Lofou

Lofou (Greek: Λόφου) is a village in the Limassol District of Cyprus, located 5 km northweast of Agios Therapon.

Establishment

There are no historical findings that may help us define the exact date on which 'Lofou' was founded. The area must have been inhabited since the Bronze Age.

The dominant view regards that the village must have been founded some years before Cyprus was occupied by the Franks in the late 12th century. During that time and because of the Ottoman invasions, the locals were forced to abandon the coasts and move to the inner parts of the island in order to find refuge. The location of the village was truly ideal for their needs since it is hidden in the mountains and, as a consequence, it provided a sense of security. This theory is also supported by Nearchos Kliridis (1961) and J. C. Goodwin (1977), both of whom support that the village must have been built before the word 'lofos' was replaced by the word 'laonin'. There are quite a few settlements in Greece under the name 'Lofos' or 'Lofoi' (hills), a fact that confirms the theories of Simos Menandros (1970) and other researchers that we should consider the village 'ancient'. The same applies to all other villages whose names derive from words that have been replaced or are no longer used.