Election fever has hit the village once again with the Presidential Election, and although the majority of the village residents voted for Glafcos Clerides (the voting being G.Clerides 187, T.Papadopolous 126, A.Markides 20, Others 3), Cyprus voted for Tassos Papadopoulos, the total votes being :-
It does not seem like twelve months that we have been publishing under
our new regime, and from your kind comments, I think you are looking forward
to another year of this Newsletter. I suppose the highlight of the last year
was the support we received for our “Annual Function”, and we plan to organise
another, probably in October. We would appreciate any new ideas you may have
for this event. Should it be similar to last year, with a speaker; or a beach
party; or something totally different? Alison South has kindly offered to
take our readers (limited to thirty five) on an interesting tour of the archaeological
sites in the Maroni area, on Saturday 17th May, at 3.30 p.m., which will take
about two hours, with refreshments afterwards and we will give you more details
in our April edition. 
Once again we call upon your generosity in making donations to cover the difference between our printing costs and the advertising income. Your Committee had lengthy discussions on whether we should ask our advertisers to pay an amount to cover the full cost, which would mean increasing the current charge of £12 for a business card size insert per annum, to £34, but by a majority decision it was decided this would be too large a jump, and so we will increase the amount only to £15, with similar increases for larger insertions. It is “the chicken and egg” syndrome, in that if we obtain more adverts it increases the number of pages, which in turn increases the deficit. At the present time we have 55 adverts producing an annual income of approximately £800 and our current printing costs for 20 pages an issue are £1800 for a year. This edition includes a welcome return to Gerry Barron’s snakes, which sadly because of lack of space we had to leave out of our December issue. We have Alison South writing, more on archaeology, the usual reports, Village at Work, the quiz and readers comments.
As
from 10th March, which is Green Monday, St Georges Church will be open every
evening for a night service for fifty days, and during these difficult times
we should all pray that peace returns to this unhappy world. 
As the next issue of this newsletter will not be published until after the Easter period, I take this opportunity of wishing all our readers a happy and peaceful Easter. Left, the blessing of properties in Maroni 5th and 6th January for Epiphany.
The
Coin Snake, Coluber Nummifer, is a truly elegant snake with the most beautiful
pattern on its back which resembles coins, with its tail striped. It grows
to a length of one and a half metres; it is non-venomous and is an egg layer.
It is often mistaken for the venomous Blunt Nosed Viper although there are
several different distinguishing characteristics. The pattern on its entire
body is strong and well defined, the base colour is a sandy grey, with the
coin shaped pattern and stripes on its tail being a dark brown to almost black
colour. 
Its pupils are round and its head is relatively big, its body is strong but slim, with its tail tapering to a long thin end. It has large scales on its head, and its body has a glistening sheen. If disturbed the Coin Snake will hiss loudly, and if threatened will bite like lightning, but will do a human no harm, as it is non-venomous. The Coin Snake enjoys climbing and can often be seen on stonewalls or in trees. Its diet consists of lizards and mice, but it will also take young sparrows from their nests. This snake can be found throughout Cyprus.
a) Which country in the western hemisphere is named here ?
1000 E 10 I 100 0
b) Which regular sounding English word has six letters and not a single vowel ?
Answer to poser in the December issue Either a coffin or a headstone for a grave.
You
can see from the village picture on the front page the disastrous weather
we have received recently, which has caused havoc with our local farmers.
We have sent to the Larnaca District our annual budget figures, and hope
for a substantial sum to cover this year’s village expenses, and we have
changed our garbage collectors, who should be as efficient, but cheaper.
Unfortunately we have had to increase our water charges, which from the
1st January 2003, are as follows :- During the next few months we hope to complete the Tsaroukkos road (extension of Grigori Afxentiou Street) to the sea, and we are installing children’s equipment in the play area behind the Elementary School.
Between the hours of 6.45 p.m., and 4 p.m. the following day, it was noticed that three friends, Tom, Dick and Harry were missing from their home on the Santa Marina Development, above the village of Psematismenos. These three, being a circular saw, a sander, and the “youngest” being a jig saw, were sadly missed by their owner, who could not complete the alterations he had started. But lo and behold, within 72 hours of being reported to the Police, the trio somehow managed to find their way back. But the struggle was too much for them. They lay exhausted ‘til morning on waste ground opposite.
On examination, they appeared to be in good condition, except for a few minor rusty screws, which was to be expected, after being out all night “on the tiles”. Harmonious atmosphere reigns once more in the household, as alterations started will now be finished. Police have commented, that crime in rural villages is on the increase.
So be aware.
Holders of British Passports are strongly advised to register with the British High Commission. If you have registered, you should renew your registration annually on the Consular Services Hotline 909-16666 (7.30 to 6 p.m. every day) or the direct number is 22861100 (office hours : 7.30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday to Friday)
Vassos Charalambous Olive Press Company is situated on the Kyriakou Matsi road, between Psematismenos and Choirokitia. It is run by Mr Vassos Charalambous and his two sons Harry and Nickos. Vassos lives in Choirokitia with his wife.
He, like his father before him, has been pressing olives for many years. Over the years many changes have taken place in the olive pressing business, from the use of mats, with olives between, pressing under their own weight, and the old type millstones, driven by a donkey, up to the present day modern machinery. The amount of oil, and the quantities given with the new machinery, is far greater than the old methods.
Mr Vassos Charalambous has been pressing olives in Choirokitia with these types of machines since 1962. The olive pressing season runs from the beginning of October to the middle of March. Machines at his new factory can press 8 tons per hour with all 3 machines in full swing. The number of tons passing through the factory has increased in the last few years, as more people are planting olives on their land. About 4-8 Kilos of olives make 1 kilo of oil, the difference is in the quality and type of olives grown, and the time of year they are harvested. If the olives are picked in October, they give less oil than in February, but the weather will have taken its toll on the trees, so olives are lost the longer they are left on the trees.
Processing the olives occurs in five stages. The olives are tipped into hoppers, where a conveyor picks them up and drops them through a fan, which removes the leaves and bits of twigs. They are then washed, and from there, they move to the crusher. After crushing, the mash is left in a mixer, which is heated to 60o c for an hour before going on to the separator, which separates the oil, water, and left over mash, which includes the pips.
The left over mash is sent to another factory, where olive oil can still be extracted, but at a far less rate, and is not very good in quality. The water from the process is not wasted, as it is left to stand, and the crust that forms from the residue can be used back on the land as fertiliser, with the water used to water plants. The cost of pressing olives in the factory is £7:00 up to 100 kilos, after that it is 7 cents per kilo. After the end of the season, Mr Vassos Charalambous and his sons run the large restaurant situated on the opposite side of the road, which is used for large weddings, christenings and parties seating 1700 persons. Also, along side of this, a smaller building is used seating 400 persons. If you have your own olives to press, or if you would like to buy the fresh olive oil at £3:00 per kilo, call in You will then be able to try a unique experience of toasted village bread with fresh olive oil and lemon juice, yum,yum,yum. Phone contact the factory 24-323242. Phone contact the large restaurants 99-493939.
About 1 km south-east of Maroni, near the road which leads towards
the sea from the old cemetery and church at the south end of the village,
there was until recently a low stony mound, known as “Petrera” (stony place).
This was identified as a Late Roman archaeological site at least since the
reconnaissance of the area by Gerald Cadogan’s team working at Vournes in
the1980s, but little else was known about it. One Sunday lunchtime in July
1991, Sturt Manning’s Reading University team (see Maroni News Vol. 3 issue
3) noticed trucks roaring past their house, loaded with rubble among which
could be seen parts of columns, architectural blocks and a mill-stone. They
abandoned their lunch and followed the trucks to Petrera, where the stony
mound (on which nothing could be cultivated) was being bulldozed to create
a flat area for possible crops or installation of greenhouses. After discussion
the bulldozing stopped, and the archaeological team surveyed what remained
on the ground, and recorded archaeological material in the bulldozed dumps
of rubble. 
This gave a good general idea of the character of the site, and at this point the team did not plan to do any excavation. However, on returning the next year to continue survey work in the Maroni valley, they found that the site at Petrera had been ploughed, and this together with winter rain and settling of the bulldozed soil had revealed parts of an ancient paved floor and walls. With permission from the Department of Antiquities, the team decided to carry out limited salvage excavation. Sufficient architectural remains were discovered to make it worthwhile to continue for several more seasons, although always on a small scale as the team were also engaged in their planned work of archaeological survey, with excavation at Late Bronze Age Tsaroukas. Although the Petrera site has been badly damaged by bulldozing, enough remained to give a clear picture of a church and some related buildings, which must have been an important feature of the Late Roman landscape. The excavation and surface survey at Petrera, together with details of some other Roman sites in Maroni area, have just been fully published in a book by Sturt Manning and members of his team (on which this summary is based): The Late Roman Church at Maroni Petrera, by Sturt Manning et al., published by the Leventis Foundation, Nicosia, 2002, and distributed by Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK (available in Cyprus, e.g. from Moufflon Bookshop in Nicosia).
Due to the poor preservation of the architecture and stratigraphy, the chronological relationship of the various buildings at the site is not always clear. However, there was certainly an earlier church, probably constructed in the 5th century A.D., which was replaced by a larger one, abandoned at the time of the Arab raids in the mid-7th century. The early church consisted of a three-apsed hall 11.5 metres long by 12.5 metres wide. It was quite well built with roughly shaped limestone blocks, gypsum mortar, hydraulic cement and thick wall plaster, and flooring of large gypsum slabs.
The later church extended further to the east and measured 12 by 27.5 metres, but was somewhat less well built; the aisles and narthex were paved with slabs of local gypsum. The central apse was rounded on the inside, polygonal on the outside (similar to other 6th century A.D. basilicas in Cyprus). The aisles were divided by walls, but possibly these were low structures which supported colonnades.
A burial in a cist (a sort of box of stone slabs) was found against the inner face of the apse. There were various additional rooms against the north and south sides of the church, one of which was probably a baptistery. There was also a large paved building to the south-west, but it is not clear exactly how its date of construction relates to that of the churches.
Much of the pottery and other finds were unstratified (that is, not
in their original positions), however they give many clues concerning life
at the site and the dating of its use. The pottery includes bowls, basins,
flagons, cooking pots, lids and storage jars, many of Cypriot manufacture
but with some imports from Greece, western Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt and
North Africa. Other finds include ceramic lamps, fragments of glass goblets,
flasks and lamps, a marble bowl, millstones and querns, and numerous tiles.
Nineteen bronze coins were discovered, mostly belonging to the reigns
of the early Byzantine emperors Heraclius and Constans II (around 620-643
A.D.). Although the Petrera churches were not very elaborately decorated (e.g.
they lack the mosaics, marble floors, wall paintings or painted plaster found
at some other contemporary basilicas), they formed a substantial centre of
worship and agricultural activities for a rural community. They can be compared
with several churches excavated in recent years at the nearby Late Roman town
of Kalavasos-Kopetra. Both communities probably utilised the port at Petrini
west of Zyyi, where an ancient pottery kiln has been found where some of the
amphorae found at the sites may have been made. 
There is a local tradition that there used to be a church dedicated to St Nikolaos at Petrera, and a small shrine in his honour has recently been erected at the site.
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£
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| Balance at 1st February 2002 brought forward |
NIL
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| Advertisements for the year |
614-00
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| Donation from the Village Committee |
100-00
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| Donation from the Co-operative Bank |
100-00
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| Donation from the Church Committee |
50-00
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| Donations from Readers ( 34) |
677-00
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| Annual Event Surplus |
453-00
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2005-75
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| less:- Cheque Book |
2-50
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| Charges & Defence Tax |
7-18
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| Printing Costs |
1451-15
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| Overseas Postage |
5-85
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| Stationery & Cartridges |
150-55
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| Balance at 15th December 2002 carried forward |
388-52
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Another Year and a new President
“The Coin Snake” by Gerry Barron.
Registration Forms British High Commission
“Village at Work” The local Olive Press factory.
Public Holidays for Cyprus in 2003
Maroni Archaeology: the Late Roman Church at Petrera by Alison South
Maroni Newsletter Financial Statement
Some Words of wisdom by David Brent (not to be confused with the name of our Editor)
| 10 Mar Green Monday | 16 June Monday of Pentecost |
| 25 Mar Greek National Day | 15 Aug Assumption Day |
| 1 Apr Greek Cypriot National Day | 1 Oct Cyprus Independence Day |
| 25 Apr Good Friday (Greek Orthodox) | 28 Oct Greek National Day |
| 27 Apr Easter Sunday (Greek Orthodox) | 24 Dec Christmas Eve |
| 28 Apr Easter Monday (Greek Orthodox) | 25 Dec Christmas Day |
| 1 May Labour Day | 26 Dec Boxing Day |
Note : Banks are closed on Easter Tuesday, but not on 24 Dec.
It's the team that matters. Where would The Beatles be without Ringo? If John got Yoko to play drums the history of music would be completely different.
What does a squirrel do in the summer? It buries nuts. Why? Cos then in wintertime he's got something to eat and he won't die. So, collecting nuts in the summer is worthwhile work. Every task you do at work think, would a squirrel do that? Think squirrels. Think nuts.
When confronted by a difficult problem, you can solve it more easily by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?"
Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue. If your boss is getting you down, look at him through the prongs of a fork and imagine him in jail. Show me a good loser and I'll show you a LOSER!
If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation.
Never do today that which will become someone else's responsibility tomorrow.
You don't have to be mad to work here, in fact we ask you to complete a medical questionnaire to ensure that you are not.
If you treat the people around you with love and respect, they will never guess that you're trying to get them sacked.
If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried. You have to be 100% behind someone, before you can stab them in the back.
If work was so good, the rich would have kept more of it for themselves.
Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.
There's no 'I' in 'team'. But then there's no 'I' in 'useless smug colleague', either. And there's four in 'platitude-quoting idiot'. Go figure. There may be no 'I' in team, but there's a 'ME' if you look hard enough.
Jane Langford has written, with grateful thanks to the new Larnaca Hospital and its wonderful staff, about her accident. “Last June whilst trying to retrieve my cat from under a bush, I managed to fall flat on my face, resulting in a massive nose bleed, and a face which resembled the old advert, “This would never have happened if she had been wearing a seat belt.” Luckily the bleeding stopped, and apart from not being able to leave the house for fear of scaring everyone, I was fine. However three days later, while getting lunch out of the oven, the nose bleed started again, and would not stop, it was getting very scary. Ellie came to our rescue, and drove us to Larnaca. At this stage my face was covered in a blood-soaked towel, my Tee shirt resembled the chain-saw massacre, and my head was in a bowl. I was seen at once in A. & E., and within an hour was cleaned-up, X-rayed, and seen by the E.N.T. surgeon, who plugged my nose. The piece de resistance was the bandage he applied to my nose, it was hilarious, and caused many a laugh in the hospital. The following day we returned to the hospital, where the crazy bandage and plugs were removed, and apart from the scabs, I was fine. For all this excellent care, I was only charged £10, which I consider unbelievably reasonable.”
Another of our readers, Brian Lait, has asked whether we can have some system whereby readers have speedy communications about village matters, in between the two monthly newsletters. You will recall that in September 1999, we created a “buzz line”, where one person was responsible for telephoning a number of others. This list has grown, and some of the “minders” have moved away, therefore we have up-dated the list for those residing in Maroni, and included it in this issue. Tony Barron is also working out a scheme where those with “E” mail facilities can be alerted automatically. It would be helpful, if readers who have “E” mail addresses, or other contacts when abroad, and have not given me this information, could supply this detail.
Roger Langford has sent an up-date on the article about “Of Birds and Geese” in our previous issue, which reads as follows :-
9000-mile wild goose chase has happy ending.
Kerry ended his days in an Eskimo hunter’s freezer. Another, Oscar,
was found dead by children on a bed of eiderdown in Iceland. But yesterday
Northern Ireland celebrated the safe return of their brothers Hugh and The
Major after a 9000-mile migration across the Arctic. The two Irish Brent Geese
are the only survivors from six that were fitted with £3000 satellite transmitters
six months ago by researchers from the Wildlife and Wetlands Centre at Castle
Espie, Co Down. Researchers fear that Arnthor was shot dead after he vanished
in a well-known Eskimo hunting area near Greenland. The sixth goose, Austin,
is also missing, presumed dead in the wilds of northern Canada. Neither Hugh
nor The Major, both mature birds, chosen like the others for their robust
physique, returned to Northern Ireland with a mate, as it had been expected
they might. 
James Orr, manager at the wildlife centre, said that visitors were flocking to see them. Both looked in good health, although The Major cheated death after picking a hazardous route across the Greenland icecap to reach Canada. When the batteries on their transmitters recently fell dead, scores of birdwatchers volunteered to help. Their yellow tags were finally spotted among the 17,000 geese that returned to Castle Espie. Mr Orr said that researchers were able precisely to pinpoint Hugh and The Major’s return trip to their breeding grounds in Canada with the satellite tracking system. The research project highlighted the need for an international conservation plan to protect the birds along their migratory route. Mr Orr said, “We’ve established the hunting pressure the birds are under, which we didn’t appreciate before.” It was thought the main threat to the geese would come from Arctic foxes and other natural predators. The satellite tracking also showed that the geese clocked average speeds of nearly 50 mph during their long flights.
Letters to newspapers :-
“Baby Carriage”
Sir, I was moved almost to tears by the latest television commercial for Virgin Trains, which ends with all the passengers rejoicing in the birth of a healthy baby boy. Is it true that the mother wasn’t even pregnant when she boarded the train ?
“Dry Cleaning”
Sir, In the cleaning instructions for my son’s computer printer, we were given the helpful advice; “Do not immerse this printer in water”.
“Silent Revolution”
Sir, British Gas, in its advertisement today, refers to “British, Scottish and Welsh customers”.
Have I missed something ?
