Painted Churches Trilogy - A New Hope

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

Right, Star Wars has not much to do with my painted churches project but visiting 3 of them definitely felt like we were in another universe, far far away from the city life we know.

I was planning this trip to discover the island's deep religious roots for a while now and last weekend was the perfect time to start the journey in Marathasa area.

I'm hoping to follow the path through three areas in Troodos and visit all 10 Byzantine churches, spend some relaxing time under the steep timber roofs, admiring the beautifully painted frescoes.

This time we visited Pedoulas and the church of Archangelos Michael, Moutoulla and Panagia tou Moutoulla and finished the day in the Monastery of Agios Ioannis Lampadistis in Kalopanagiotis.

Pedoulas is a beautiful small village in Marathasa valley, a great summer getaway place if you like tranquility and picturesque landscapes.

We parked the car near the Ayia Marina Chapel and walked our way up to the church of Archangelos Michael through the old narrow streets and stone houses.

The church was built in 1474 and now it's one of those ten churches which have so far been granted World Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO. It's completely decorated in two levels with vivid Byzantine frescoes. Once you open the chunky wooden door you can enter the silent past.

It was simply breathtaking, so detailed and colourful, more preserved than I expected. This church is a typical single-aisled, timber-roof type one with a loft that was was used by the women, while only men entered the main church.

We spent a few more minutes walking around before heading off to the upper part of the village where the Holy Cross Church stands. Unfortunately it was closed so the best we could do was having a pit stop in a tiny hidden playground under the church's stairs.

The next village to visit on our map was Moutoulla with the 13th-century chapel of Panayia tou Moutoulla.

The church is built in the same style like the others, steep-pitched timber roof covering the narthex.

The frescoes were less preserved in here however these are the only series of the 13th century that survived in Cyprus.

It was also pretty dark inside so I had trouble with photo shooting the wall paintings in the narthex but if you go and see them you won't be disappointed.

We returned to our car again and drove back to the main road. I wish we could have more time to spend in Moutoulla, strolling along the natural trail of the Baths of Rigena and Chlio but we wanted to go to Kalopanayiotis before our well deserved lunch.

This village quickly became one of my personal favorites and we are already very excited to spend a whole weekend there in November. Kalopanayiotis has all that a mountain village can offer. A sulphur spring can be found at the banks of river Setrachos next to the Venetian bridge, the lovers bridge for some romance, the Monastery of Agios Ioannis Lampadistis for soul healing, the dam for fishing, the water mill and picnic area for lazy Sunday breakfasts and of course the picturesque streets and cottages.

We managed to park next to the monastery and walked in with big expectations. Thankfully we were not let down however I must admit I prefer it much more when I don't need to zigzag between tourists, but you can't have your cake and eat it too, right?

The place is beautifully kept, the warden was very friendly too and happy to talk to us.

You can enter the complex through a small stone gate or the main entrance on the opposite site.

Now, the only trouble is that taking photos inside is not allowed. That is a BIG problem for me so I won't be able to show as many photos as I'd like but here are the secretly taken ones:

It really is a must see church. The frescoes are stunning, covering the whole interior, including the Raising of Lazarus, the Crucifixion and the Ascension.

The monastery has a Byzantine museum too but if I'm honest we were way too hungry to stay longer so we slowly walked out with a promise of return.

We had another 3 unplanned stops ahead us, late lunch at Troodos square, an accidentally discovered abandoned hotel in Platres and the double Venetian bride in Trimiklini before we reached home with lots of amazing memories and some long desired inner peace.

#troodosmountains #pedoulas #moutoulla #kalopanayiotis #paintedchurches