TSERI residents are hoping that a recent excavation of part of an old cistern thought to be from the late Roman or early Byzantine period will lead to a fabled treasure trove known as the “golden coach of Aphrodite”.
Legend has it that when the Romans came to conquer the island, the Ptolemaic King of Cyprus rounded up all the island’s precious objects and hid them away somewhere in the centre of Cyprus.

But Department of Antiquities Director Pavlos Flourentzos said that the notion that the cistern’s 38-40 steps lead to a treasure is “nonsense”.

“It’s an old cistern with 40 stairs leading down, nothing more,” Flourentzos said, adding that it is part of a larger settlement probably from the late Roman and early Byzantine period.

Flourentzos said that there were similar settlements throughout Cyprus, although the cistern was deeper than most other cisterns.

The cistern had been partially dug up in hopes of finding the legendary treasure in 1949 after a Tseri farmer noticed that water in that area was draining rapidly into the ground.

But the enthusiastic excavations came to an end when water began pooling in the hole after they had dug 16 to 18 stairs down.

Over the following 57 years, the hole filled up again with soil. But four years ago the Tseri Town Council decided that the effort should continue, not necessarily because they believed the stairs led to a treasure, but because it was a historic site.
Flourentzos said he helped them put a team together to re-excavate the cistern, funded entirely by the Tseri Community.

After seven days of excavation about 7 steps have been re-excavated. But due to protests by the owner of the land, the excavation has for the moment come to a standstill. It seems the Tseri Town Council will have to purchase the land if it wants the excavation to continue.

Flourentzos said the area would be declared a Class B Monument Site. Unlike Class A Monument sites, Class B sites can be privately owned, although the Antiquities Department still has the authority to inspect them and halt construction if valuable artefacts are discovered.

But Flourentzos made it clear that though the government may approve of further excavations, it would not fund the effort.

“It’s not a unique settlement that needs to be worked on for preservation purposes.”