User:Xylofagou

Xylofagou (Greek: Ξυλοφάγου) is a sprawling Greek-Cypriot village situated close to the A3 Motorway between Dhekelia (Larnaca) and Paralimni / Agia Napa. It lies on the northern flank of a hill,[2]on the edge of an area of a group of several similar villages known as the Kokkinochoria (red earth area), known for growing vegetables, especially potatoes.

Η Ξυλοφάγου είναι κοινότητα της επαρχίας Λάρνακας. Βρίσκεται στο νοτιοανατολικό άκρο της Κύπρου και αποτελεί ένα από τα περήφημα Κοκκινοχώρια. Βρίσκεται σε απόσταση τριών περίπου μίλιων από το ακρωτήριο Πύλας, σ' ένα χαμηλό οροπέδιο. Σύμφωνα με την απογραφή του 2001 έχει 4.957 κατοίκους.



Xylofagou. The spectacle that appears before your eyes as you travel through Xylofagou, is the ceaseless agricultural activity, the fully mechanized farming and the dark-green colour of the potato plants next to the deep red colour of the uncultivated soil. The domed church of Agios Georgios, near the center of the village, next to a new church, is possibly a 16th century edifice. Another medieval cultural monument is the Venetian fowerto the south-east of the village. It overlooks cape Pyla, between Larnaka and Cape Gkreko. The tower, at an elevation of about 100 metres a.si, can be seen from afar. The tower is circular, about six metres in diameter and five metres tall. Also in Xylofagou, in a vertical cliff on the sea, east of cape Pyla, there is a labyrinthine cave, known as “The Cave of the Forty Martyrs”. The cliff which houses the cave is about 40 metres high and the entrance to the cave is about 12 metres above sea level. Any attempt to enter the cave is considered very dangerous and a visit to the cave is definitely not recommended. On the floor of the cave, however, one comes across fossilized bones and it is still not clear if they are human or belong to animals long extinct. According to tradition it is here that 40 martyrs of Orthodoxy lived and were buried, either using the cave as a catacomb during the early years of Christianity or as a refuge during the dark ages of Ottoman occupation of the island.