Dayyyyyyy 9!!! Today we visited one of the towns in the mountains, Kakopetria. To get into the town, one would have to wind their way through the mountainside. The roads were very windy, however, they overlooked much of the town and gave us a beautiful view from the road of the little town. You could see the tiled roofs of every home in the town, which created a gorgeous landscape to look at. In the town, Dimitra showed us many of the old buildings, which were constructed using a type of bamboo for the roof, wood, and some old igneous rocks. We visited one building in particular that was a restaurant built in the design of how the old city used to be made in. Dimitra said that this was her favorite restaurant in the town and that it was the best place to get trout. Flowing through the town was a little river/creek, that managed to follow us everywhere we walked it seemed. Also, many plants were growing on the side of the road that were great smelling. I’m not sure what all of them were but I remember there was a plant that smelled like bay leaves, but don’t eat them cause they have a bad aftertaste. After lunch some of us went on a hike up a mountain to get a better view of the town. We discovered that high enough up you were able to see all the way to the ocean! These were some of the best views I’ve experienced, with the lush green mountains dotted with the tiled houses.

Before we visited the town, we went to the St. Nicolas of the roof church. It was a much smaller church than the others that we have visited, but was still very pretty inside and out. Instead of the usual domed roof, many of the Byzantine churches had during this time, this one had a domed roof with a sloped roof over it. Inside they painted the walls and ceilings using a technique called fresco. This technique entailed painting onto the wall when it was damp and letting it sit, so it would last longer and not crack. I was mesmerized by how intricate the details on the walls were. It amazed me that someone was able to paint such a beautiful design on the ceiling of the church. I felt like in each of the paintings there was a rich history of detail, as well as a story of the Bible that was told. I was also impressed by the acoustics of the church. To think to put the holes in the wall to reduce the echo was very smart. Its small stature and the way the paintings have lasted this long really piqued my interest. Overall, I found the church very intriguing..