Kokkinotrimithia concentration camp

  

   (possibly more if you know Greek) - darkometer rating: 7 -

  

One of the former concentration camps in Cyprus that the then British colonial rulers operated to incarcerate members of the paramilitary organization EOKA that between 1955 and 1959 waged a guerilla war against the colonialists. Today it is one of the main EOKA memorial sites, but with quite restricted access for the general public.

More background info: for the wider context see the history section in the general chapter about Cyprus.

  

Kokkinotrimithia was one of the first of the six to eight (numbers vary by source) concentration camps (or “detention camps”) that the British established during the 1955-1959 guerrilla war mounted by EOKA against the colonialists. It was also the largest of these camps.

  

Initially, captured EOKA fighters were held at Nicosia Central Prison (see the Imprisoned Graves) and at Kyrenia Castle, but inmate numbers swelled so much that these special camps were set up. How many inmates there were is a bit unclear. “Over 3000” is a figure often given, but both for Kokkinotrimithia alone as well as for the total number of inmates at all these camps. I have not been able to clarify this puzzle.

  

The prisoners were housed in barracks that resemble elongated Nissen huts with windows. As these were made of corrugated iron there was little insulation. So in the hot summer months the inmates would swelter inside the huts while they would be freezing in the winter. The huts were also overcrowded, with beds almost touching each other and just a narrow corridor in the middle.

  

The rules were strict, the barracks were surrounded by barbed-wire fences and there were watchtowers with searchlights and machine-gun positions at the top, aiming at the inmates at all times. The prisoners were locked in at night (no toilet breaks allowed) and during the day could make use only of small yards outside the barracks. But they were allowed some sporting activities, reading, bible studies, and quite a few took to joinery (see below). Initially they could also write to relatives and receive letters (though there was censorship).

  

Despite the restrictions, a secret underground EOKA ‘council’ was formed within the camp. This organized protest actions, such as hunger strikes and even proper uprisings. These resulted in the stripping away of privileges and even torture. Apparently some of the British guards were quite enthusiastic and inventive at this, as recalled by some former inmates’ autobiographies and depictions at the memorial today (see below).

  

There was also a prison inside the prison with a number of isolation cells, where punished inmates were kept in small cells with minute windows, so almost in the dark, and were given only bread and water.

  

After the London and Zurich Agreements that paved the way for independence, the camp was closed on 22 February 1959 and all prisoners were released.

  

Apart from the small vestiges of the Polemi camp, Kokkinotrimithia is the only British concentration camp in Cyprus that has been preserved (partially at least). It also serves as the venue for EOKA gatherings and anniversary celebrations – and of course for commemoration. To this end they also converted some of the barracks into museums (see below) and erected several memorial monuments within the former camp’s grounds.

  

But all this is basically a members-only affair. The site is not normally accessible to the general public. Hence the camp has otherwise become largely forgotten and there is no mention of it in Cyprus travel guidebooks.

  

However, a reader of mine, a Russian expat who has lived in Limassol for eight years and acquired a good knowledge of the more unusual attractions of Cyprus (see also Mitsero mines), got in touch and alerted me to the existence of this site (and others I hadn’t yet covered in my book or this website at that point). And when I finally managed to visit the country in January 2023, he kindly arranged a special visit. He contacted the relevant EOKA people and managed to get them to open the camp specifically for us one Sunday. That’s how I got to see the various things inside the camp as detailed below.

  

Note that many Cypriots not familiar with this old camp associate the place name Kokkinotrimithia rather with present-day refugee camps. (Cyprus has taken in a significant number of people fleeing the war in Syria, for instance.) So don’t get the two confused.

  

  

What there is to see: normally not very much. If you just rock up you’ll find the gate locked and no entry permitted. The best you can do then is peek through the gate and maybe the fences surrounding the compound.

  

However, a local who had got in touch with me (see above) arranged a special opening of the site for a little group we put together (see also here). So when we arrived at the gate it was open and an elderly man (presumably an EOKA veteran or relative) greeted us. (Interestingly there was also a police car parked by the museum.) We were then free to explore much of the camp, including the exhibitions in the museum and inside the former prisoners’ barracks.

  

Above the gate to the compound is a large sign saying “K concentration camp” in English and in Greek specifying the name and the dates when the camp started operating and when it was closed. Of course there would not have been any such sign back then.

  

Just inside is also a sentry point hut that clearly looks like a replica. Along the central avenue there are a number of monuments and busts on plinths – allegedly some of these are in honour of prisoners who managed to escape. The central monument is a large grey stone obelisk … and there are numerous Greek national flags flying – but not a single Cypriot one.

  

Just outside the museum this is also echoed on a circular structure, which may have been a water tank, whose whitewashed outer wall is covered with various EOKA slogans in blue paint. One of them translates as “Cyprus is Greek”. This is a reference to the fact that while EOKA succeeded in achieving independence from the British, the organization did not attain their other goal, namely that of ‘enosis’ (unification with Greece – see Cypriot history). Other slogans translate as “Freedom or Death” and “Out with the British” (still?!?).

  

Inside the main museum building the walls are plastered with little portrait photos, presumably of EOKA members/prisoners. In the centre is a bust of EOKA founder Georgios Grivas and there’s also a whole section with documents and photos of him – proper hero worship.

  

Also in the centre are a couple of glass display cabinets with exhibits such as old rifles and machine guns and various objects made by the prisoners while incarcerated at Kokkinotrimithia. Remarkably this includes not one but two wooden models of the Eiffel Tower in Paris! Also on display are several paintings and drawings depicting the plight of the EOKA prisoners. At the other end of the hall is an auditorium with over a dozen rows of chairs – and, again, quite a few Greek flags.

  

We then made our way to the three corrugated iron barracks that have been preserved here, together with the barbed-wire fences that surround them. This is where it gets decidedly grim.

  

The first hut we were ushered into was lined with over a dozen further Greek flags and in between them hang paintings that depict the various methods of torture employed here by the British. This is the very darkest part of the site. I’ve abstained from reproducing any photos of these paintings in the gallery below, however.

  

Another hut contained stylized rows of “beds”, 30 in total, that the hut would have been filled with back in the day. Except these “beds” seen today are made of concrete with wooden plank tops, so are only symbolic. On the walls are various historial photos as well as more contemporary ones depicting EOKA events over the years. Since everything was in Greek only, I could not really make out any details.

  

The third barrack contained an additional exhibition not about EOKA as such but about the history of Cyprus going back much further. Again, all texts were in Greek only so their content remained largely a mystery to me.

  

Beyond the grim barbed-wire-surrounded barracks was another especially dark element: the arrest block, or prison-inside-the-prison. This is where the dark solitary confinement cells are, “furnished” with only a wooden plank for a bed and a bucket as a toilet, plus a water jug (inmates in these cells were given only water and bread). Only a brick-sized window at the very top of the outer wall let in a minimum amount of daylight.

  

Furthermore there’s also a reconstructed canteen and near the gate I spotted a watchtower semi-hidden by the foliage of the trees that now surround it. Another tower-like structure had a cross at the top and a bell suspended from it, so I guess this would be something like an improvised church tower for religious ceremonies.

  

Finally there’s a monument complex with a ca. life-size statue of an EOKA fighter brandishing a machine gun, flanked by plaques and yet more Greek national flags.

  

All in all, it’s a suitably grim place, especially the prisoners’ huts and all that barbed wire of the fences surrounding them, yet the exhibitions aren’t all that illuminating, and if you can’t read Greek their content remains largely mysterious in any case. (You can learn more about EOKA and the camps at the Museum of the National Struggle; see also the Imprisoned Graves in Nicosia.) But for sheer visually dark appeal this has to be one of the top sights in Cyprus. It’s a shame that access is so restricted.

  

  

Location: just to the east of the village of the same name and on the edge of a nearby contemporary industrial area, a good eight miles (12 km) west of Nicosia.

  

Google Maps locator: [35.1542, 33.2244]

  

  

Access and costs: a bit hidden and with very restricted access, but free.

  

Details: To get to this site you need your own vehicle (or hire car) as there is no public transport here. From the main A9 motorway, which leads out of Nicosia in a westerly direction, exit left at the Kokkinotrimithia junction. When you come to a roundabout take the second exit to turn right. Keep left on this road until you come to a T-junction, where you turn left and then immediately right again. This curved road ends by the camp’s gate.

  

Normally this gate will be locked and entry to the premises not permitted. But when I visited with a local (see above) he had made prior arrangements with EOKA, who seem to be in charge of the place and specially opened it for us – at no charge.

  

  

Time required: for just a quick look through the gate and the fences probably only a few minutes. When I visited with a local who had made arrangements for the place to be opened for us, we spent something like 45 minutes at the site. If you can read Greek and want to take in everything that’s on the text panels, I would reckon you might need at least half an hour longer.

  

   

Combinations with other dark destinations: We combined the visit to this camp with driving to the Mitsero mines afterwards, which are about ten miles (16 km) to the south-west (as the crow flies, distances by road are greater).

  

The village of Mammari north of Kokkinotrimithia has a small ossuary underneath the Agios Georgios church, as well as some intriguing cave systems (created by mining), some are home to bat colonies. But I didn’t get to see any of these.

  

Other than that it’s best to drive back to Nicosia.

  

  

Combinations with non-dark destinations: nothing much in the immediate vicinity. The nearest place of touristic interest will in fact be Nicosia.