Holiday in Cyprus (7): Troodos Mountains
On Saturday, we were out for over nine hours on a day trip to the Troodos Mountains, a location that is 90 million years old and now a UNESCO global geopark. The mountains themselves are not far from Limassol, but the mountain range is extensive and our minibus had to proceed really slowly because we had to take literally hundreds of very tight bends.
We started by driving to the highest point accessible to the public for a refreshment break – a square at a height of 1,750 metres. Then we made brief scenic stops overlooking a former asbestos mine (a first for all of us) and the Troodos Botanical Gardens (a special request of the one woman in our group).
Most of the morning, however, was spent visiting three of the 10 Byzantine churches in the mountains. All the ones we viewed are UNESCO-listed: the 16th century church of the Archangel Michael (1514) and the 16th century church of Panagia of Podithon (1502), both in the village of Galata, and the 11th century church of St Nicholas of the Roof (1025 – making it almost a 1,000 years old) just outside the village of Kakopetria. Each church was only the size of a chapel but to see frescoes of such antiquity was a marvellous experience – for me, only rivalled by visits to similarly old and decorated churches in Ethiopia. No photographs are allowed.
We stopped for some lunch at the “Kykkos Tourist Pavilion” and then visited another two fascinating sites. First, we went to see the tomb of the former president of Cyprus Archbishop Makarios III (1913-1977). This is a remarkably plain affair although it is honoured with a soldier on guard.
However, the approach to the tomb is along a long, circular path with modern mosaics of saints – dozens and dozens of them – on either side and at the top of the path is a brand new Chapel of the Little Throne of the Icon of the Virgin Mary which is incredibly ornate. The whole thing must have cost a fortune to construct but the Cypriot Orthodox Church is one of the richest in the world and would clearly prefer to spend its money in this ostentatious way rather than alleviate poverty.
A short drive further on, we made our last stop at Kykkos Monastery. This 900-year old shrine guards a legendary, miracle-working icon of the Virgin Mary, given to the monastery founder by the the emperor of the time but hidden from view for centuries. The outer part of the monastery has recently been decorated with wall paintings in a simplified version of the style of the old frescoes, but the church itself is outrageously opulent (again no photographs are permitted). There is a museum as well but we did not have time to visit that.
Archbishop Makarios started his ecclesiastical career at Kykkos Monastery and expressed a wish to be buried next to it which is why his tomb is at Kykkos.
The drive back to Limassol took almost two hours. In the evening, again we had buffet dinner at the hotel.