Malounta (4th mill, Tou Papandrea)

Mill Description

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The watermill of Papandreas is located in the Chardjis area of Malounta, on the western bank of the Akaki River, and it is also known as the watermill of Saint Heraclidius (Lapithiotis et.al. 2017: 11). The construction date of the watermill remains unknown. The watermill of Papandreas has been preserved in better condition than the other two watermills that can be found in the area, as it retains the biggest part of its aqueduct and its watertower. The watertower has a rectangular shape in plan, with one step on the north side, and its pit has an inverted truncated pyramid shape. It is presumed that the room which housed the waterwheel is situated at a lower level on the north side of the mill. Also, in the north part there are three rectangular openings, the purpose of them is still uncertain. The water tower has 9.5m. in height, and it is supported by two buttresses in the eastern part (Lapithiotis et al. 2017: 11). The aqueduct with its channel has two distinct construction phases, where the first oriented from south to north, and the second directed from southwest to north. A part of the aqueduct in the eastern part has not been preserved. The tower was constructed by river pebbles of varying shapes and sizes, whilst between them there are smaller stones. The external and the internal wall faces are covered with plaster. However, the aqueduct is built with river pebbles, without any external coating. Mortar samples from the water tower and the aqueduct were examined, in order for them to be characterized. Two samples were collected from the interior surface of the pit (MAL 1-1, MAL 1-3), two joint mortars from the water tower (MAL 1-2, MAL 1-5), one from the interior surface of the aqueduct (MAL 1-6), and one joint mortar from the aqueduct (MAL 1-7). The following analytical methods were used for the examination of the six historic mortar samples: Thermal analysis (DTA-TG), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). According to the results, the samples are identified as lime mortars with calcite, feldspars and often quartz aggregates. Five out of six samples contain ceramic fragments or ceramic powder, providing adhesion, impermeability to water and resistance to continuous contact with humidity (Corti et al. 2013: 75). Four out of six mortar samples are considered as strongly hydraulic or with some hydraulic characteristics, while the other two (MAL 1-1, MAL 1-7) are considered as moderate to low hydraulic mortars (Carvalho et al. 2018: 476). Pandeli 2921002192020Fig.2: The location of Papandreas watermill in Malounta, Nicosia. Aerial Photograph of 2014. (Department of Lands and Surveys). 292100219202029845002192020Fig.3: Papandreas watermill in Malounta, Nicosia today. Photograph of the eastern side. (Personal Archive). 29845002192020

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