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One of the oldest Christian communities in Cyprus, the chapel here dates from the 15th century. It lay in ruins before being restored in the 1960s.

An air of age-old mystery hovers over this oldest of monasteries, founded in AD 400 in honour of Irakleidos. He welcomed St Paul and St Barnabas to Cyprus, who brought with them Christianity, and he thus became the first Bishop of Tamassos. His bones are displayed in an ornate silver reliquary. It is now run by nuns (see Agios Irakleidios Convent).

Graceful white cloisters surround a small 15th-century church and house a community of nuns whose fine icons are sought-after by collectors.

The elaborate iron crowns and silken vestments of Orthodox bishops are among the highlights of this monastery’s museum. Equally fascinating are the frescoes in its cave-like chapel, a grotto dug by Neofytos, the hermit who founded it in the late 12th century.

In the deserted village of Agios Sozomenos is the medieval church of Agios Mamas, with Gothic arches.

Dali is a farming village that takes its name from the ancient city-state of Idalion. Aphrodite’s lover, Adonis, was killed by the boar of Idalion and the red flowers that bloom here are deemed tokens of his death.

This 900-year-old shrine guards a legendary, miracle-working icon of the Virgin Mary. Given to the monastery’s founder, the hermit Isaiah, by the Emperor Alexios Comnenos, it has been hidden from profane eyes for centuries and remains so to this day. Kykkos is one of the great centres of the Christian Orthodox faith and continues to attract pilgrims from all over the world.