Last day with car

We planned a trip into the hills below Troodos today but began by, yes dear reader you guessed, starting with coffee in Pissouri Square. At this stage it was pleasantly warm but as we walked back to the car, rain arrived as it did off and on all day.


Kouri's Dam
 

Our trip began with a run along the motorway towards Limassol where we turned inland along a lesser road to the Kouri's Dam. The structure is a mass concrete dam and should create a substantial reservoir up the valley behind. We had been told that a number of the reservoirs were worringly low and this one certainly was in that class.

We could see the planned water level but at the moment it is way below that. (We did see another later that was a bit fuller)

Nunnery

 

We continued along the eternally winding roads into the Commanderia region. In Monagri, the village of two monastries said the sign, we followed the directions to our first monastery today - actually today it is a nunnery. A modern building surrounds an old church with some noted icons.

Most well known icon in church

Although there was little information, a nun who seemed not to speak any English, did offer us some Cypriot Delight and a chunk of bread. Although the monastery was isolated, it was far from quiet as many birds created a loud noise as they flew in and out if their nests in the roof.

Monastery Archangel Michael

Back toward s the village and we also stopped at the Monastery Archangel Michael. Again, a small church in the centre was surrounded by more recent buildings.

We called at the winery which advertised tastings of Commanderia, a sweet dessert wine, but as with most places we visited today, they were clearly not expecting visitors. At least we obtained directions to the nearest patrol station in Trimiklini - the gauge was dropping alarmingly! By now it was lunch time and heavier rain arrived. We saw a large car park with a view and pulled in to eat our sandwiches. (With just one other vehicle there we had some difficulty deciding which space to occupy!)

Timos Stavros Church

After lunch we continued to follow winding roads, getting ever further up the mountains. Our next stop was to visit Timios Stavros church, which involved driving down some amazingly narrow streets of this village until we suddenly found the place we were looking for. As we arrived an elderly couple quickly came out to open up and the man - with no English - insisted on showing us all the details.

Prgnant Mary and Elizabeth

 It is a very small building but is full of wall paintings, surviving in various degrees. The most impressive part was the ceiling, especially that in the traditional dome over the centre. Mike had to lie flat on the floor to look up and appreciate it!

Relic of the True Cross

There is also a relic which tradition says is part of the 'True Cross' which St Helena brought to the island in the 4C AD along with a part of the rope used in the crucifixion.

Floor inscriptions

We headed to our furthest planned destination of Agros where they tourist information person had promised us all sorts of interest. Despite great efforts to find anything, it was far from obvious where they might be evening season but today it was resolutely shut.

Amirou Monastery

Heading back down the main road towards Limassol we saw a sign to another monastery - Amirou - and we turned off, through a village and then another narrow road until we arrived. Although there has been a church and some sort of monastery here for centuries, the main building, including a substantial church, Only opened last year and is still not finished. Some considerable money must be being spent.

Amirou Monastery Church

By now most of the afternoon had gone so we continued back down to the motorway and thus back to Pissouri. Before returning to the apartment we picked up ingredients for our meal tonight.