Troodos place ot Visit

Troodos place ot Visit Cyprus Usefull Information

The resort is 5,500 ft above sea-level and was the summer seat of government during British rule. It is now very popular as a summer resort, with good hotels and camping facilities, and is also the winter-sports centre of the island. The highest point of the Troodos range, Mount Olympus (6,401 ft) is 2 m. north-west of Troodos crossroads. The observation post on the summit, not unnaturally, gives a splendid unimpeded view stretching to the farthest distances of the Cyprus island. It would be unreasonable to expect that there should be many features of historical or archaeological interest on these exposed heights, though according to Strabo the geographer (b. 66 B.C.) Olympus was the site of a temple of Aphrodite Acraia which was not only unapproachable for women but actually invisible to them.

There is some evidence of a Venetian fort, and Poracacchi, a sixteenth-century writer, has mentioned that Cypriot nobles at the time of the Venetian occupation customarily visited the monasteries in the vicinity for summer recreation. In 1881 Rimbaud designed a house on the lines of a Scottish shooting-box which became the summer residence of British governors of the island. The French poet's stay here in an interval between unconventional wanderings is reason enough for interest in his all too conventional Victorian design. For the rest, lovers of natural history will appreciate the flat-topped pines, the springs and the waterfalls. The wild flowers in spring and autumn (some rare elsewhere) provide additional interest when walking or riding.

The right hand turning at Troodos crossroads leads by ah excellent new road to Prodhromos, 4,600 ft above sea level, the highest village in Cyprus. (Troodos ranks as a resort and has none of the qualities of a village.) It has a delightful aspect on the north-western spur of the high mountains, and is the site of the Cyprus Forestry Training College. There is a large hotel, as well as good accommodation in lower price ranges. The former Trikoukkia Monastery, 1 m. from the village, which has buildings dating from 1761, has been converted into use as a government fruit-growing research station. The locality is especially favourable to apple trees.

Pedhoulas is reached by continuing along the descending road. It is a charming village, at 3,600 ft, at the head of the Marathasa valley, in a neighbourhood suitable for fruit growing and especially good for cherries. The blossom in the spring is deserving of the kind of pilgrimage made by Japanese in their own land. The beauty of Pedhoulas is slightly marred by roofs of corrugated iron - practical in winter emergencies, no doubt, but so are traditional tiles. In summer there is an open air cinema. The biggest church is so prominent on its platform-like site, clearly visible from almost every point, that its whiteness, central dome and twin cupolas distract the eye, and perhaps attention, from a neighbour which, though close by, is not at all easy to locate. The tiny Church of the Archangel Michael was built in 1474. The interior is dark, for the reason that it has no windows, but it is possible to open the north and west doors and thus admit enough light to reveal the existence of the beautiful but damaged frescoes which are contemporary with the church. The iconostasis is interesting in being similar in design to a Latin rood screen, unlike those of Orthodox churches, which aim to exclude the congregation from the altar and the officiating priests. Note the Lusignan coat of arms, and those of lesser nobles, on the upper division of the screen. High above the village of Moutoullas there is a tiny chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1279. It has an interesting fresco of the donors, John Moudoulas and his wife Irene, as well as good carved doors. This diversion is not recommended if time is short, because Kalopanayiotis is a very short distance down the main road, and its famous church is more accessible. Moutoullas mineral water is bottled and sold all over the Cyprus island. The sulphur springs of Kalopanayiotis are used in the treatment of digestive disorders, debility, skin affections and certain types of rheumatism. The waters may be drunk or used in the form of thermal baths. Medical supervision is recommended, especially in the case of the baths, which are liable to affect the action of the heart and the circulation of the blood.

The most interesting of the churches some say the most interesting in the whole of Cyprus is undoubtedly St John Lampadistes, which is reached by a picturesque path and a bridge across the river ravine. Apart from the moving beauty of this church belonging to a deserted monastery, it is especially interesting because it consists of three churches covered by a single steeply pitched tiled roof which reaches almost to the ground the traditional barn like structure developed to withstand heavy snowfall. The interior is apportioned between the Latin and Greek Orthodox rites, and services are conducted by rota. It is entered from the south, at the part which is a cross in square domed church of the eleventh century dedicated to St Heraclides. This has paintings of the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, the most notable being a Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, also thirteenth century paintings in the south and west vaults which have recently been exposed and treated. The central church is dedicated to St John Lampadistes, about whom little is known. It has been greatly restored, and contains the tomb of the patron saint, as well as fifteenth century paintings, also much restored, in the narthex, which it shares with the southern, Orthodox, church. The Latin chapel to the north was expressly built for the celebration of the Latin rite, and is covered with paintings of the early sixteenth century which are remarkable for their Italian cinquecento beauty as well as for the fact that experts consider them to be true frescoes (unlike the majority in Cyprus), that is, painted on the original plaster while it was still damp. The iconostasis in the Orthodox part of the church was once the Latin rood screen. Note the west doors of the Latin chapel as a particularly fine example of sixteenth-century wood carving.

Kalopanayiotis has many interesting small chapels in the neighbourhood. It should be borne in mind that in all probability their keys will be obtainable in the village and not near the chapels themselves. A short distance down the main road, opposite the village of Nikos, take a turn to the left which leads via Yerakies in the direction of Kykko Monastery. This is a mountain road with little in the way of habitation, and which is joined on the left after about 6 m. by the direct road from Pedhoulas.

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