Limnatis, an Almond Fairytale

Cyprus’s villages are unique. They occupy a special place in Europe’s architectural and cultural heritage and stay forever in your heart once you’ve got a chance to visit some of them. Kakopetria (my favorite one!), Omodos, Phini, Fikardou, villages of white rock and many others are breathing museums (most of which offer good local wine which is definitely a part of cultural leisure).

Today, however, we visited an inhabited orchard – Limnatis – a wonderful place to escape from dusty Limassol on a Saturday afternoon.

And it is especially attractive in spring. It’s full of life and energy! The village is surrounded by gardens of almond and orange trees whose blooming season starts in February and continues approximately till the first week of March.

Well, actually we checked it out on March 9 – when the blooming season was coming to an end, and there were very few blossoming almonds on the way… But I was desperate in looking for a fairy-tale field full of almond flowers surrounded by soaring furry bees – that’s how I imagined it (well, a girly thing after March 8, you know), so we kept going. It was painful to find it, but we managed to! Thanks to a very hospitable local man who didn’t speak English at all, but nevertheless understood what we were looking for and told us to follow his car. I love Cypriots. They are truly not indifferent.

So we did follow him. He brought us to almond valleys – vast spaces crowned by a viewpoint. Below you can see the coordinates of the valley. No need to take pains any more:

Limnatis is approximately 23 km from Limassol and its coordinates are:

34° 48′ 48,36″ N

32° 56′ 53,112″ E

Coordinates of the Almond Field we visited:

34° 48′ 59,598″ N

32° 57′ 17,538″ E

This place – Limnatis – is tiny – it is a home for just 350 inhabitants, however, there are days when it opens its doors for an avalanche of visitors.

Every year the village hosts a Blooming Almond Trees Festival (14th in 2019) – a fascinating event at which guests may taste honey and local sweets, watch how to prepare halloumi cheese and village bread, and will surely learn muuchh about almonds and taste all possible kinds of food containing these nuts, and even beverages – alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

The first mentions of Limnatis date back to the XVIth century – the time when lakes were its symbol (the village’s name comes from Greek “limni” or “lake”). Today, however, the place is associated with something more edible and saleable, thanks to the fact that it is the main producer of almonds in Cyprus.

Nowadays people of Limnatis are mostly involved in traditional crafts, like basket weaving, and almond industry: they prepare almond butter, jam, various beverages. All travellers are invited to visit the local workshop at which almond and grape sweets are produced. Another ancient tradition carefully preserved by the villagers is baking delicious rustic bread in wooden ovens – visitors are welcome to try it and even participate in its making!

Take a basket of fruits, cheese, maybe a pizza and juice and come here.

A tiny place with beautiful traditions filling you with energy of spring, Limnatis is a must-see if you decide to stay in Cyprus for winter and early spring.

Sincerely,

Alisa Abramova