One of the Othoman Turkish governors of Cyprus, during the years of the Othoman Empire, was Bekir Pasha. He is characterised as a meek person who loved the people of the same religion as himself, that is the Turkish Cypriots.
During the decade of 1740, the town of Skala (Larnaca) was hit by droughts. The authorities could not provide the necessary amounts of water to its residents, resulting to them languishing and suffering.
The governor Bekir Pasha promised the Othoman residents of Skala that he would transfer water from other far areas to them.
Representatives of Pasha “plowed” the district of Larnaca to discover sources of water. They found sufficient amounts of water between the villages of Agia Anna and Kalo Chorio. They dug wells and burrows connecting them with underground wells and guided the water parallel to the riverbed of Tremithos.
As it reached east of the village of Tersefanou, the difference in altitude from the first well until the last one, was such that the water could be transferred on the earth's surface.
They constructed a stone canal of about 60 centimetres deep for its transportation. In areas where the difference in altitude was great, they constructed a stone wall that was made up of arches (kamares) and on their peaks they continued the canal, whose end was found at the centre of the later Turkish settlement of Larnaca. This is how the problem of water shortage of its Turkish settlers was solved.
Today, what is left from this aqueduct, are the “kamares” of Larnaca and the “kamares” of Dromolaxia. The ones in Dromolaxia are neglected by the Government, left at the mercy of time. The marks of decay are more than intense, since they are found in areas with great agricultural activty.
Kamares of Dromolaxia, as well as the whole system from the first well until the last one, are a monument that has to be kept and conserved for future generations. The irrigation system with underdround burrows was very widespread in Cyprus and you will find such systems in Nicosia, covering many kilometres.
The Municipality of Meneou-Dromolaxia has a lot to gain from the conservation and the development of this monument.
