Present Status
The function of the ancient aqueducts and grain mills of Larnaca come to a final close in the 1950s with the installation of modern water distribution systems, the use of electric motor pumps to access deep aquifers, and later on the use of other methods, especially seawater desalinisation.
The ancient water supply systems of Larnaca were eventually permanently destroyed as over-pumping of water at the source of the aqueduct caused the lowering of the water table and the intrusion of sea water.
Unwise and unsustainable use of modern technology put an end to a reliable source of water supply to the city of Larnaca, which was functional for almost 2,500 years! This is a great lesson to contemporary society.
Tips for Visitors!
One of the most characteristic sites of modern Larnaca is the grandiose series of arches (kamares) of the old aqueduct of Larnaca. They impose on the scenery on the western exit of Larnaca towards the town of Limassol. You meet this 300 meters long monument along the Avenue of Nicos and Despina Pattichi, which is the main exit of Larnaca towards western Cyprus.
Two more series of arches in two other sites of Larnaca survive today, which however are lower. The second series of arches, 200 meters long, can be visited at the kamares neighborhood, which is a fast growing new residential area of Larnaca. The third and lower series of arches, also about 200 meters long, can be visited outside the village of Dromolaxia at a distance of 2 kilometers in a straight line from the second series and about 4 kilometers far from the first and most grandiose kamares series. Along the top of all three monuments visitors can see the stone channel that used to carry the aqueduct water to the city of Larnaca.