KYKKOS MONASTERY

Located near the summit of Mount Kykkos, at an altitude of 1,200 m, this Greek Orthodox monastery (Ιερά Μονή Κύκκου/Iera Moni Kykkou, Kykkos Monastery) is the richest and most visited in Cyprus. It was founded at the end of the ^11th century by the Byzantine emperor Alexis ^I Comnenus. It houses a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary, donated by the emperor and, according to tradition, painted by Saint Luke, one of the four writers of the New Testament. Constantly rebuilt and enlarged, the complex no longer holds much historical interest. But it attracts visitors for its ecclesiastical museum, housing countless treasures donated from all over the world (icons, liturgical objects, sculptures, ivories, priestly vestments, carved crosses, etc.) and for its impressive décor, including sumptuous gold mosaics from the 1990s. The oldest part of the monastery is the catholicon, the main church, which dates back to the ^18th century. Here you'll find a magnificent gilded wooden iconostasis from 1850 and the famous icon, known as the "Panagia of Kykkos", donated by Alexis Comnenus, which is only shown on rare occasions. Pilgrims, the curious and the superstitious also flock to see some strange objects: a swordfish rostrum donated by a sailor who was saved, it is said, by invoking the Panagia of Kykkos, or a dried-up hand, said to belong to a visitor who tried to light a cigarette with one of the church's candles and got gangrenous. Also on site: store and café.