Kykkos Monastery / Panagia tou Kykkou (Cyprus)
N 34° 59.028 E 032° 44.468
36S E 476373 N 3871277
Kykkos Monastery (Panagia tou Kykkou), located in beautiful landscape of Troodos Mountains, belongs among the most important "icons" of christianity in Cyprus and is spiritual centre of this country...
Waymark Code: WM7B3P
Location: Cyprus
Date Posted: 09/29/2009
Views: 17
Kykkos Monastery (The Holy Monastery of the Virgin of Kykkos) was founded around the end of the 11th century by the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus (1081-1118). The Kykkos monastery lies at an altitude of 1318 m on the north west face of Troodos Mountains. There are no remains of the original monastery as it was burned down many times).
The first President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, was very fond of the monastery as he visited many times and even asked to be buried 3 km west of the monastery. There is a monument built to him near the monastery.
Kykkos Monastery is ornately decorated and covered in a silver gilt, enclosed in a tortoiseshell shrine. It is also famous for its museum, located within the monastery grounds, which houses an impressive collection of icons, woodcarvings and manuscripts, and other Cypriot antiquities. The nearby Troodos Mountains, with magnificent hills and valleys, should also be explored as they are home to nine Byzantine churches, included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, and richly decorated with murals and Byzantine paintings.