We spent the night in Kakopetria, a village built on the banks of two mountain rivers which meet in town. It's surrounded by forests. We stayed in the old part of town, where the old 2-story stone houses have wooden balconies perched above steep, narrow cobbled lanes.
Our B&B was on this street, too narrow for most cars. We parked a short distance away, and walked around a bit before breakfast.
There are trails that run on the other side of the fast moving river, leading down to the main motorway through the village.
Kakopetria means “bad rock”. The name may come from the huge rocks along the ridge above the village, which certainly would have been challenging to settlers. But there is, of course, a legend.
A nearby sign explains that it was tradition, carried over from pagan times, for newlywed couples to ceremonially circle this boulder. Then one day the rock crushed an unfortunate couple. Bad Rock.
I wasn't going to put any more cat photos here, but this one is a quiz: How many Kakopetria cats are in this picture? Note: Fractions of cats round up to 1 each.
Kakopetria is in the second of Cyprus's mountain ranges. The Troodos Mountains, in the center west of the island, are home to Cyprus’s highest peak, Mount Olympus, at 6344 ft. With a protected natural park of 35 square miles, the mountains attract skiers, hikers, campers and birdwatchers to its narrow winding roads and picturesque tiny villages.
The Troodos region is also known for some of the finest Byzantine frescoed churches and monasteries in the world. In 1985, a collection of ten of the best of these Painted Churches was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We came here to see some of the churches.
Although some of the churches are older, construction on most began after 1197. The Lusignan Dynasty, a royal house of French origin, ruled the Kingdom of Cyprus, a Crusader state, from 1192 to 1489. As Roman Catholics, they opposed the long-established Greek Orthodox sect prevalent in Cyprus.
The resulting repression and discrimination against the Greek Orthodox religion drove their clergy (with their builders, artisans and followers) to retreat to the northern slopes of the Troodos mountains. Safely ensconced and undisturbed in the remote mountains for 300 years, they built and richly decorated their churches and monasteries with Byzantine and post-Byzantine murals.
The UNESCO churches range from tiny chapels to grand monasteries. They have steep overhanging wooden roofs with flat hooked tiles, sometimes built over inner masonry domes or vaulted roofs. The unique, indigenous architecture was designed to both use readily available local materials and to protect the churches from the harsh, snowy winters. Hidden inside the often rough, rural outer walls are elaborate, highly embellished frescos.
All 10 of the Unesco-listed churches are considered living monuments, as they continue to be used as places of worship. They are the property of local church authorities, who are responsible for making the sites accessible to visitors. Management of the sites, however (including security, fire alarms, and maintaining the artistic integrity of the churches), is under the Cypriot Curator of Ancient Monuments and the Director of the Department of Antiquities.
Finding the keys (or more accurately, tracking down the holders of the keys) can be one of the charming - and sometimes frustrating - challenges to visiting the churches. We were lucky today.
Church #1 Panagia tis Podythou is just a few minutes from Kakopetria. A small Italian tour group was there when we arrived, so we didn't need to call and wait for the caretaker.
This was the main church for a monastery that was established in 1502. Monks lived in a nearby building until the mid-1900s. One of the "newer" Unesco-listed churches, it is decorated mostly with 16th century frescos. There are two uncompleted 17th century frescos depicting the apostles Peter and Paul. Their vivid colors and Renaissance-influenced “Italo-Byzantine" style is remarkably different from the flat appearance of the older Byzantine art.
Church #2 was the 11th century Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis, or St. Nicholas of the Roof - because of its prominent and heavy-pitched roof. The roof was built over a still-existing earlier roof which you can see above the center window. The new roof completely covered the church's dome, so it's a bit of a surprise to go inside and look up. St. Nicholas was also originally part of a monastery complex. The church was frequently modified and redecorated, which both damaged earlier artwork and prompted additions in ever-changing styles. There are frescos from 5 centuries, from the 11th to the 17th.
After this, the roads got a little more exciting and the destinations more difficult to find. A short but extremely winding route north led to the village (population 350) of Kalapanayiotis.
It's a good thing neither of us get carsick.
Church #3 The Agios Ioannis Lambadistis Monastery is actually three small connected churches under one huge pitched wooden roof. The complex was built over a 400 year period, with the oldest church dating from the 11thcentury. The various churches and chapels show the evolution of Byzantine art from 13th century frescos to 15th and 16th century Italo-Byzantine frescos. This monastery complex still stands, forming a courtyard before the church.
The frescos here were in excellent shape. We had downloaded audioguides for some of the churches from the Visit Cyprus tourism site. The narration referenced the topic for every painted panel, every side of every square column, etc - so much information that I couldn't keep up without frequently pausing it. One can see how the frescos could teach bible and church history to illiterate followers.
We spoke with a Brit here who was back in Cyprus for the first time in 50 years. His father had been posted in Kyrenia and he'd lived as a kid near Bellapais Abbey around the time Laurence Durell was there.
Church #4. The village of Moutoullas is known for its traditional woodcarvings, and for Panagia Tou Moutoulla, one of the oldest of the 10 Unesco-listed painted churches. It's believed to have originally been a private chapel. The paintings are rare and unrestored, dating back to the church's construction around 1280 AD. The original door still swings on its pegs.
Church #5. Our final stop was Archangelos Michail in Pedoulas, the town in which we are staying tonight. This relatively late Unesco-listed church dates back to 1474. The asymmetrical gabled roof on this tiny church is the result of L-shaped addition to the back and one side. The brightly colored frescos inside vwere restored in 1980. Unusual for the time, some works are signed by an otherwise-unknown artist named Adamos. The frescoes in this relatively new church show a move towards the naturalism of the post-Byzantine revival.
Greg had used his handheld GPS to track our efforts to find the three elusive UNESCO churches near Pedoulas. The roads were tiny and tortuous. One peaked so steeply that Greg got out of the car to check the other side before I gunned the engine to get over the top. Once we did a complete extra circuit because the first road dropped too steeply for comfort. With dry roads, little traffic and no place else to be, it was kind of fun.
We checked into our hotel before 5, for a change. We have a little balcony that overlooks the village and can walk to a restaurant across the street. It's been refreshingly cool here today, a nice break from the heat we'll resume when we hit the southern coast tomorrow.
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