One of the first chosen lands the Apostles chose to spread the message of Christianity, Cyprus has deep religious roots. Being incorporated in the Classical Roman Empire and the Eastern Byzantine Empire, the island had many Byzantine monuments worth visiting. Ten of them are of such great importance and historic significance they were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List added in 1985. Churches dating from the 11th to 17th century can be found in the Troodos mountain range.
You can visit them by following routes which have been geographically divided into three regions:
The Marathasa route: Kalopanagiotis – Moutoullas – Pedoulas (route length of 148 km). This route includes the Marathasa monuments: Monastery of Agios Ioannis toy Lambadisti in Kalopanagiotis, Church of Panagia in Moutoula and the church of Archangelos Michael in Pedoulas.
The Pitsilia route: Lagoudera – Platanistasa – Pelendri – Palaichori (route length of 97 km). This route includes the Pitsilia monuments: Monastery of Panagia tou Araka in Lagoudera, Church of Stavrou tou Agiasmati in Platanistasa, Monastery of Timios Stavros and Church of Archangelos Michael in Pelendri, Church of Agios Mamas in Louvara and the Church of Metamorfosis in Palaichori.
The Solea route: Nikitari – Galata – Kakopetria (route length of 138 km). This route includes the Solea Monuments: Church of Panagia tis Asinou, Church of Panagia tis Forviotissa in Nikitari, the Churches of Panagia Podithou, Archangelou, Panagia and Agios Sozomenos Churches in Galata and the Church of Agios Nikolaos tis Stefis in Kakopetria.
