The island of makers: Cyprus's winemakers, potters and cheesemakers

The best of Cyprus is handmade. Behind the meze table, the wine list and the village square stands a quiet population of makers — families who have kept their crafts for generations and a new wave reviving them with fresh ambition.

The old crafts, alive

In the wine villages of the Troodos, small producers are turning indigenous grapes like Xynisteri and Maratheftiko into serious bottles. In Kornos and Foini, potters still throw the big terracotta pitharia. Lefkara's lacemakers keep a UNESCO-listed tradition stitch by stitch, and village dairies press halloumi by hand.

Meeting them

What unites them is welcome. Knock, and most makers will show you the press, the wheel or the vat and pour you something to taste. Buying directly — a bottle, a bowl, a length of lace — is the surest way to take a piece of the real island home and to keep these crafts going.

A day among the makers — a cellar, a pottery, a long lunch — is one of the island's quiet pleasures. Tell our concierge your interests and we will open the right doors.