Troodos is the largest mountain range in Cyprus, located in roughly the center of the island. Its highest peak is Mount Olympus, also known as Chionistra, at 1,952 meters, which hosts four ski slopes
The Troodos mountain range stretches across most of the western side of Cyprus. There are many mountain resorts, Byzantine monasteries, and churches on mountain peaks, and nestling in its valleys and mountains are villages clinging to terraced hills. The area has been known since antiquity for its mines, which for centuries supplied copper to the entire Mediterranean. In the Byzantine period it became a centre of Byzantine art, as churches and monasterieswere built in the mountains, away from the threatened coastline.
Kykkos Monastery , which lies 20 km west of Pedoulas, is one of the wealthiest and best-known monasteries in Cyprus.
The Holy Monastery of the Virgin of Kykkos was founded around the end of the 11th centuryby the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118). The monastery lies at an altitude of 1318 meters on the north west face of Troödos Mountains. There are no remains of the original monastery as it was burned down many times. The first President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III started his ecclesiastical career there as a monk in 1926.He remained fond of the place and returned there many times. His request to be buried there materialised after his death in 1977. His tomb lies 3 km west of Kykkos monastery and remains a popular visitor destination.
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