Lania is a small, beautiful village, built on the foot of mount Troodos, on the main Lemesos – Troodos road, about twenty six kilometers from the town of Lemesos. Lania dominates among the area wine producing villages. According to the tradition, Lania got its name from “Lania” daughter of the Greek mythology god of wine and pleasure “Dionysos”. This reveals the deep roots of the village in the field of vine-growing and wine-making. The village is well known for he high quality of its grapes and wines. At the time Erricos was king in France, the country’s vineyards from which the famous. Champagne was produced were destroyed by various infections. The king went out on a search for healthy plants which he found in Lania. The plants were loaded on a ship, transported to France and used to replant the Champagne vine yards. It is believed that Erricos during his staying in Cyprus used t spent time at the Royal Oak of Lania, an 800 years old oak tree which collapsed in the year 1997 due to age. In the same area, only a few meters far from the collapsed royal oak tree, there exist an oak tree, bigger than the one mentioned above. This is a huge tree which deserves attention. Up until today, the inhabitants of the village are occupied with vine-growing and the production of the wine related traditional products such as Zivania, Koumanaria, wines and Sousuko. When entering the village, at the sight of wild, unspoiled nature, the traditional stone roads and stone build houses, ones thought travels to older times, meets wine history, the tradition and culture of past centuries. Walking around the streets of the village seems like a journey in the past as if time has stopped many years before harmed by the beauty of nature and the simplicity of traditional architecture. It seems that time stopped fearing that in its passage it may bring the new civilization and growing and spoil the magic picture. One of the main sights of he village is the village church which is dedicate to St. Mary. The miraculous portrait of St. Mary’s of “Valana”, one of the oldest painting in the world, is displayed in the church. In Lania one can find the authentic and only “Linos”, an ancient Greek pres for the production of coumandaria. “Linos”is still usable and is preserved as originally constructed by our ancestors. The old fountain from were people used to get water to cater all there needs in the past dominates at the entrance of the village. Today the old fountain is a sight worth seeing both for locals and visitors. It is also a source for the elderly of the village to draw memories as the water of the fountain warred many generations in the past.
