The Poet's Plaque
A governor gave this house a famous builder. The builder's own letters tell it differently.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
Arthur Rimbaud may have killed a man on this island with a stone. Less than seventy years later, a British governor honoured him with a plaque. By the time he reached this mountain, the poetry was over. The year before, a friend asked whether he still thought about literature. He gave a short laugh and, as the friend remembered it, said he didn't deal in that any more. In May 1880 he wrote home from Troodos.
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
Troodos Square, on the B9 in the Troodos mountains. The Presidential residence is guarded and closed to the public apart from the yearly Let's Go Troodos event (6 September 2026, 11am to 6pm, ID required, shuttles from the square). You cannot drive up to it. Dates for later years not confirmed.
On the way
Sources
- Andrekos Varnava, Recreating Rural Britain and Maintaining Britishness in the Mediterranean, The Cyprus Review 17(2), 2005
- Rimbaud, letter to his family, Mont-Troodos, 23 May 1880
- Rimbaud, letter to his family, Aden, 17 August 1880
- Graham Robb, letter, London Review of Books 20(23), 26 November 1998
- Centre of Visual Arts and Research (CVAR), Did you know: Government Cottage, 2022
- rimbaud-arthur.fr, Rimbaud in Cyprus
- rimbaud-arthur.fr, European travels 1875-1880
- Cyprus Mail, Presidential retreat opens doors for Troodos event, 12 August 2026
- Cyprus Mail, Thousands go to Troodos for event at presidential residence, 6 September 2026
- rimbaud-arthur.fr, Rimbaud in Africa: Aden and Harar
This text was written by AI from open sources. An expert will still check it. Found a mistake? Write to us. Support
