Foinikas Knights Traditional Geocache

Fancy seeing some architecture from the days of the Knights Templar?

To find out why I placed this cache here, when I already have a perfectly good cache in Foinikas, you should read the following:

It was back in 1191 AD when the small island of Cyprus, was invaded by the massive military force of the King of England, Richard the Lionheart. Without finding any resistance from the Byzantines that held the island, they reached the outskirts of the capital. In the ensuing battle between the invading British and the Byzantines, the latter were defeated and fled. Richard the Lionheart raised his flag on the then Byzantine fortress of Nicosia.

The conqueror made sure to plunder the whole island, before selling it to the poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon or as they were also called "Knights Templar."

The Templars, when coming to the island, settled in the Byzantine fortress of Nicosia as headquarters to control the Provinces of Mesaoria. In order to control and govern the provinces of Paphos and Limassol, they founded the superior military command of the Foinikas, in which the then villages, of Foinikas, Kalogiannakia, Anoyira, Plataniskeia and Agia Irini were included.

The Templars chose Foinikas to be the "capital" of their administration because the village was built on the site that was itself an actual, impregnable fortress. It was built on a flat area between the river Xeropotamos and a high, steep slope. The only access to the village was by the river, where a narrow strip of land led you from the depth of the bed to a point south of the village.

Foinikas was built entirely of stone which they took from the adjacent vertical slopes. Its architecture reveals the richness of their tenants. The houses spread out over a large area. The house of the commander of the Knights was built at the highest point, on a rocky location dominating the whole village to the south, west and north and the river valley to the east.

In Foinikas, you will see a kind of architecture which cannot be seen elsewhere in Cyprus. The houses are all identical. The ground floor with its unique entrance, not exceeding two meters in height and it was used to their stall their horses. From there, an internal stone staircase led to the first floor where the utility rooms (storage, kitchen, etc.) and the oven were located. The rooms were separated by vast interior arches and at their junction there was a grommet which, with the help of a rope, they hung a lit lamp for the night.

The body of the oven was at a higher position outside the house and its mouth was inside the house. This architecture is really impressive in terms of functionality.

Every house, in case of attack transformed itself into an impregnable fortress.

The occupation of Cyprus by the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon is characterized by the toughness they showed towards the indigenous population. They imposed very heavy taxes, which forced the patient, among other qualities, Cypriot people to rebel.

Source: http://www.ix-andromeda.com/en/pafos/phoinikas.html

=== UPDATE ===

The oven has now sadly been destroyed. Originally I thought it had been vandalised, but I now think it fell victim to the torrential rains we had over the winter. You can still see the remains, but the oven itself is sadly no more.
=== END UPDATE ===

This cache has been placed next to one of these buildings. From the location of the cache you can clearly see the advanced cooking facilities, as well as the vast interior arch. Plus there is a stonking view.

The cache itself is a very dull tupperware container. Sorry, but it is all I had to hand.

NB: the cache is not in the house, nor is it in the tree. This will probably be of some relief to most of you.