We changed altitudes today and went into the mountains! We went to Kakopetria, a small village in the Troodos Mountains. The versatility of Cyprus’ terrain is so impressive, it’s hard to believe that we have seen beaches, salt lakes, forests, and now mountains. There is a 20th century part of Kakopetria but we explored the old town of the village more. I was taken aback by the sight from the lookout points in the town. The old town is located between two rivers. The rivers and hills brought me back to Pittsburgh! Walking through the narrow streets of the old town, we saw ancient two story houses. The village’s residents kept their animals on the first floor and lived one the second floor. Most of the houses had adorable red-orange tiled roofs and were made of stone. I really liked standing at the top of the town and looking down on the village below, covered in flowers and plants. The narrow streets and balconies made me feel like the village was built to be a close-knit community. We also had a traditional lunch at a local restaurant and got to try interesting jelly-like fruit sweets.

We also visited St. Nicholas Church, a church close to Kakopetria. While we couldn’t take pictures inside, the church had the most beautiful fresco paintings, some originating from as long ago as the 11th century. The church had five domes, built to represent a cross. The middle, and highest dome had a depiction of Christ, as the more holier frescos are placed closer to the ceilings of churches. I was impressed with how well preserved these paintings were, the colors still shining brightly even centuries later. These two dimensional paintings were from the Byzantine era and were from the peak of the era, the 12th century. It was interesting to learn that this church has one of the only frescos that depict Mary breastfeeding baby Jesus, which is never shown in biblical paintings. The entire interior of the church was covered in these paintings and I can’t wrap my mind around how much work would go into painting just one—especially upside down on a ceiling! The outside of the church was also very interesting, as it had two roofs! They added the second roof around 50 years after the church was built because the snowy climate of the mountains was damaging the frescos inside.