Xylotymbou is a small town in Larnaca District in south-eastern Cyprus. It is one of the four enclaves surrounded by the Eastern Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British Overseas Territory, administered as a Sovereign Base Area. The others are the village of Ormidhia and two separate parts of Dhekelia Power Station. It is administered by the Republic of Cyprus. Residents of Xylotymbou are engaged in agriculture and trade. Many residents work in the British Sovereign Base in Dhekelia and in the tourism industry in Ayia Napa, Protaras, and Larnaca. Xylotymbou is famous for its many small churches/chapels (about 10) and, in particular, the majestic monastery of St Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene. I visited this point as part of the IBRG CYBEX-24

We did not enough time to do an in depth exploration of the exclave, we therefore chose to visit 2 POI’s, firstly where a cluster of border markers were located and secondly on the NW edge of the exclave. One thing we noticed that the village has spilled over into the SBA.

Point A

The border markers were located in fields, alongside buildings, and within an orchard where we met a farmer who was picking olives.

The first 2 markers were located in a field and visible from each other. It looked as if the field was cultivated around the markers.

The farmer was very proud of his olives.

The final pair of markers were close to an out building.

Point B

We drove to the NE edge of the exclave, where surprisingly we found 2 markers, one that appeared to be a replacement – protected as we arrived by a plastic cone.