Klirou (Tou Koutsoukouti)

Mill Description

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The watermill of Koutsoukoutis is located in the Rotsa Stiti area of Klirou on the western bank of the Akaki River. The name of the mill derived from its owner Koutsoukoutis, who was from the same village, Klirou. An engraved stone at the base of the north-eastern edge of the tower, with the date 1921, possibly indicates the construction of the watermill (Lapithiotis et al. 2017: 10). The watertower and a part of the aqueduct of the watermill are still preserved. The tower has a square shape in plan and its pit has the shape of an inverted truncated pyramid. The tower has the same length and width, 4.80 m., while its height reaches 6m. The height of the aqueduct is 6 m., with the upper part of the channel extending 7 m. in length. It is noted, also, that the eastern side of the tower consists of four steps. The aqueduct curves from the northwest to the southwest, starting narrow and gradually widening as it proceeds to the south. It is assumed that the room that used to house the waterwheel of the mill is located to the east at a lower level (fig.5). The tower is built with large river pebbles, while between them there are small stones. The external walls are plastered; however, the plaster does not completely cover the stones (Fig.6). The aqueduct seems to follow the same construction method as the tower, as its walls built using river pebbles and small stones in between, for better cohesion. Mortar samples from the water tower and the aqueduct were examined, in order for them to be characterized. Two mortar samples from the watermill were collected. The first sample is a plaster from the interior surface of the pit (KLR 1-1) and the other one is a joint mortar from the water tower (KLR 1-2). The following analytical methods were used for the examination of the historic mortar samples: Thermal analysis (DTA-TG), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The obtained results reveal that the samples are lime mortars with aggregates, likely derived from the Troodos Ophiolite Complex. One of the samples (KLR 1-1) contains portlandite and some cement phases. This sample may have been a repair of the original mortar, or the original mortar itself could contain cement, as the watermill was built in a period when cement was already in use in Cyprus (ca. 1921). Consequently, the sample KLR 1-1 could be classified as lime-cement mortar. Additionally, both mortar samples can be considered as strongly hydraulic or possessing some hydraulic characteristics (Carvalho et al. 2018: 476). Ioanna Pandeli

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