 in 1973 only to be reduced to 212
in 1982. In the 2001 census the inhabitants of Apsiou numbered 230.

Apsiou was one of the villages of the "Grande
Commandarie" and it is mentioned by Masse Latri as Apsiu and
Apsius. Gunnis mentions the Church of the Virgin Mary, built in
1740, as well as the well known monastery of Amirou.
Here are several versions regarding the name of
the village. One interpretation, that of Nearchos Clerides, reports
that the village took its name from the first miners that worked
there. They came from Naxos (Greek island), thus they were "Naxiotes",
"Axiotes", "Apsiotes", "Apsiou". Another
version reports that several inhabitants of Apesia moved to the
region and from that came the name "Apesia", "Apesiou",
"Apsiou".
The school is at the top of the hill, in the midst
of the village's two neighbourhoods -upper Apsiou and lower Apsiou.
In older times the hill was taller and imposing. The old school
was built there, a stately structure built in 1905 by Thomas Papadopoulos.
Unfortunately this building was demolished, the hill lowered and
widened so as to build the new school.
One can see the "Winery" from the south
part of the school. Several years ago the processing of grapes for
the making of Commandaria was done on sight. For fifteen days the
playground, the threshing floors and the surrounding fields were
turned into a large drying-yard where the grapes were spread so
as to dry up. Many schools organised excursions so as to watch from
up close the production process of Commandaria. Today the factory
remains closed and silent, with the hope that it will reopen.
Several mines and quarries operated in the village's
area in older times. The iron-pyrite mine operated from 1934 to
1954 while the copper-pyrite mine is older. There was the quarry
where soil for the making of tiles and bricks was extracted, while
soil for the making of plates and other vessels was extracted in
another one. From 1940 until 1965, almost the entire village worked
in the "Choma" (soil, clay). Today none of them operates.
The only thing that is needed is the reforestation and restoration
of the landscape.
Before modern olive-presses appeared, there were
two olive-mills and a millstone in the yard of Agios Epifanios and
a part of the press in the olive-mill of the Virgin Mary.
A unique natural phenomenon that can be observed
in the region of Apsiou is the great variety of types of rocks that
exist here. Because of the peculiarity of the ground, various scientists
show great geological interest and visit the region so as to study
the rocks.
|