Halevka Forest Area

Halevka Forest Area Cyprus Usefull Information

This is the headquarters of the Northern Range and Plains Division of the Forestry Department. Here there is a restaurant and a cafe, and car parking space from which there are pleasant walks through the plantations (chiefly pinus brutia and cupressus sempenivens) which flourish against the limestone crags of this dolomitic range. The pattern of plantations follows the contours wherever there is soil for roots, giving a welcome touch of green which is offset by the misty distances of the Mesaoria Plain. In spring and autumn cyclamen and anemones carpet the ground, and sheltered corners and crevices in the rocks harbour narcissi, ground orchids and rare alpine plants.

At Halevka a turning leads north and downwards for about 3/4 mile to the Armenian Monastery of Sourp Magar. In the Middle Ages this was inhabited by a Coptic community of Egyptian Christians who dedicated their monastery to St Makarius the Hermit (A.D. 309-404), a saint thought to have no great connection with Cyprus. Since 1425 the monastery has been in Armenian hands, and a small brotherhood ministered to pilgrims and visitors from Nicosia. It was used as a summer resort for orphans of the Armenian massacres in Turkey of 1895-7. The former guest-house is no longer in use. On the saint's feast day, the first Sunday in May, this became a place of pilgrimage and feasting for the Armenian community of the island. The original church was built, according to general practice, in the centre of the enclosure, but it was ruined, probably by earthquake, and its walls now form part of a terrace. The exterior east wall of the enclosure contains remnants of medieval building work, and the room used as a guest chamber at the north-east corner, which has a roof supported by a central pillar, probably dates from the fifteenth century. The present church, built 1811-14, is without character. It is the courtyards and the peace of the enclosure with its trees and gardens, and the atmosphere of shelter, which are of value.

The Forest Road continues westwards towards the mountain known as Pentadactylos, This place-name, meaning five fingers, is one of those which assist foreigners to memorize useful Greek words, because the crags of this peak of 2,430 ft really can be imagined as five rather blunt fingers. The legend is that a village beauty or 'queen' set a suitor the difficult task of fetching a capful of water from remote Cape Andreas. When he miraculously succeeded she went back on her word, and refused to marry him. Whereupon he threw the water on the ground, scooped up a handful of wet soil and threw it at her. It missed, but sticks to this day to the very top of the range, clearly showing the impress of human fingers. A rival legend insists that the imprint was made by the hand of the great hero Dighenis as he vaulted the mountains in pursuit of the Saracens. The paths below the steepest crags lead to good vantage points with a choice between looking south over Nicosia to the Troodos range or north across the sea to Asia Minor.

Returning to the main route, the road eastwards from Halevka towards Antiphonitis Monastery is perhaps the most spectacular section of the Forest Road, which continues along almost the whole length of the northern range and has been constructed partly as a tourist attraction and partly to facilitate forestry work. It gives views on both sides of the mountain with their contrasting characteristics: to the north steep slopes and very green pockets of vegetation established by the superior rainfall, dropping to a narrow, fertile littoral and then the sea; to the south exposed limestone crags, plantations wherever planting is possible, but altogether stonier, harsher and more eroded than the other side. Instead of sea, the plain. The hairpin bends of the road reveal first one aspect and then the other. Inexperienced drivers should take great care, because though there is little traffic, passing places are few and far between.

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