Latchi
The evening sun sheds a golden light over the harbour and its surrounding buildings. Diner guests arrive trying to find the best spot at their favourite restaurant. Outdoors of course so they can enjoy the sunset and the activities that are going on the boats and yachts being prepared for the night. Only recently Latchi transformed from a humble fishing shelter into a full grown marina and not many visitors ordering a fish meze and sipping their aperitifs realise that they are actually sitting on one of the oldest harbours of the Mediterranean region.
It is not exactly known when the first port was build. Most probably it dates from before 600 B.C. because it belonged to the ancient kingdom of Marion – the first known settlement of what we now know as Polis Chrysochous. Marion was at that time at the height of its power mainly because of its strategic location being the nearest harbour to the island of Rhodes. The harbour was build by Aegean Greeks to transport copper and perhaps even gold and timber from Cyprus to the Aegean islands and mainland Greece. The Greeks in their turn exported their famous pottery to Marion of which many remains can be seen in the Archaeological Museum in Polis. With the construction of the larger harbour at (Nea) Paphos during the Hellenistic period (4th century B.C.), the importance of Marion as the primary harbour on the Rhodes- Cyprus sea route was dramatically lessened. In 312 B.C. Marion was completely destroyed by Ptolemaeus I Soter, king of Egypt. The city was rebuilt by Ptolemaeus’ son who renamed it Arsinoe, after his wife. Both the city and the harbour experienced a new era of wealth but never regained the importance it once had.
The ruins of ancient harbour are still present under the modern foundations of the harbour. These were investigated by two professors in 1971. They found a mole consisting of ashlars measuring 08x0.8x2m and extending seaward for 40m. Another mole was found of at least 58 m. The mole is now submerged and the harbour has undergone several reinforcement and additions, thus it is possible that the ancient features of the north side have completely disappeared. During the centuries that followed, the harbour was mainly used as a fishing shelter and as transhipment port for carob – a produce of beans from the carob tree used to substitute chocolate. Although the small colourful fishing boats may not look that impressive, they produce a lot of fish.
According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Latchi, together with Larnaka, Paralimni and Peyia was and still is an important fishing shelter responsible How a mole was constructed in ancient times for a great part of the fish supply for human consumption.
Latchi also used to be the main area for sponge diving and is the only place in Cyprus to hold a commercial sponge fishing license. However, over the years an unknown disease killed all of the sponges, putting an end to the trade. Today the sponges for sale in the local shops are imported. Touristic, Latchi came in the picture slightly more than a decade ago. Not long ago Latchi consisted of carob warehouses and just 1 restaurant Yangos & Peter. Nowadays Latchi has become one of the major attractions of the area. It not only attracts foreign visitors, Latchi is nationwide known as the best place to eat fish. In the old town of Nicosia, there’s even a restaurant called “Latchi fish tavern”.
In 2002 the plans for a thorough facelift of the harbour were finalised. The existing fish harbour was impressively embellished and the harbour is considerably extended to allow more recreational boats in the harbour. The major part of the renovation has finished. Soon floating docks will be added to create more mooring space and the municipality is expecting to be granted the permission to start the construction of the pedestrian area which will connect the beach footpath, which starts at the Polis camping site, to Latchi. Whether you arrive by car, on foot or by boat, you are welcome in Latchi.