Troodos Mountains - Churches

Churches

Further information: Painted Churches in the Troödos Region

The region is known for its many Byzantine churches and monasteries, richly decorated with murals, of which the Kykkos monastery is the richest and most famous. Nine churches and one monastery in Troodos together form a World Heritage Site, originally inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1985. The nine Byzantine churches are:

  • Stavros tou Ayiasmati
  • Panayia tou Araka
  • Timiou Stavrou at Pelendri
  • Ayios Nikolaos tis Stegis
  • Panayia Podithou
  • Assinou
  • Ayios loannis Lampadistis at Kalopanayiotis
  • Panayia tou Moutoula
  • Archangel Michael at Pedoulas
  • Transfiguration of the Saviour Palaichori

The area has been known since ancient times for its copper mines, and in the Byzantine period it became a great centre of Byzantine art, as churches and monasteries were built in the mountains, away from the threatened coastline.

  • Interior View of Kykkos Monastery

  • Church in spring

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Famous quotes containing the word churches:

    “What after all are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchers of God?”
    —Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

    “People fall out of windows, trees tumble down,
    Summer is changed to winter, the young grow old
    The air is full of children, statues, roofs
    And snow. The theatre is spinning round,
    Colliding with deaf-mute churches and optical trains.
    The most massive sopranos are singing songs of scales.”
    —Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)