Zygi, Cyprus. Traditional Cypriot music, aquatic games and large crowds marked a Kataklysmos event at Zygi harbour organised to revive customs once celebrated in pre-1974 Kyrenia. The event has been held for the past three years by the municipalities of Kyrenia, Lapithos and Karava, the communities of the Kyrenia district and the Zygi community.
Preserving Kyrenian customs
Glafkos Kariolou, Vice President of the Kyrenia Nautical Club, said the effort to preserve the tradition began decades earlier. “The decision was first taken by the Kyrenia Nautical Club in 1982 in Limassol, with the aim of passing on the Kataklysmos tradition to younger generations of displaced Kyrenians,” he said.
Kariolou is also the son of the late Andreas Kariolou, who discovered the ancient Ship of Kyrenia.
Harbour celebrations and races
At the harbour, the Kyrenia Eleftheria ship, a replica of the ancient vessel, stood anchored as children climbed aboard and visitors gathered around it.
Swimming races then began, with children, teenagers and adults competing in butterfly, backstroke and freestyle events. Spectators cheered throughout the contests.
A lemon-catching game followed, with a bag of lemons released into the sea. Swimmers dived in to search for a marked lemon, and one participant emerged holding a lemon engraved with “Kyrenia”.
Memories of earlier celebrations
A participant’s mother, recalling earlier Kataklysmos celebrations in Kyrenia, described the scale of the event. “It was a huge celebration,” she said. “People would come in great numbers from the neighbouring villages but also Nicosia. I remember the women would put on their best outfits to go down to the harbour. I was a young teenager then and it always felt like quite the event.”
According to the account, the programme in Kyrenia once included kayak races with hand-built kayaks, rowing competitions in traditional wooden boats, sailing contests, underwater diving events, performances, poetry battles and the greasy pole challenge.
Goose race draws attention
The goose-catching competition was the next event on the programme. A live goose was released into the sea and swimmers dived in after it as it repeatedly ducked underwater and reappeared in different spots. One swimmer eventually caught the bird, which was then returned to its owner.
Kariolou said the event should be viewed as a race rather than hunting. “But this is not hunting in the typical sense,” he said. “It is a ‘Goose Race’. It tests the swimmers far more than the goose itself. They are challenged in terms of swimming speed, in their ability to maintain visual contact and dive underwater. Competitors must also be able to follow it through the air, since the goose can easily take flight, soar over the swimmers’ heads and outwit them.”