With fresh memories from the conquerors, the Greek Cypriot inhabitants of the island, continued to quarrel with the Turks, even after the end of the Ottoman domination, during the English command. The story of Laopoulis that evolved in the village of Anogyra, in 1894 AD, reflects the controversy that existed between some of the Limassolians and the Turks, leaving until today, its markings on the rocks of the village.
According to the story, a man from Lefkara, Stylianos Papaloizou (Laopoulis), having said goodbye to his family that year, moved with his animal to the villages of Limassol, in order to sell oil. At that time, a family, the Kourtelloi, was in conflict with Stylianos, while, respectively, some Turks in the area, had a vendetta with Kourtellos family. Because of the negative atmosphere that prevailed, the Turks, wanting to hurt and incriminate Kourtellos, decided to kill Laopoulis.
As it happened, the Turks set up a trap to Laopoulis, in the Apikreni area of Anogyra, and managed to kill him, hiding his corpse inside a cave. That cave ended up to become the tomb of the unlucky man, since the transportation from one village to another, was very difficult at the time. The story states that while the Kourtelloi, were initially implicated, the truth came to light in the end and the Turks were arrested and condemned.
The cave of Laopoulis is still distinguished in the village today, leaving the icons and the memories of history to become alive. Between the rocks, at a turn of the road, one can observe the cave, which has a fairly large opening, very close to the edge of the road.
Source of information: Anogyra, Annual Journal, Issue 2, Community of Anogyra
* NOTE: The tributes of the Project "History of Limassol" present information that has emerged from historical research thus far. Any new data is embedded into the tributes, once it has been confirmed.
