Applicant:
Lysos Community
Emigrants Association of Lysos
Date of inscription:
2019
Brief description:
Maxilles are a type of sun-dried figs made in the village of Lysos in Paphos district. It differs from other sun-dried figs because of the way it is prepared and its taste. It is an organic product and does not contain any preservatives. In the old days it was kept in clay pots and cardboard boxes and was a valuable product for consumption during the winter months. In villages of Paphos and especially in Lysos, it is customary on Epiphany Day to give children sun-dried figs, almonds and pomegranates as gifts. Also, in Lysos, because maxilles was a locally produced and traded product, people felt that it needed to receive the divine blessing and that is why they baptized them, along with other nuts, in the Holy water of the Epiphany. The inhabitants of Lysos, in order to ripen more quickly the figs to make the maxilles, use a very old method known throughout the country as the oiling of the “bellybutton” of the figs.