We started the day with a bus ride to the remote village of Kakopetria, nestled among the Troodos mountains. The village follows the dramatic landscape of the mountain range; the village’s cobblestone roads wind and bend so that they can slowly climb the steep mountain faces. The village was lush with plantlife and as was the area around it. There were no palm trees like you may find on the coast; instead, the village was littered with fruit trees, such as lemon and olive, oaks, and pines. Vines grew up the faces of some the homes in such a way that their unkept nature even seemed intentional. A stream of pristine water ran through the villages, carving a ravine around 30 feet below. Plants completely filled the walls of this ravine, making the river a canyon of green. This scene was completed by the archaic architecture of the housing. The old village was constructed from mud brick (mud and straw) with a river stone foundation. These walls were just different enough from the cobblestone streets that you knew where they started– but one could not help but feeling they were connected in some way. Such architecture can even make one feel like they’re back in that time. The new part of the village was made from modern materials mimicking the aesthetic of the old.

On our way to the village of Kakopetria, we also stopped by St. Nicolas of the Roof church. The outdoor engineering of the church was most interesting to me. As we had seen previously on this trip, most churches in Cyprus are constructed with a dome. This is because domes are seen as a symbol of heaven. However, a dome would not work for a mountain church: snow in the region would cause the roof to cave in. Unfortunately, the village would soon realize this and construct a second slanted roof above it. Such a roof allows slow to slide off and reduces the chance of a cave-in. It is interesting how such a principle is found in other places– churches in Scandinavia have intensely slanted roofs for the same reason. This goes to show that different groups of people may come up with the same solution for the same problem! When I was inside, I was also most enthused by the preservation of the frescos. It was incredible that the frescos have been abe to survive centuries, and the reigns of other empires, to be so intact today. This shows how advanced some of earlier human engineering was– many things humans build today don’t even have half the lifespan. The frescos were able to stay for so long since the pigment was mixed with the plaster of the wall– so the frescos were visible as long as the original wall was too.