Prison plan keeps construction away from Ayios Sozomenos archaeological remains

Ayios Sozomenos, Cyprus. The planned central prisons will be built away from the village’s archaeological remains, the justice ministry said on Tuesday after Justice Minister Costas Fitiris met Deputy Culture Minister Clea Hadjistefanou-Papaellina to discuss a master plan for the site.

Archaeological protections

Fitiris said the plan placed particular emphasis on protecting and promoting the area’s historical and archaeological character. Infrastructure would be confined to the northern sector of the state plot, away from the remains.

The deputy cultural ministry agreed with the direction and parameters presented. It said it would continue working with the antiquities department as the master plan and later stages of the project develop.

The ministry also confirmed plans to move the police museum to the former Paphos Gate police station. The historic building would be shared by the museum and cultural spaces for artists to be developed by the antiquities department.

Site change and objections

The prison site was confirmed last week after the ministry dropped an earlier plan to build in Mathiatis, citing cost and time. Unlike Mathiatis, Ayios Sozomenos already has access to roads, water, electricity and sewage infrastructure.

The €300 million facility is intended to hold about 1,500 inmates. Construction is due to begin next year, with completion expected within five years.

Local authorities and environmental groups have objected to the change. The municipalities of South Nicosia-Idalion and Latsia-Yeri have called for the decision to be reversed, saying the area already hosts extensive industrial and agricultural activity and includes land earmarked for livestock farming under a national plan to rebuild the sector. Akel and the Ecologists have warned that the site lies within the Natura 2000 protected-land network.

Ayios Sozomenos, near the Green Line, was abandoned following intercommunal violence. It contains a Byzantine cave chapel, the unfinished Latin church of Saint Mamas and mud-brick remains left by its former Turkish Cypriot residents.