Agia Napa Sculpture Park / Park of Mediterranean Plants, Cacti and Succulents

Located at the crossroads of Cape Gkreko and Kryou Nerou Avenue, the 20.000 square metres sculpture park and its adjoining cactus park offer a beautiful setting for a stroll with stunning, panoramic views, and benches along the way.

The sculpture park consists of a large collection of pieces by over 50 artists from around the world who have participated in the annual Sculpture Symposium held by Agia Napa Municipality. The expansion of the collection is an ongoing project that is continually being added to, and in 2015, artists from around the world created their sculptures on-site over a period of three weeks, turning the park into an open-air workshop.

The Park of Mediterranean Plants, Cacti and Succulents is an extension of the sculpture park and is also an ongoing project to showcase the various cacti and dried plant varieties of the island.

Region: Ammochostos (Famagusta)
Address: Kryou Nerou Avenue, Agia Napa
Contact No: Tel: +357 23 816 300, Fax: +357 23 722 607
Operating Hours: From sunrise to sunset.
Operating Period: All year round.
Entrance Fee: Free
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.
 

Environmental Information and Education Centre at Cape Gkreko

The Environmental Information and Education Centre at Cape Gkreko is one of the first buildings on the island designed to take into account its environmental surroundings, and opened in 2017 to showcase the natural wealth of the Cape.

The Cape Gkreko Environmental Centre is one of the first buildings on the island designed to take into account its environmental surroundings, and opened in 2015 to showcase the natural wealth of the Cape Gkreko National Forest Park, as well as educate on the threats to the area’s ecosystem and its preservation efforts.

The eco-friendly building incorporates a Welcome Centre, souvenir shop, exhibition rooms (with visual and audio guides explaining the different ecosystems of the coastal area and the sea), three aquariums (where visitors can view the marine ecosystems up close), and a café.

Located east of Agia Napa and south east of Protaras, the National Forest Park and conservation area of Cape Gkreko is an area of stunning, unspoiled natural beauty that covers 385 hectares.

The park incorporates a network of nature trails and specialist cycling paths, and is popular for diving and boat trips. It is rich in indigenous and endemic flora and fauna and offers spectacular views from its limestone sea cliffs.

Region: Famagusta (Ammochostos)
Address: Cape Gkreko
Contact No: Tel.: +357 23 814 412
Operating Hours: 1 May – 31 October:  Monday – Sunday: 10:00 – 18:30
1 November – 30 April: Monday-Friday: 10:00-14:30
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Adults: €2,00
6-12 years old: €1,00
0-6 years old: Free
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.

The Church of the Archangelos Michael, or Panagia Theotokos

Located in the mountainous village of Galata, the Church of the Archangelos Michael, or Panagia Theotokos, is a timber-roofed chapel, painted in the post- Byzantine style of the early 16th century and one of four painted churches in the village.

Region: Troodos area [Lefkosia (Nicosia) district]
Address: Galata village
Contact No: Tel: +357 99 671 776
Operating Hours: By appointment.
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Website: www.mcw.gov.cy/da
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.
 

Agios Sozomenos Church

Located in the centre of the mountainous village of Galata, the church of Agios (Saint) Sozomenos dates to the early 16th century and retains a complete series of frescoes in the post-Byzantine style. It is one of four painted churches in the village.

According to an inscription above the west entrance, the church was built and decorated in 1513, and 14 villagers undertook the financial responsibility of painting the church. The structure is aisle-less and timber-roofed, with the roof extending to form a portico in the shape of the Greek letter ‘pi’ (like a square ‘u’).

The church’s interior is covered with frescoes that are in generally good condition and are divided into two tiers. On the upper tier there are scenes from the Christological cycle, while on the lower tier the standing figures of saints are depicted under painted arches. In the apse of the bema, the Virgin Mary is shown between the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. The wall paintings on the external side of the north wall include scenes from the Second Coming, the Root of Jesse and the eight Ecumenical Synods.

Region: Troodos area [Lefkosia (Nicosia) district]
Address: Gallata village
GPS coordinates: Lat: 34.996485 Lon: 32.898295
Contact No: Tel: +357 99 671 776
Operating Hours: By appointment.
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Website: www.mcw.gov.cy/da
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.
 

Trooditissa Monastery

Located on the southern slopes of the Troodos mountain range, the 13th century Trooditissa Monastery is situated among pine trees, commanding a picturesque spot. The present church was built in 1731 and contains a priceless silver-leaf covered icon of the Virgin Mary brought from Asia Minor, believed to give childless couples hope if they pray to her.

The exact date of the foundation of the monastery is not known, but it is believed to have been established immediately after the iconoclastic era by a hermit who resided there during the years of the iconoclasm. The church, as well as the monastic buildings, belong to a later period and can be dated to the end of the 18th or the 19th and 20th centuries.

The monastery is a retreat for prayers, and as such it is closed for visits, although the church is open to visitors.

Region: Troodos area [Lemesos (Limassol) district]
Address: Between the villages of Platres and Prodromos
GPS coordinates: Lat: 34.91292 Lon: 32.838212
Operating Hours: Daily: 09:00 – 12:00 / 14:00 – 16:00 (church only)
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Disabled Access: Wheelchair accessible.
Website: www.mcw.gov.cy/da
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.
 

Timios Stavros Church in Pelendri village

The 14th century church of Timios Stavrou (Holy Cross) in Pelendri village is decorated with exquisite wall paintings of the Palaiologan period and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The church was originally a single-aisled domed structure, built around the middle of the 12th century, and may have been the church of a cemetery. It was destroyed under unknown circumstances, and the present form of the church is the result of several additions and alterations, carried out throughout various periods, with only the original apse surviving.

According to an inscription in the apse, the original wall paintings date to 1171 / 1172 with fragments of the decoration preserved on the apse under the layer of the 14th century frescoes. The main part of the church was decorated during the second half of the 14th century by at least two artists.

The north aisle served as a private chapel for the family of the Latin feudal lord of the area, Ioannes Lusignan (1353 – 1374 / 1375), and the village itself was once the property of Jean de Lusignan, son of the Lusignan King of Cyprus, Hugh IV.

Church of Timios Stavros – The Holy Cross – in Pelendri – Audio Guide 

Region: Troodos area [Lemesos (Limassol) district]
Address: Pelendri village
GPS coordinates: Lat: 34.893036 Lon: 32.91096
Contact No: Tel.: +357 99 662286 Mr. Gregoris Kadis
Operating Hours: Monday – Friday: 9:00 – 11:00 & 13:00 – 16:00
Saturday – Sunday: 10:00 – 13:00
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Website: www.mcw.gov.cy/da
Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.

Timios Stavros tou Agiasmati Church

Located about 3km outside the mountainous village of Platanistasa, the 15th century church of Stavros tou Agiasmati is a UNESCO World Heritage site and retains the most complete cycles of mural paintings of the second half of the 15th century on the island.

Its name derives from the word ‘Agiasma’ (-atos) which in Greek means ‘sanctified water, spring or well near a church’. The church used to be a monastery church, but only traces of the cells of the monastic buildings remain to the south of the church.

The surviving structure is a single-aisled building with a steep-pitched timber roof covered with flat tiles that extends beyond the main structure to form a portico on all four sides – a feature that is unique in Cyprus. According to an inscription, the building was built with the donation of a priest named Petros Peratis and his wife Pepani, who are both depicted on a fresco offering a model of the church to Jesus with the mediation of the Virgin. Also noteworthy is the extensive and multi-person Last Judgment scene, which unfolds up to the far end of the gable where Jesus Christ is depicted.

Whilst the year of the church’s erection is not known, it is generally accepted that its decoration was completed in 1494.

The Church of the Holy Cross of Agiasmati in Platanistasa – Audio Guide

Region: Troodos area [Lefkosia (Nicosia) district]
Address: Platanistasa village
GPS coordinates: Lat: 34.979155 Lon: 33.047013
Contact No for Church: Tel: +357 22 652090
Operating Hours: By appointment
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Disabled Access: Wheelchair accessible.
Website: www.mcw.gov.cy/da
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.
 

Panagia tou Moutoulla Church

Located in the mountainous region of Moutoulla, the tiny 13th century chapel of Panagia tou Moutoulla is one of the earliest examples of its type and is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The church has a steep-pitched timber roof and frescoes dating to 1280. The narthex was added at a later stage, after the beginning of the 16th century, and extends to the west and north sides of the church. The timber roof also covers the narthex. The wall paintings are the only series of the thirteenth century (1280) that survive in Cyprus and can be dated with precision.

The church was built and decorated through the donations of Ioannis of Moutoullas and his wife Irene, who are both depicted holding a model of the church. It is believed that it may have been a private chapel.

The village itself has an ongoing tradition for carved wooden basins.

The Church of Panagia tou Moutoulla – Audio Guide 

Region: Troodos area [Lefkosia (Nicosia) district]
Address: Moutoullas village
Contact No:  Tel: +357 97 733 480 (Mrs Eleni Constantinidou) (Please notify in advance for your arrival if you intend to visit later that usual)
Operating Hours:  Winter Period: Tuesday-Sunday: 08:00 – 15:00
Summer Period: Tuesday-Sunday: 08:00 – 17:30
Or/and upon request
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Disabled Access: Wheelchair accessible.
Website: www.mcw.gov.cy/da
Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.

Panagia tou Araka Church

Located in the mountainous area of Pitsilia, between the villages of Lagoudera and Saranti, the 12th century church of Panagia tou Araka is a listed UNESCO World Heritage site and is considered to be of the most important Byzantine period churches on the island.

The church used to be a monastery church, built during the second half of the 12th century, when monastic life was flourishing in Cyprus. It survived until the first decades of the 19th century and its remains include a two-storey monastery building to the north, along with the church.

The church is a single-aisled domed structure with a cross-shaped, steep-pitched roof that extends to form a latticed-woodwork portico. During the 18th century, the west wall was demolished and the church was extended.

The frescos inside the church are comparable to those prevailing throughout Greece, the Balkans and Russia, and were painted by the artist Theodoros Apsevdis in the late Comnenian style (1192). Those in the apse of the bema are of a different style to those in the rest of the church, and it is believed that they were painted by another artist before 1192.

Panagia tou Araka – Audio Guide 

Region: Troodos area [Lefkosia (Nicosia) district]
Address: Lagoudera village
GPS coordinates: Lat: 34.965394 Lon: 33.011166
Contact No: Tel: +357 99 557 369
Operating Hours: Monday – Saturday: 9:00 – 13:00 & 15:00 – 17:30 (Winter)
9:00 – 13:00 & 15:00 – 18:00 (Summer)

Sunday: 10:00 – 13:00 & 15:00 – 17:30

Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Website: www.mcw.gov.cy/da
Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.

Panagia Chrysokourdaliotissa Church

Located in the Solea Valley, in the village of Kourdali, the church of Panagia Chrysokourdaliotissa was built in the 16th century as a monastery church dedicated to Panagia (the Virgin Mary), and according to the foundation stone, was established by deacon Leone Kourdalis.

The preserved church is three-aisled, with a steep-pitched roof and flat roof tiles. The aisles of the church are divided from the nave by wooden arcades. The church contains wall paintings and icons of the 16th century in the Italo-Byzantine style, and the iconostasis is a fine example of wood sculpture of the 16th -17th centuries.

In 2006, the Holy Synod decided to re-establish the Monastery.

Region: Troodos area [Lefkosia (Nicosia) district]
Address: Kourdali village
Contact No: Tel: +357 99 770 592
Operating Hours: Daily: 08:00 – 13:00 / 16:00 – 19:00
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.