On the island of Cyprus there is also a mountain range that, among the silence of the forests, preserves a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the Troodos Mountains, in fact, there are ten Byzantine churches, built between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries. To see all of them you need several days and certainly your own transport, but at least a couple are within everyone’s reach.
Each church has its own special features, the fascinating Kykkos Monastery, for example, is linked to a legend about the icon of the Virgin Mary painted by the Apostle Luke that is inside. It seems that the Byzantine governor of the island Manuel Voutomitis got lost in the woods during a hunting trip and arrived in the vicinity of the monastery. Here, he made the acquaintance of a hermit, Isaiah, who lived in the monastery. Used to not having contact with people, the hermit did not respond to Voutomitis’ request for directions, who treated him badly. When Voutomitis fell seriously ill, he asked God what he could do to be cured. The solution was to apologize to Isaiah by giving him the very icon of Our Lady that was kept in the imperial palace in Constantinople.
