Weaving in the Square

There’s a Coop bank where elderly ladies can be seen at the end of the month waiting with pension books for a pittance. A memory lane picture hangs there. Not very accurate I have been told, which contains on the canvas women at the well filling their water pots.

Nearby a glass door proudly proclaims "The spirit of the Bauhaus". An excellent Cypriot school where students are taught To LOOK. It used to be an administrative storage place in colonial times. Now a very good sculpture/teacher reigns.

The coffee shop on the corner does not serve alcohol but is always engaged, and the coffee is superb. The grocer shop opposite is also usually full. The barber shop next door too. Chinese immigrants nearby are very active with large rolls of metal which clang melodiously. This is Kaimakli Square.

The pivotal building is, size-wise, Ayios Varvara church, which seemingly has the designers moving in.

It is believed that sand was brought in from elsewhere on the Mediterranean and arranged in funny patches. Artistic things go up and down in this holy area and you wish someone would ask the spirit of the Bauhaus for advice.

Sweet little car bollards help trip the church goers on their way in or on their way out of the holy place and I always fear for those dear old ladies who after giving their all and lighting a small candle are in danger of falling over the darn monstrosities.

In pride of place however is Julia Astreou-Christoforou’s ancestral home which, following the genuine artistic tendencies of her family is a shrine for weaving.

Even in this July’s blistering heat the door is usually open.

In contrast to the sound of metal round the corner you can hear the looms clicking away. A warm woodeny clack as if its gone on for centuries.

And will.