Usually it is Santa Claus, a snowy landscape, a Christmas tree with gifts. These images accompany the Christmas greeting cards we exchange during the holidays. But people in Limassol always had a humor so ιn December 1965 they released in bookstores a card with 3, anything but Christmassy, images.
This greeting card for the New Year, which depicted 3 well known faces of Limassol is today the occasion for beautiful and nostalgic memories about these people, with whom the locals lived and grew up. Arkondes, Kkiazimes and Parpas, who wish "Happy year", were people of the streets, but people harmless and endearing to the residents of the city. Their presence marred the morals and character of an era.
Arkondes
He was the illegitimate and unrecognized son of a rich father with the maid of the house. Locals remember that he always helped the poor, although everyone knew him as a peaceful beggar man. When they annoyed him, he would get angry. The short story by Leonidas Pitsillides, named after the man, is exclusively dedicated to him.
Kkiazimes
He was the Turkish Cypriot "counterpart" of Arkondes in Limassol. People passing through the streets used to put them up to quarrel with each other in order to laugh. The Limassolians remember that "one could not be withtout the other", even if they often came into conflict.
Parpas
Parpas was a street musician, good at violin. Locals remember that he used to sit on the sidewalk with his violin case open for people to throw money in. This man is actually represented in a painting by V. Ioannidis showing the Limassol seafront.
Source: Lemesou mnimes
* NOTE: The tributes of the Project "History of Limassol" present information that has emerged from historical research thus far. Any new data is embedded into the tributes, once it has been confirmed.
