Kathikas, the winery village of Laona

Kathikas is one of the villages of the Laona plateau, set among vines and roughly halfway between Paphos and Polis. It isn’t a village of big monuments but of wine, stone houses and views, which is why I like it as a stop. Here’s what it has. For the wider region, see Paphos district.

A village high on Laona

Akamas Municipality puts Kathikas about 23 km north of Paphos and almost 700 m up; the Pafos tourism board gives 660. It had 387 residents in the 2021 census. It was once an important centre for the island’s south-west, and from it you can see Coral Bay, the Akamas peninsula, the Troodos and the Paphos forest.

The name, the council says, comes either from its first owner or from the Greek verb kathizo, to sit, because from a distance the village seems to sit on level ground. It keeps houses over a century old, several old churches and a small donkey sanctuary.

What to see in Kathikas

The Akamas Avifauna and Flora Visitor Centre, at 20 Charalampou Kalaitzi Street, uses dioramas to show the peninsula’s habitats, with model birds and reptiles, touch screens and a 3D map of migratory bird routes. Opening hours are 10:00 to 15:00, Monday to Saturday.

The main church, Panagia Evangelistria, stands in the centre on the ruins of an old church of Agios Ypatios, the village’s patron saint. It’s vaulted, with frescoes inside. The tourism board dates it to 1870 and the Metropolis of Paphos to 1835. Its feast is on 25 March, and a new church of Agios Ypatios was consecrated in 2005.

On the outskirts stands the cypress of Agios Nikolaos, 14 m tall with a girth of 4.35 m, reckoned to be about 700 years old. According to the village elders, the saint rested there, stuck his staff in the ground as he got up and asked God for a tree to give travellers shade. Nearly all its branches are shaped like sticks.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Kathikas for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

The wine of Kathikas

The area’s vineyards grow mainly Xynisteri, the white grape native to Cyprus, and Akamas Municipality says more than half of the island’s white wine comes from them. The village has two wineries, Vasilikon and Sterna, both making wine from their own estates.

Kathikas also lies on the Laona-Akamas wine route, which takes in four wineries between Paphos, Stroumbi, Kathikas, the Arodes villages, Ineia, Drouseia, Polis and Peyia, and also works with Maratheftiko, an ancient red grape. The district’s other great route, Vouni Panagias-Ambelitis, climbs through the eastern hills and stops at Chrysorrogiatissa monastery, which has its own winery.

Holy Week and getting there

Orthodox Holy Week is the high point of the year. On Good Friday, the community leader plays Christ and carries the cross from the chapel of Agios Onoufrios to Panagia Evangelistria, with the village following in procession, and people come from all over the island to watch.

By bus, route 641 crosses Kathikas between Karavela station in Paphos and Polis from Monday to Saturday, with two departures each way. Route 648 links it with Peyia and Coral Bay one way and with Drouseia, Ineia and Polis the other, four times a day. Pano Arodes and its geology centre are close by.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Kathikas on GetYourGuide.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Paphos: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Kathikas for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.