Kontoyiannis House

It is not known exactly when Kontoyiannis house was actually built or what it originally looked like. The only thing that is known is that it was first built in the later years of the Turkish occupation and in the north eastern part of the site owned by the father of Kontoyiannis, Christofi and his wife Lambou.

The house known as Kontoyiannis house was the original house of Yiannis Kontoyiannis and was inherited by his younger daughter Polixeni who is the current owner.

At the time when Mr. Kontoyiannis' seven children were growing up, the house was at its glory. The old part of the house which can be seen on the other side of the wall in the courtyard (and was later sold) was used as the stable and for storage. The stables housed poultry, and other animals; including oxen and horses.

There were many servants and workers for the land and at mealtimes the garden was often full of trestle tables with up to 50 or so people. Any VIP or church dignitary visiting the area was always accommodated at the house and was usually given the large top bedroom (in which most of the Kontoyiannis clan was born).
 

The architecture of the house has the characteristics of houses built in the later years of Turkish rule; that is thick strong stone built walls, large rooms, inner arches, partitions of rooms, courtyard and numerous windows. The extension to the house began between 1870 and 1890 and included the upper floor with two external staircases (none internally) and wooden balconies.

In the period between 1956 - 1986 the house was uninhabited. In 1983 it was renovated but with great care to keep its character and make sure it was representative of a traditional Cyprus village house; this was done with guidance from the Cyprus Tourist Organization. It was decided to convert the building into four spacious self-contained apartments.
 

Every room was designed and constructed to European specifications, with space and comfort in mind; at the same time insuring the traditional feel is not lost. Kontoyiannis House satisfies all safety and operational specifications required by the Electricity, Health, Fire and town planning Authorities of Cyprus.

The house officially opened its doors in the summer of 1995 and operates under the newly established 'Agrotourism' scheme of the Cyprus tourist organisation.
Visitors to the house and those who have spent their holiday there have been very happy; most have returned and do so whenever they can. They feel a sense of belonging!

Location; Kalavassos is centrally located for easy access to the rest of the Island. It is 5 minutes drive from ‘Governors Beach’, 20 minutes from Limassol, 35 minutes from Nicosia and 30 minutes from Larnaca and Larnaca Airport. It is now only a one hour drive to Paphos.

AGROTOURISM

Chris is an member of the Cyprus Agrotourism organization and actively promotes the principles of the concept in her new website Cyprus Village Holidays that offers a collection of village holidays in many areas of Cyprus.

The Agrotourism experience in Cyprus was identified in the 1990’s and the formation of the Cyprus Agrotourism Company came into operation in 1994.  The inception of Agrotourism was a CTO (Cyprus Tourism Organization) initiative and a lot of money is currently being spent of developing Agrotourism with EU grants being offered yearly to fund projects which enrich the islands village tourism.  Sustainable tourism is a world trend and there is also a lot of work being done by the Travel foundation who last year, helped the locals set up the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative to promote eco and Agrotourism.