The Agia Napa Aqueduct

The Agia Napa aqueduct is one of the very few preserved on the island of Cyprus and is dated to the Roman period. Its remains are in the region between Cape Pyla and Cape Cavo Greco.

It is an extremely sophisticated monument of water and a complicated construction. In addition to the expertise needed to build it, the aqueduct required a comprehensive system of regular maintenance to repair accidental breaches, to clear the lines of debris, and to remove buildup of chemicals such as calcium carbonate that naturally occur in the water.

In the old years the aqueduct conveyed the water of a spring, the source of which was north-west of the village of Ormidia, in the large stone reservoirs of the village.

The original route of the aqueduct was found during the 1974 survey with the excavation of the three barrel-shaped vaults at the locality of “Mana tou Nerou”.

Today the water travels through a subterranean rock-cut channel, which ends at the locality of “Mana tou Nerou”, meaning “the source of water”. The aqueduct, is 2 kilometres long and runs all the way from the locality of “Mana tou Nerou” to the Monastery following the natural contours of the bedrock.

The aqueduct exploited the principles of gravity in order to deliver water to the Monastery. The water was stored in a huge reservoir built under a sycamore tree in the courtyard of the Agia Napa Monastery in order to convey water in the fields along its way. Another pipe within the courtyard was diverting some water to a sculptured fountain right in the centre of the yard.

Perhaps the readjustment of the route of the aqueduct and the existence of a settlement in the area played its role in the choice of the site for the construction of the Medieval Convent of Agia Napa.

The Department of Antiquities with the financial support of the Agia Napa municipality undertook substantial conservation work. In the frameworks of the INTERREG III project the conservation works were resumed in 2006.

About a hundred more metres of the length of the aqueduct were uncovered after the excavation work of 2008, aiming at the discovery of the whole length of the monument.

Conservation works were also resumed at the portion of the aqueduct within the Monastery.

Address: Agia Napa
Website: http://www.ayianapa.org.cy/

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