Cyprus my island

Villages of Troodos (selection)

Platres
Platres (Greek: Πλάτρες) is a mountainous village in Cyprus. It is located on the southern slopes of the Troödos Mountains (Krasochoria region) and is approximately 25 kilometers (16 mi) north-west of Limassol and 45 kilometers (28 mi) south-west of the capital Nicosia. The name of Platres derives from the Greek word platía, which means plain area, due to the town's many flat fields in between steep, mountainous terrain. The town is divided into two parts: Pano Plátres (Upper Plátres), the principal hill resort of Cyprus; and Kato Plátres (Lower Plátres also known as Tornárides), a smaller, residential settlement, some 3 km to the south-west, downhill from the main town centre. The town has a resident population of fewer than 300, but this can swell to more than four times this number during tourist seasons.

In the past the villagers were mainly shepherds and vine growers. Later most vine fields were converted to orchards, producing cherries, apples, pears, peaches and more. However, since the early 20th Century many people have dedicated themselves to the booming tourism sector. Plátres has been a popular hill resort since the British took control of the island of Cyprus in 1878. In the arid hills of the Troödos range, Plátres is relatively unusual in straddling a perennial stream, providing a reliable source of drinking water and allowing a profusion of foliage not commonly seen on the island. Importing their taste for cool retreats, away from the heat of the coast, the colonial settlers rapidly established a network of hotels, bars and shady walks around the small village that previously existed on the site. Over the years,

Plátres gained a reputation as the destination of choice for many notable people, including King Farouk of Egypt and the Nobel Prize-winning poet Giorgos Seferis. The Brandy Sour cocktail, a drink intimately associated with Cypriot cuisine, was developed for King Farouk during the late 1930s, at the Forest Park Hotel in the town. The same hotel is also known as the location at which British writer Daphne du Maurier composed the majority of her acclaimed novel Rebecca. The resort retains many hotels and bars today, and operates as both a cooler alternative to the major coastal resorts during the summer, and as a skiing base during winter months.

Website Platres

Galata

Galata is a village in the Solea valley of the Troödos Mountains in Cyprus. It is located about 60 km west of the capital Nicosia at an altitude of 620m.
According to Greek mythology, Cyprus was the first land that Aphrodite set foot on; where Pygmalion begged her to let him be with the statue that he created in her image. Aphrodite brought the statue to life and Pygmalion married Galata.
It is a popular summer tourist destination (especially amongst locals) for its cooler climate in the summer months. It is also well known on the island for its fruit produce.

Website Galata

Evrychou

Evrychou is located in Nicosia District and it is the agricultural centre of the "Solea" region. It is located about 50 km south-west of Nicosia and 30 km from mount Troodos. The village is built at the east bank of the Karkotis (or Klarios) River, at an average altitude of 440 metres. The climate of the region is typically Mediterranean and so the cultivations found around the village vary from fruit-bearing trees (mainly apple, pear, plum, apricot, and peach trees) to citrus-trees, almond and olive trees. There are also cultivations of vines, vegetables and cereals.

Website Evrychou

Kakopetria

Kakopetria is a village in Cyprus located 55 kilometers southwest of the capital, Nicosia, on the north facing foothills of the Troodos Mountains. It stands at an altitude of 667 metres and it is the highest village in the Solea Valley. The community has about 1,200 permanent inhabitants and a couple hundred more who either have a summer house or are originally from kakopetria but work in Nicosia. It is surrounded by thick forestland and is built on the banks of the Kargotis and Garillis Rivers. The two rivers join within village itself and form the river Klarios, which crosses the Solea Valley and empties into Morphou Bay.

The settlement of Kakopetria is constructed along the valley of the Kargotis and Garillis rivers. The new Kakopetria with its large, modern houses and their tiled roofs, built in the gradient ground and the riverbanks, is located in the eastern part of the valley. The old Kakopetria is built west of the valley and between the two rivers. The roofs of the houses are sloped and tiled and almost all of the houses have an upper floor and a wooden balcony. 

Website Kakopetria 

Pelendri

There are villages in Cyprus -even though very few -that, when first being acquainted with them, you persistently seek to learn and be informed about how they managed to survive upon the rough and arid landscape they stand on, as well as how they managed to increase their populations to levels that surpass the economic potentials of the village.
One such village is Pelendri, which can be found in the western end of Pitsylia, in the east of the "Karvouna - Saitta" valley, surrounded by hills at an altitude of 880 meters. It stands at a distance of about 40 kilometres from Limassol while in the north-west it connects with the village Kato Amiantos, in the east with Potamitissa and Agros, and in the west with Trimiklini.

Pelendri is on of the most picturesque villages of Cyprus and it preserves -to a quite large degree -elements of traditional folkloric architecture. Several modern buildings have been constructed in the village, however, in the centre of the original nucleus many traditional houses are still preserved, built with local rock gabbrou. The wooden lintels, the balks, the wooden doors, and the yards of the houses, all of the have their own unique history and beauty.

Website Pelendri

Kalopanagiotis

Kalopanagiotis (Greek: Καλοπαναγιώτης) is a village in the Nicosia District of Cyprus, located 3 km north of Moutoullas. This picturesque village with its traditional architecture, its cobbled streets and footpaths, chapels and churches, is an example of a genuine traditional community unaffected by modern day civilization. Houses with tiled rooftops, picturesque balconies, courtyards with shady vine trees climbing everywhere are the main characteristics of the village. All these are surrounded by the lavish green vegetation of the Setrachos Valley.

In the village there are many churches and chapels such as the churches of Saint Marina and PanayiaTheotokos, the Chapels of Saint Andronikos and Saint Athanasia, Saint George, Saint Kyriakos, Archangelos Michael, Saint Sergios and Bachos and Panayia Theoskepasti.
However, the most important Byzantine monument is that of the monastery of Saint John Lampadisitis.

Website Kalopanagiotis

Omodos

Omodos (Greek: 'Ομοδος) is a village in the Troödos Mountains of Cyprus. It is also located in the Limassol District of Cyprus and is 80 kilometers from the city of Nicosia. The village produces a lot of wine and holds a wine festival every August. You can visit a 17th Century stone built monastery via a cobblestone path and sample local wine for free at many outlets. You will also find a good mix of restaurants including traditional tavernas and a few modern bars housed in traditional buildings.

Website Omodos

Koilani

Koilani (Greek: Κοιλάνι) is a village in the Limassol District of Cyprus, located 3 km south of Pera Pedi. The picturesque village of Koilani is built close to the west bank of the river Kryos (Cold River), a tributary of the Kouris river, at an altitude of 820 meters. Tall mountaintops come into view from all the sides of the village, adding a unique beauty to the landscape. It has a distance of 36 kilometres from Limassol (north-westerly).

The village is connected through a motorway to Pera Pedi in the east, to Vouni in the south-east, to Mandria in the north, and to Silikou in the south-east. Koilani has preserved -to a great degree -the rich, traditional folk architecture of the wine-producing villages of the Limassol district. Narrow, paved, ascending alleys, tiled roofs, picturesque upper floors, yard walls with earthenware jars, balconies, and arches with embossed frames at the entrances of houses that are built with regional, carved limestone, providing to the visitor a taste of the tradition and inheritance of this unique -in beauty -village.

Website Koilani

Agros

Agros (Greek: Αγρός) is a village built on the Troödos Mountains, in the region of Pitsilia, in southwest Cyprus, which has built amphitheatrically among high mountains at an altitude of 1100 metres with a population of approximately 1,000. Agros is one of the most interesting villages of Cyprus and the Pitsilia area. Historical and cultural sites are kept in a natural environment of extraordinary beauty with the village maintaining the customs and its traditional character. The love for work and the progressiveness characterise its citizens. The village is located 45 minutes away from the cities of Nicosia and Limassol, 20 minutes from Troödos Square and 80 minutes from the international airports of Larnaca and Paphos.

Website Agros

Prodromos

Prodromos (Greek: Πρόδρομος) is the main centre for winter sport in Cyprus. Cyprus' three ski slopes are located on nearby Mount Olympus. The village belongs to Limassol District. The number of inhabitants has decreased steadily in the past years, at last count (2001) there were 147 left. [1]. Prodromos is also the village with the highest altitude in Cyprus, being situated at 1,380 metres above sea level. Prodromos is named after John the Baptist, whose title in Greek Orthodoxy is Prodromos meaning 'the Forerunner [to Christ]'.

Website Prodromos

Lania

Lania (officially spelled Laneia) is a village at the foot of Mount Troodos on the main Limassol to Troodos road, about 26 km from Limassol in the country of Cyprus. Lania is one of the country's main wine producing villages.
According to tradition, Lania got its name from Lana, daughter of the Greek god of wine and pleasure, Dionysos. This indicates the deep roots of the village in the field of vine-growing and wine-making. The village is well known for the high quality of its grapes and wines.

The inhabitants of the village are occupied with -growing and the production of wine-related products including Zivania, Commandaria and Soutzoukos. Amongst the flower-lined streets and traditional architecture lies the village church, dedicated to St. Mary. The Icon of Saint Mary of Valanas, one of the oldest paintings in the world, is displayed in the church.
In Lania one can find an ancient and authentic Linos, a wine press, formerly used in the production of Commandaria. The entrance to the village is dominated by the old fountain from which villagers would get their drinking water and still today brings back memories of bygone times.

Website Lania