The traditional art of weaving Cypriot ‘ploumista’ on the loom is alive and well in the Paphos village of Fiti. While women primarily carry on this craft, it is also practiced by Athinodoros Georgiou from Pachyammos in Tylliria.
Today, Fiti weaving is preserved mainly by the few women who still live in the community, as well as by those who have moved to Nicosia and Paphos for marriage or other reasons. Additionally, weavers trained by the Cyprus Handicraft Service contribute their work to the service, helping to keep the tradition alive.
Fiti weaving is regarded as one of the most important forms of loom embroidery in the Cypriot countryside and is considered one of the country’s oldest handicrafts. Initially, the colours used were limited to granular and blue, as these were the only available dyes. However, over time, the palette expanded to include yellow, green and orange.
Weaver Theano Mavrelli, who has been involved in Fiti weaving since she was 12, learned the craft from her mother and grandmother. She later began creating her own designs. Mavrelli recalls that weaving was “our job because they didn’t send us to high school.” After completing primary school, they would make ‘ploumista’ and bake bread.
Mavrelli also mentioned the museum she and her husband, Charalambos, established in Fiti after his retirement from teaching. The museum attracts both local and foreign visitors. Charalambos explained the art of ‘ploumista’ to foreign visitors, highlighting that each design starts with the threads and can take two to three days to complete due to its complexity. The couple also creates designs from the Karpasia region.
Mavrelli expressed concern about the future of weaving, noting that younger generations are not as involved in the craft, which could threaten its survival.
Panagiota Kyriakou Aristidou, another resident of Fiti, spoke about the art of the loom and her weavings. Despite her age, Aristidou continues to create her favourite embroideries on her loom, using a range of colours including black, red, orange, yellow, blue and green.
She uses a special traditional loom made by local craftsmen and adds that their embroideries are called ‘ploumista’. The fringes with flakes, either white or coloured, are tied by hand and the finished pieces have distinct good and reverse sides.
Athinodoros Georgiou from Pachyammos of Tylliria, who also owns his own loom, learned weaving after his military service in 2007 through an EU programme for young secondary school graduates in Cypriot handicrafts. He subsequently mastered other types of weaving, including the Fyti, Karpasia, and Lefkonico styles. Georgiou even built a small loom to carry around with him.
He also mentioned the woven pine rugs, made in the Laona area, which are rag rugs featuring various patterns and a good combination of colours. This type of weaving is practiced in Droushia, Arodes, Inia and Kathika and until 1970, it was also found in the neighbouring villages of Lassa, Simou, Drynia, Yolou, Stato Ayios Fotios, Choulou, Polemi, Ayios Dimitrianos and others.
