Today was our day in the Troodos Mountains, hiking a bit to see both St. Nicholas of the Roof Church and Kakopetria Village. First up was a short visit to the church, which we learned is incredibly important because it’s one of few examples of a Byzantine church that survived the Ottoman rule. Luckily, it’s high mountain location surrounded by lots of natural vegetation makes it difficult to get to and easy to hide, but it also made an unusual architectural feature necessary—the addition of a second roof! As it turns out, the fluctuations of weather found in the high elevation of the Troodos were not conducive to maintaining a church with a dome and valuable fresco paintings inside (the term refers to the technique used, where the paint must be applied to a damp wall, not dry or wet, in order for the paint to not crack and peel after). Therefore, the addition of a second roof was added to protect the dome and its contents, but following that they stopped building domed churches in such climates. The inside was even more beautiful, with only colorful paintings to decorate the relatively small space. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside in order to protect the paint from damage, but to describe the most important parts, the focal point of the art was Jesus Christ in the center of the domed ceiling, with angels surrounding him and progressively lower the other important figures in the Biblical stories, like the saints and such, were featured closer down. The ceiling structure formed a cross shape with the dome in the center, and on each of the sides scenes from Jesus’ life were depicted. The detail, even with the wear of a thousand years (the church is 11th Century, with some paintings added later in the 14th Century), was incredible, so the painters must have spent a long time on their backs on wooden planks (how they had to do it to do the ceilings) to get it all right! The rest of the church featured other scenes from important stories and significant figures in Christianity, with the idea being that the higher paintings represented Heaven and as they went lower they represented Earth. Some paintings that specifically stuck out to me included one featuring Mary being told that she is pregnant, a scene of her breastfeeding baby Jesus (something you never see in churches, as they never wanted to show it), and a depiction of the story of the 40 Martyrs (where, in Armenia, it wasn’t yet accepted to be Christian, but 40 soldiers declared themselves so anyway, so the ruler of the time had them thrown into a freezing lake to die, and they were honored for their dedication to their faith even in death with the painting, with crowns in the sky above to represent such an honor). Also notable was the fact that the original 11th Century painting above the alter (which was recovered through an innovative transplant technique after they discovered that a 14th Century painting had been out over top of it, and the newer painting was then placed elsewhere in the church so both could be seen) and the writing at the bottom of one of the interior arches (which our guide explained to be the names of donors who paid for some specific paintings to ensure they were included by covering the cost). Everything in the church was completely breathtaking, that the paintings had survived so long and still been so vibrant. Honestly, the fact that no pictures were allowed only made the moment more special and memorable, and I felt completely enthralled by the beauty and history in front of me.
After the church, we took a trip to a bit lower down the mountains to the old village of Kakopetria, which is nestled just above the Valley of Solea (which is named after the place that the residents of Kakopetria had previously lived before fleeing due to the attacks of the Ottomans). The entire area of the village and the surrounding forests were covered in all sorts of vegetation, from naturally growing plants (like the Cypress tree, which got its name because it was one of the earliest species to exist and grew naturally in Europe, but was mostly wiped out by the Ice Age, except in Cyprus where the weather is too hot for that, and then it was reintroduced to Europe from Cyprus) to carefully cultivated fruit-bearing ones (which is because the people of the mountainous areas figured out that its unique climate conditions at that elevation made it the ideal place for nearly every fruit to grow, so all manner of fruits are grown up there, from apples to apricots to cherries to pomegranate to table grapes, with only few citrus because those require higher temperatures and more water in general). The houses were in the old style, as were the shops, restaurants, and other buildings, especially in the village’s old town, which is protected as a historical site (therefore, any outside restoration must be completed in the traditional style, with the same materials and everything). This gave us the chance to see the town with its original look and feel, with red clay tiled roofs, exterior structures built with both volcanic rock from the mountains and river rock, mudbrick buildings only with two floors (the ground one having been used for keeping chickens, pigs, and donkeys/mules, the latter because common people weren’t permitted to own horses). The top floors were also sparse and simple, with only one dedicated room for all the children and one for the parents. Walking the narrow little side streets of the old area felt surreal, in all honestly, because it was all so cute and historic in a way that I’ve only felt in places of old European influence. Everywhere we went in the old town had a history now preserved and protected, from an old olive oil press from about 500 BC (which I learned was made with one wheel being turned by mule to crush the olives and then they were put in a basket in another device that further crushed them until the liquid that resulted could flow through a specially placed crack in the device and move into a container at the bottom, from there being put into a glass jar and preserved to last a family a full year) to another old church (with the familiar characteristics of an older main building but a distinctly different architecture for the belltower that was added once the restrictions from the Ottomans were no longer in place). Along the way, our guide also pointed out any specific vegetation she could, like the pink-orange flowers of the budding pomegranate tree, the beginnings of the terebinth berries still red instead of the dark green they are when ripe, the plane trees that need continuous water and have leaves that resemble those of maple trees, and the cactus-like spiky plant that prickly pears grow from, all the while holding out little leaves from the various herbs various herbs growing wild on our path (including jasmine, bay leaf, etc.) for us to smell.
After our guided tour, we ate lunch and were then free to explore such streets, which I spent taking many photos of the cute little surroundings and the views below before grabbing some ice cream and wandering the little boutiques to browse clothing and jewelry. The locals were very nice and opened up their shop doors to let us in and look around, where I saw everything from handmade turquoise necklaces to high-quality original clothing. As we wrapped up, we then said our final goodbyes to our wonderful guide (her name was Demetria, a sweet old lady who was with us to give us fascinating facts about every site we visited) with a group photo before hopping back on the bus back to Nicosia. Overall, it was a wonderful day spent in the Troodos filled with historic sites to see and places to explore, and I would definitely spend more time up there given the chance!
