THE CYPRIOT KAFENEÍO

According to ‘A survey of rural life in Cyprus’ which was published by the British Government in 1930, the average amount of money spent daily by most peasants at their village kafeneío was around 40 paras (or one piastre or groshi). Apparently, the district of Kyrenia had the greatest number of coffee houses in Cyprus in proportion to the island’s population.

Traditionally, the kafeneío was the sanctuary and haven for the menfolk of a village. They would spend many hours a day sitting, drinking, bragging and conversing with one another. This was a place where they could discuss the news of the day or perhaps settle any transactions or matters of the day. The kafeneío allowed them a brief respite from their daily worries and to forget about their poverty-stricken lives for a while.

Nearly all coffee shops in rural Cyprus were located in and around the village square (known as the plateía). Other businesses were also located there, such as the pakaliko (grocery store) barbershop, butcher, tailor and bootmaker. In earlier times, some of the larger villages in Cyprus boasted over ten coffee shops. They were so popular and crowded that men had to sometimes queue and wait for an empty chair to become available.

The kafeneío was also a convenient place for a passing traveler or visitor to meet with the local inhabitants of a village. It was also a place to meet with important people such as the village priest, teacher, policeman, agrophylakas (rural constable), the village Mukhtari (headman) and his assistants (azades). The tax collector would also conduct his business at the village coffee shop.

Important meetings took place at the kafeneío. People would also gather there to vote on important matters. It was also where moneylenders, masons, mechanics, merchants, farmers and shepherds conducted their business including discussing prices, signing important documents and petitions or settling complaints. Fruit and vegetable vendors would arrive by donkey and cart to sell their wares to the locals as would wine, grain and fuel merchants.

Children and women were once forbidden from the kafeneía. In some villages, they weren’t even allowed to walk past the kafeneía. Only the wives and daughters of some coffee house owners might be sometimes allowed to help cook the food or serve the patrons.

It was not unusual for a Cypriot man to visit his local kafeneío two or three times a day. They might arrive early in the morning before going off to their fields, vineyards or other jobs and then return again in the afternoon. They would pass their time smoking hookah and playing card games such as pilotta, bastra, poker and thanassis as well as ‘tavli’ (backgammon), old-fashioned chess and even checkers. At times the kafeneía were loud and noisy places. One could hear the sounds of patrons engrossed in their game, clapping their hands loudly on the table or throwing the dice on the table. From time to time, the more cheerful ones mocked the coffee shop owner to offer them a few cognacs and ‘zivanes’. On weekends, usually the most fun-loving people ordered the coffee shop owner to cook them on his ‘foukou’ (BBQ grill) meat, chicken or pigeons. In this way, the village kafeneío would be transformed into a bar or tavern.

Men would sit and drink for hours at a time sharing their political views and analysis, or perhaps telling a funny story or a juicy bit of gossip. Newspapers were delivered daily to kafeneía all over Cyprus. At the turn of the 20th century when most of the inhabitants in rural Cyprus were illiterate, the newspaper would be read out loud for all to hear by a teacher, or someone else who knew how to read. Many kafeneía introduced the lux or spirit lamp which was a lot brighter than candles or ordinary oil and paraffin lamps.

It was common practice at the kafeneío for people to take turns to pay for each other’s coffee or drink. For example, when you entered the coffee house, someone would pay for your coffee and then in turn, you will then treat the next person who entered and so on. When an unknown stranger enters then the coffee house owner may treat him to a free coffee and perhaps some Turkish delight.

The kafeneío was also the place where one might witness an argument, scuffle or fight, sometimes with fatal consequences. There are many stories of men fighting in a kafeneío over money, property or women.

The Karagiozis puppet theatre was also a popular event that took place at some kafeneía in Cyprus, often performed by local or foreign entertainers. The play of Karagiozis is based on a poor Greek man who was a trickster and whose sole interest is sleep and eating. Three to four times a year, a townsman would arrive to a village and fill the kafeneío with spectators who would come to watch his shadow puppet theatre. The stories about Karagiozis and his sons Kollitiris, Kopritis and Birikokos and the Albanian guard Veligekas would amuse the villagers at the kafeneío with sounds of laughter heard throughout the village.

I first visited the kafeneía in Cyprus as a young boy. I soon discovered that each coffee shop was affiliated with a particular political party. Furthermore, I was told that you can tell which political party a man supports in Cyprus just by observing which kafeneío he visited and which newspaper he would read. I have met brothers who would sit in a different kafeneío in the same village because one was a left-wing political supporter and the other was right wing.

When wireless communications technology arrived to Cyprus at the start of the 20th century, many coffee house owners rushed to buy the first radios. Menfolk would gather at the kafeneía to listen to the news broadcasts from Athens, England (BBC), Berlin and Cairo. Some kafeneía even had gramophones and billiard and foosball tables. On Sundays and holidays, a confectioner might arrive to the village to sell pastries and triangle-shaped delicacies at the kafeneía.

Please share your own stories about the wonderful Cypriot kafeneío (kafenion). Especially any stories from a bygone era. What are your memories growing up in Cyprus?

The photos attached were taken by the author at the ‘Kafeneío tou Perikli’ (Pericles coffee house) in the village of Arsos, Limassol in 2016.