Nine Byzantine churches in the Troodos mountains, are included in the oficial
UNESCO list of cultural treasures of the World's heritage: Stavros tou Ayiasmati, Panayia tou Araka, Timiou Stavrou at
Pelendri, Ayios Nikolaos tis Stegis, Panayia Podithou, Assinou, Ayios loannis Lampadistis, Panayia tou Moutoula, and
Archangel Michael at Pedhoulas. The impressive Troodos mountain range stretches across most of the western side of
Cyprus, offering cool sanctuary and idyllic hours spent in long walks in its scented pine forests in summer and winter sports
and ski-ing in winter. Here are the many famous mountain resorts, Byzantine monasteries and churches on mountain
peaks, and nestling in its valleys and picturesque mountain villages clinging to terraced hill slopes. The area has
been known since ancient times for its 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. The Cyprus Tourism
Organisation has a leaflet for the unique Nature Walks, which have been created by the Forestry Department in co-operation
wlth the Cyprus Tourism Organisation at Troodos itself, with full details of the rich profusion of flora and fauna found on
these very attractive walks, which attract many visitors every year. In the Troodos mountain range, besides
Machairas to the east, and the actual Troodos district around Mount Olympus (height 1951 metres), there are four other
districts, each of which has its own character and separate charm. These districts are: - Pitsillia to
the east of Mount Olympus,
- Solea Valley and the
- Marathassa Valley to the north of Mount
Olympus, and
- Krassochoria (the Wine Villages) to the south (north-west of the Limassol
district).
These districts are easy to reach from either Limassol or Nicosia. See places of interest in Troodos |