All you need to know about the Water Theme Park in Deryneia

The water theme park in Deryneia lies east of Ayion Panton Church and the Second Primary School of Deryneia. It offers a large amphitheater, a children’s playground, a bar, a café, a kiosk, and a fascinating exhibit that showcases ancient Cypriot methods of water extraction.

At the park, visitors can explore a traditional well (lakkos), once used to draw water with a bucket, either by hand using a rope or with a wooden wheel called the alakati. They can also experience the zygos (or katia), a manual water-lifting device operated by moving it up and down. Another featured method is the Archimedes’ Screw, an ingenious invention of the Greek scientist Archimedes (287–212 BC), which raised water using a rotating screw mechanism.

The park also displays the alakati, traditionally powered by animals to irrigate gardens, and the pump, or ttouloumpa, a hand-operated piston system used to draw water from wells. Visitors can also learn about the windmill—a well-known invention in the Famagusta Region—that used wind power to lift water from deep underground, making irrigation more efficient.

Wells – “Lakkoi”

In Cyprus, where rivers, springs, and lakes are scarce, people relied heavily on wells to access water. The depth of each well depended on the water table. Typically, these cylindrical wells measured about three feet in diameter, allowing a person to enter and descend using side steps.

While digging a well, one person excavated while an assistant pulled up the soil using a bucket or sack attached to a rope. Once the digging was complete, they built a stone wall around the well’s opening, extending one to two feet above ground. They often narrowed the opening to make it easier to cover with a flat stone for safety. People drew water by lowering a bucket into the well with a rope and pulling it up when full.

Wells for Animal Watering

Every household maintained its own well for daily tasks—watering animals and poultry, washing wheat for milling, cleaning utensils, and irrigating gardens. Farmers also dug field wells surrounded by stone troughs to water animals during sowing, summer, or harvest seasons.

Shepherds carried a special leather bucket, light enough to hang from their crook, and used it to water their flocks after grazing.

The Zygos

In ancient Egypt, people near the Nile used the zygos to lift water from the river to irrigate crops. They anchored two crossbeams on the riverbanks and placed a longer beam across them. One end dipped into the river with a bucket tied to it, while the other extended onto land. By pressing the far end down, they raised the water-filled bucket, which another person emptied into a reservoir or irrigation channels.

Cypriot farmers adapted the zygos, or katia, especially in shallow-well regions like “Palialakkoi” in Strovolos and coastal plots near the sea. They used this technique to irrigate crops like potatoes, onions, beets, and melons. Until 1960, local farmers such as Nikolakis Koullapis and later Andreas P. Koullapis continued using this method.

Archimedes’ Screw

Archimedes invented a revolutionary water-lifting method during his time in Egypt (287–212 BC). His device used a tube containing a rotating screw. When turned by hand, it raised water from a lower point to a higher level. The bottom of the tube sat in the water, while the top extended to land. As the screw turned, water moved upward and flowed into containers or irrigation furrows.

This mechanism not only transformed ancient irrigation but also inspired the design of modern turbines and grain elevators.

The Alakati “Manganopigado”

The alakati—also known as “Noria” internationally—used a system of toothed wheels and a hydraulic wheel to lift water from wells. Animals powered this system by walking in circles and turning a horizontal wooden beam called the zarouti. This action rotated a horizontal wheel, which turned a vertical wheel carrying a rope with clay buckets. As the buckets descended into the well, they filled with water and then rose to spill the water into a trough, which directed it into a reservoir.

Early alakati mechanisms used only wood: wooden wheels, clay buckets, and rope made from reeds or river plants. The structure rested on stone and wooden supports, with walls called piliarka stabilizing the beam. Blindfolded mules or donkeys pulled the zarouti, walking around a flat surface known as the trapezia.

Eventually, builders replaced wooden parts with metal—steel axles, metal buckets, and durable ropes. These upgrades allowed the alakati to draw water from depths of 20 to 30 feet. In Deryneia and Strovolos (especially areas like Kolympos, Landa, and Pervolia), alakati systems remained in use until around 1950. Some, like Foutoulli’s alakati near Gyros beach and Mr. Fotis’s large wooden alakati in Agios Memnon, remained visible until recently.

The Pump “Ttouloumpa”

The ttouloumpa, or manual pump, offered a simpler, more efficient way to draw water from shallow wells. It used a vertical pipe about five centimeters wide, inside which a steel rod moved a metal cup with a leather piston. A person operated the rod manually, and the motion pulled water upward through a brass chamber at the bottom of the pipe.

As the piston moved, it created suction and lifted water up through the pipe, which then exited through a small spout into a trough or container. This design eliminated the need for ropes and buckets.

In Deryneia, the village installed its first ttouloumpa near Saint George’s church around 1930. Others followed in Agios Antonios and the First Primary School’s well. When a borehole with a good water supply was discovered in 1956, the community used it until 1974. Farmers in Ayia Napa and Paralimni also relied on these pumps for their fields.

Windmills

Windmills provided an innovative, low-cost method to draw water from deep wells using wind power. A tower supported a rotating sail system, which turned a shaft connected to a rod that pumped water upward, much like the ttouloumpa. The windmill discharged water into a reservoir, making irrigation efficient and continuous.

In Cyprus, windmills appeared mainly in windy mountainous areas. Farmers appreciated them for their ability to operate with minimal supervision and no fuel cost, which allowed them to water gardens and crops with ease.