Contact Details: 15 Oinopoieiou Street Anogyra 4603, Limassol Tel: +357 25222225 Fax: +357 25222723 Contact: Mrs Yiota Hatzikyriakou (Owner)              Mrs Andri Vasiliou (Owner) E-Mail: mavroschrysos@cytanet.com.cy

Company Profile

Anoyira is a picturesque village situated on the Southern slopes of the Troodos massif, overlooking the bay of Pissouri, just a few kilometres off the Limassol-Pafos highway. For centuries this village is surrounded by carob orchards and in the past, carobs were a major source of income for the community. Traditionally, carob processing was an important activity and the village is best known for its unique carob based all natural products. One such traditional product is pastelli, made by selected carobs high in sugar content using a unique, fairly hard and complex process.

In this setting, carrying a long history in carob processing, two women with a vision to safeguard their family's inherited traditions, decided to invest money and effort creating the Museum and factory of the carob fruit. Sisters, Yiota and Andri today run the one and only fully operational traditional workshop that produces carob pastelli, using the same processes and utensils that their parents had used for half a century who in turn had also inherited from their ancestors.

The Carob Museum

Mavros Chrysos (Black Gold) Museum is located in a renovated family-owned house, in the heart of the village and attracts visitors all year round, presenting in a clear manner, using all the traditional utensils and supported by visual aids, the process for making carob syrup and pastelli products. The Museum also portrays the story of Cyprus carobs, their nutritional value and the owners are keen to suggest alternative uses of the carob fruit, especially as a substitute to cocoa and sugar based sweets. The Museum is open for visits daily from 8.00am to 7.00pm but pre-arrangements are suggested by calling on 25222357.

The factory

In fact, this is no more than a small workshop, which adheres to traditional methods and processes but has additionally been upgraded in order to satisfy the highest hygienic standards. The workshop is approved (by the local authorities) as a food processing unit and the company is currently in the process of obtaining a HACCP certification. The factory produces carob syrup and pastelli products but also other traditional carob sweets are seasonally available, all on display and for sale at the premises. Carob fruit comes mainly from the family's own carob orchards supplemented by selective purchases from local farmers.

Anogyra's Natural Sweetness

Excitement for the carob's nutritional value and a passion to continue the family's long tradition, guide Yiota and Andri in their efforts to promote Anogyra's heritage and open up new markets for quality carob products. Mavros Chrysos is a new company in operation but at the same time it is the last remaining organised processor of carobs in the region and the only one that still produces  pastelli the traditional way. For an experience in Cypriot traditional gastronomy, Mavros Chrysos of Anogyra is certainly a place to visit.