The name of Geroskipou village comes from the Greek word "Ieros Kipos", the Sacred Garden of Aphrodite. A fascinating collection of Cyprus folk arts and crafts gathered together in the house known as Hadjismith. This fascinating museum occupies the House of Hadjismith, a traditional nineteenth century home of great architectural and historical importance. Built of stone with two paved courtyards and a covered terrace, it is one of the first vernacular buildings to be declared an ancient monument.
The museum has folk art from Paphos district and other regions of Cyprus, dating from the nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth, much of it displayed in settings reflecting a peasant house of the period.
Because of its architectural and historical importance, the “House of Hadjismith” is one of the first buildings of folk architecture to have been declared an ancient monument. The Department of Antiquities acquired half of the house in 1947-1948 and the other half in 1974. After systematic restoration, the building was converted into a folk art museum, which has been open to the public since 1978. In order to extend the museum by including the ruined buildings, which in the past had formed an integral part of the same mansion, a major project of restoration work and reorganization has been undertaken.
The ethnographic material exhibited in the museum of Geroskipou is dated to the nineteenth and the first decades of the twentieth centuries and comes from several areas of Cyprus but mainly from the Paphos district. Many items are exhibited in rooms specially arranged to represent typical rooms of a traditional peasant house.
Location and Hours
3 km east of Paphos
Tel: +357 26240216 for opening times and entrance charges.
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