The historic reservoir in Strovolos, built around 1817 under Archbishop Kyprianos, is at risk of being destroyed by a proposed motorway connecting Strovolos avenue with Archangel Michael avenue.

The issue was discussed on Thursday at the House audit committee, which examined the fate of the roughly 200-year-old structure that once solved the area’s drinking water and irrigation needs.

Vice-president of the Ecologists Movement, Katerina Hadjistylli, described the reservoir as the most significant remaining element of a wider public utility project commissioned by Archbishop Kyprianos. Locals long referred to it as “the despot’s water” or “the despot’s running water”.

Hadjistylli told MPs the reservoir played a crucial role in the rural development and prosperity of 19th-century Strovolos.

She pointed out that the reservoir was built with limestone, cobblestones and pebbles from the Pedieos riverbed, was fully preserved and constituted a rare example of the hydraulic engineering of that period.

Measuring 26 by 26 metres, the reservoir appears on the 1932 land registry map and the 1883 Kitchener map of Cyprus. It lies at the centre of the Strovolos linear park, near the Archbishop Kyprianos museum.

“Today, this monumental remnant is being threatened with complete destruction, as the proposed route of the four-lane motorway […] will pass through the reservoir,” she added.

Hadjistylli said that if the road passed through it, this would constitute “a serious historical blunder and a blow to the cultural heritage of our country”.

The Ecologists Movement has proposed alternatives, including raising the road so the motorway could pass over the structure.

According to Hadjistylli, the deputy culture ministry and the departments of antiquities, public works, and town planning have also concluded that elevating the road is currently the only viable solution.