Pera Pedi (tou Ttooulou)

Mill Description

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The mill is built on steeply sloping ground. Its surviving parts are preserved in a good condition and include the stonebuilt water channel, the metallic penstock (koudoukka), the building that housed the grinding mechanism and a second, auxiliary room. Water for the operation of the mill was diverted through a stonebuilt water channel, more than 100m long, which was also used for irrigation. The stonebuilt channel ends in a small stonebuilt water reservoir. The water is directed to the mill by means of a metal penstock of truncated form that originates from the small water reservoir and ends in the area of the waterwheel. The altitude difference from the stonebuilt water channel to the waterwheel is 10m. The metal penstock (koudoukka) is 13m long, with maximum diameter 1m at the top and 0.15m at the bottom, where the nozzle (siphouni) is. It is one of the few watermills in Cyprus that have a metal penstock instead of a stonebuilt watertower. The room that housed the grinding mechanism is rectangular in shape (makrynari), with dimensions 4.65 x 11m and has an entrance from its narrow side to the west. In the southwest corner, near the entrance, there is a built-in fireplace (nistia). The building that housed the grinding mechanism is made of semi-dressed stones at the corners, the rest follows the irregular stone wall technique. The walls are 0.50 m thick and the building is covered by a single pitched roof. Attached to the north side of the mill there is a small building with dimensions 3.55 x 4.30m in which the penstock ends. The runoff of water is made through an underground vaulted channel under the mill, which is connected to the irrigation channel. To the west of the mill there is a small separate building, with dimensions 4.45 x 6.20 m, which was used as a storage area and/or as a stable.The mill’s grinding mechanism is fully preserved. The millstones, originating from the island of Milos, are placed on a wooden, table-like structure (trapezia). The mechanism also includes the millstone adjustment system, the suspension and overturning mechanism of the runner stone (vintzi), the wooden container for placing the wheat (avatzi) as well as many other smaller mechanisms. In the lower level of the building there is the metal waterwheel, with 45 metal paddles (koupes) in its perimeter. The kinetic mechanism is composed of two axles, two belt wheels and a belt. Above the entrance of the mill there is an engraved inscription that refers to the date of its construction and reads: " 1903 JANUARY 20 // X(ATZI) PROTOPA(PA) KIRIAKOS AND COMPANIONSHIP ". According to oral testimonies, the mill was in operation until the 1950s. The mill complex, due to its fairly good state of preservation including its buildings and mechanisms but also due to the peculiarity of its water power system (the metal penstock), was declared in 1989 by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities as an ancient monument of Table B. In 1996 it was expropriated by the community of Pera Pedi for maintenance and repair. The project took place between 1998 and 2000. The works aimed at on one hand the repair of the buildings of the complex and the equipment of the mill (grinding and kinetic mechanism) and on the other hand the reconfiguration and improvement of the surrounding area so that it could be open to visitors. D. Myrianthefs

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