DK Travel : Cyprus : Architecture

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Agios Georgios Alamanos Convent

Lovingly tended flower and herb gardens surround this small convent, which was founded almost 900 years ago. They are cultivated by a small community of nuns, who also paint attractive icons and make their own honey for sale here.
Agios Irakleidios Convent

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.
Agios Irakleidos Convent

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).
Agios Minas Convent

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

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.
Agios Sozomenos

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

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.
Chrysorrogiatissa Monastery

The monks of this impressive monastery, devoted to “Our Lady of the Golden Pomegranate” (the symbol of Cyprus), guard a treasury of icons and costly religious ornaments which have been hoarded here since its foundation in the 12th century (see Chryssorogiatissa Monastery). These include an icon of the Virgin Mary, discovered by St Ignatius, and kept on the iconostasis. The monks also make some of Cyprus’s finest vintages on the premises, which can be tasted and bought at their winery, Monte Royia (see Monte Royia).
Fikardou

The hill village of Fikardou has won tourism awards for its living museum that shows Cyprus village life as it was until just a few decades ago (see Fikardou Rural Museum).
Kykkos Monastery

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.