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Commandaria festival: A celebration of Cyprus' 'wine of kings'
August 20, 2018
On September 7 to 15, the 12 villages of the Commandaria region are organising the 8th Commandaria Festival in close collaboration with producers and as part of concerted efforts to keep traditions alive.
Commandaria is a famed wine with a rich history and has managed to retain its quality and importance through the years. A dried grape wine from Cyprus was first described in the 8th century BC by the Greek poet Hesiod. Commandaria was served at the wedding of Richard the Lionheart to Berengaria of Navarre in the town of Limassol: during the wedding the king pronounced it as ‘the wine of kings and the king of wines’. The wine took its name from the Crusader Knights Hospitaller who came to Cyprus after the aristocratic Lusignan family took over the island in 1192.