Cyprus Dossier 08: Ιστορίες της Κύπρου – Stories of Cyprus

Page 78

78

The Fysko Lotus Plaza Project

Adonis Archontides & Theseas Efstathopoulos

p. 78 — 85

The Fysko Lotus Plaza Project Adonis

Theseas

I had only been inside once before; in all the years that I have lived in Limassol, I had always felt a sense of dread emanating from this towering and foreboding building. The stories I had heard when I was young told of satanists hiding in its shadows, chanting and summoning demons that could haunt your house for decades. Stories and rumours regarding its demise ranged from economic crises to elaborate cons, but the fact was that the commercial space had been largely abandoned, and had fallen into disrepair. I’d never dared set foot anywhere close to it – I didn’t think I would enjoy being cursed. But on that day, the sun was bright enough to cast away all shadows... and I had company so it couldn’t be that scary. What I found inside was a treasure trove of memorabilia from forgotten times, graffiti on the walls telling stories from decades past, lovers separated by time and chance, names of ‘gang members’ trying to leave their mark within their fortress of decay. The walls were alive with the stories of the ghosts that still haunt this place. Fysco Lotus Plaza is full of seemingly abandoned storage rooms and shopfronts, their glass doors conveniently smashed in for any potential looter-adventurer to come in and go through the ‘merchandise’. Things that should have stayed inside sometimes find their way outside in the dusty hallways, and that was how we got our hands on three photo albums of a family.

On the corner of Gropius and Iktinou stands a building, of which the windows invite you, the settled filth of time becomes a foreground for exploration, a catalyst for stories and tales to be manifested in its honour. During my primary school years, its abandoned offices and shops were occupied by devil worshippers, during high school its translucent windows were evidence of a previous Golden Age; one that was never fulfilled, possibly affected by a culturally ingrained gluttonous instinct. But now the stories have settled. They have become real and as they have aged, they have become about money and the absence of it. The rooms seemed to have been plundered for loot by generations of the past, and all that was left now had maintained a scenic tranquillity and stillness. The space was imbued with a certain weight, emanating experiences lived within the now broken windows, the dusty flow of air, forgotten heirlooms that had been reduced to just ‘stuff’; and there we were, with our ponderous minds writing tales of our own. Then we found three photo albums of one family.

21410014.JPG


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.