Troodos (sometimes spelled Troödos; Greek : Τρόοδος [ˈtɾo.oðos] ; Turkish : Trodos Dağları ['tɾo.dos] ) is the largest mountain range in Cyprus , located in roughly the center of the island. Its highest peak is Mount Olympus ( Greek : Όλυμπος ), also known as Chionistra ( Greek : Χιονίστρα ), at 1,952 metres (6,404 ft), which hosts the Sun Valley and North Face ski areas with their five ski lifts.
22-509: Troodos may refer to Troodos Mountains , Cyprus RAF Troodos , Royal Air Force signals station in the Troodos Mountains SS ; Troödos , a Cypriot coaster in service 1947–52 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Troodos . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
44-458: A monk in 1926. He remained fond of the place and returned there many times. His request to be buried there materialised after his death in 1977. His tomb lies 3 km west of Kykkos monastery and remains a popular visitor destination. According to tradition written by Vasil Grigorovich-Barsky , the Ukrainian pilgrim who travelled to Kykkos Monastery in 1735, a virtuous hermit called Esaias
66-542: A viewing of intact rocks and petrified pillow lava formed millions of years ago, an excellent example of ophiolite stratigraphy. The observations of the Troodos ophiolite by Ian Graham Gass and co-workers was one of the key points that led to the theory of sea floor spreading . A detailed descriptive geological survey of Troodos was published in 1959. It predates the modern theory of plate tectonics , but contains exhaustive descriptions of rocks and structures. The region
88-772: Is known for its many Byzantine churches and monasteries, richly decorated with murals, of which the Kykkos monastery is the richest and most famous. Nine churches and one monastery in Troodos together form a World Heritage Site , originally inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1985. The nine Byzantine churches are: 34°55′N 32°50′E / 34.917°N 32.833°E / 34.917; 32.833 Kykkos monastery Kykkos Monastery ( Greek : Ιερά Μονή Κύκκου or Κύκκος [ locally [ˈt͡ʃikʰos] ] for short, Turkish : Cikko Manastırı ), which lies 20 km west of Pedoulas ,
110-661: Is one of the wealthiest and best-known monasteries in Cyprus . The Holy Monastery of the Virgin of Kykkos was founded around the end of the 11th century by the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118). The monastery lies at an altitude of 1318 meters on the north west face of Troödos Mountains . There are no remains of the original monastery as it was burned down many times. The first President of Cyprus , Archbishop Makarios III started his ecclesiastical career there as
132-500: Is still used for agricultural purposes. Up until the construction of its purpose built premises, the Cyprus State Fair was held on these grounds. In 1974, whilst Archbishop Makarios was under pursuit by the military junta, he headed for refuge here. As a result, the building was hit by tank fire and part of it collapsed. When he died subsequently, he was buried on the grounds. The current abbot, Nikephoros, whose symbol
154-530: The Madonna in eastern Orthodoxy. The icon is never looked at, and its top half remains hidden behind a protective covering as it is said that whoever looks at it will be blinded. The last person to have seen the icon is the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria Gerasimos, in 1669. The icon is rarely uncovered, although this happens on occasion. In recent years there had been a drought affecting Cyprus, in response to which
176-456: The Monastery was destroyed three times in its history. The current church dates from 1745. Throughout the centuries locals have revered the icon and have attributed miracles to its presence. In 1760 a success in the struggle against locust devastation, a frequent problem of the time, was believed to be the work of the icon. The icon has also served as a template for other paintings depicting
198-624: The emperor. By divine dispensation the daughter of the emperor had fallen ill with the same illness that had struck Boutoumites. The latter grasped the opportunity and went to see the Emperor Alexios III Angelos . He recounted to him his personal experience with the monk Esaias and assured him that his daughter would be cured if he sent to Cyprus the holy icon of the Virgin. In his desperation the emperor, seeing that he had no other option, agreed. His daughter became well instantly. The emperor, however, not wanting to be parted from
220-422: The fathers took the icon to her throne, and read special supplications for rain, whilst looking away from the uncovered icon. There are placed to the right of the icon a bronze arm, and a sword fish saw. Regarding the arm, this serves as a reminder the story of a Turk who tried to light a cigarette using one of the vigil lamps and he was cursed and suffered a gangrenous arm. The saw from the sword fish represents
242-443: The gratefulness of sailors who prayed to Our Lady of Kykkos to save them from the storms of the sea. Kykkos monastery maintains separate grounds Engomi , Nicosia called Metochi tou Kykkou (Μετόχι του Κύκκου). The land on which it lies was acquired over the years by the monastery through bequests. With the city's rapid expansion, the area which once used to be in the outskirts has now become prime property. Despite this, much of it
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#1732773115938264-494: The hermit and revealed to him that the very thing that had happened had been planned by the divine will and advised him to ask Boutoumites to bring the icon of the Virgin, that had been painted by the Apostle Luke , to Cyprus. The icon was kept in the imperial palace at Constantinople. When Boutoumites heard the hermit's wish he was taken aback because he considered such a thing impossible. Then Esaias explained to him that it
286-486: The icon of the Virgin, called a first-class painter and ordered him to paint an exact copy of the icon with the aim of sending this one to Cyprus. In the evening the Mother of God herself appears in a dream of the emperor's and tells him that her wish is for her icon to be sent to Cyprus and for the copy to be kept by the emperor. On the following day the royal boat with the icon of the Virgin departed for Cyprus where Esaias
308-418: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Troodos&oldid=1067726239 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Troodos Mountains The Troodos mountain range stretches across most of
330-423: The monk's indifference and called him names and even maltreated him. Not long after, when the doux returned to Nicosia , he fell ill with an incurable illness by the name of lethargia. In his terrible condition he remembered how inhumanly he had treated the hermit Esaias and asked God to cure him so that he might go to ask the hermit personally for forgiveness. And this came to pass. But God had appeared in front of
352-529: The mountains, away from the threatened coastline. The mountains are also home to RAF Troodos , a listening post for the NSA and GCHQ . The name Troodos probably comes from one of two sources: either τρία + ὁδός ( tría + hodós ), referring to the three roads that lead to the mountain, or τό + ὄρος + Ἄδος ( to + oro + Ados ), meaning the mountains of Adonis . The Troodos Mountains are known worldwide for their geology and
374-576: The people, a bird with human voice was flying around the area singing: Kykkou, Kykkou, Kykkos' hill A monastery the site shall fill A golden girl shall enter in And never shall come out again The "golden girl" is, without a doubt, the icon of the Virgin while the monastery is the Holy Royal and Stauropegial Monastery of Kykkos which has been sheltering the icon for over nine hundred years. The church of
396-540: The presence of an undisturbed ophiolite sequence, the Troodos Ophiolite . These mountains slowly rose from the sea due to the collision of the African and European tectonic plates , a process that eventually formed the island of Cyprus. The slowing and near-cessation of this process left the rock formations nearly intact, while subsequent erosion uncovered the magma chamber underneath the mountain, allowing
418-428: The western side of Cyprus. There are many mountain resorts , Byzantine monasteries, and churches on mountain peaks, and nestling in its valleys and mountains are villages clinging to terraced hills. The area has been known since antiquity for its mines, which for centuries supplied copper to the entire Mediterranean. In the Byzantine period it became a centre of Byzantine art, as churches and monasteries were built in
440-415: Was a matter of divine wish and they agreed to travel together to Constantinople for the realization of their aim. Time was passing and Boutoumites could not find the right opportunity to present himself in front of the emperor and ask for the icon. For this reason he provided Esaias with other icons and other necessary things and sent him back to Cyprus, at the same time placating him that he would soon see
462-485: Was awaiting for it. During the procession of the icon from the coast to the Troödos Mountains , according to legend, the trees, participating in the welcoming ceremonies, were piously bending their trunks and branches. With patronage provided by the emperor Alexios Komnenos a church and monastery were built at Kykkos, where the icon of the Virgin was deposited. According to another tradition, still preserved by
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#1732773115938484-513: Was living in a cave on the mountain of Kykkos. One day, the Byzantine governor of the island, doux Manuel Boutoumites , who was spending the summer at a village of Marathasa because of the heat of the season, went into the forest to hunt. Having lost his way in the forest he met Monk Esaias and asked him to show him the way. The hermit who was not interested in the things of this world would not answer his questions. Boutoumites got angry at
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