Troodos Mountains

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Troodos is the biggest mountain range of Cyprus, located in the center of the island. Troodos' highest peak is Mount Olympus at 1,952 meters.

Troodos Mountains

**Painted Churches in the Troodos Region**¹
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Cyprus
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv
Identification	#351
Region²	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1985 9th WH Committee Session
Extension/s	2001
WH link:	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/351
1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List 2 As classified officially by UNESCO

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 skiing in winter. There are 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. There are 9 churches in Troodos that are counted among Unesco's World Heritage Sites and several monasteries, of which the Kykkos monastery is the most famous and rich. 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
Panayia tou Moutoula, and
Archangel Michael at Pedhoulas.

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.