Kykkos Monastery: The Richest Monastery in Cyprus

The monks of Kykkos possess an icon of the Virgin Mary that they have never shown to anyone. The icon, attributed to St. Luke and given to the monastery by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos around 1100 CE, has been covered in silver-gilt protective covers for so long that no person alive has seen the face beneath them. The covering is considered too sacred to remove. What you see in the main church is the covered form surrounded by elaborate metalwork, at which pilgrims touch the outer surface and then place their hand on their face.

This is what Kykkos is. The wealthiest and most influential monastery in Cyprus, founded around the same year as the icon arrived, sitting at 1,318 metres in the Troodos Mountains in a pine and cedar forest, with nine centuries of accumulated donations from Byzantine emperors, Ottoman sultans, and the Cypriot diaspora visible in every gilded surface.

The Monastery Complex

The main church interior is covered in gilded mosaics, late 20th-century work rather than medieval, but impressive in scale. Photography inside is prohibited. The courtyard can be visited freely during opening hours (9am-6pm summer, 10am-4pm winter, with afternoon closures for services). The monastery museum (admission around €4) holds the overflow collection of icons, manuscripts, vestments, and silver objects that don’t fit in the church.

The monastery shop sells honey, jam, Commandaria (the local dessert wine and reportedly the oldest continuously produced named wine in the world), and brandy produced in the Troodos foothills. The Commandaria is worth buying if you haven’t encountered it before.

Dress code is enforced: shoulders covered, legs covered to below the knee. Wraps are available at the entrance.

Archbishop Makarios III

Archbishop Makarios III, the first President of Cyprus, is buried at the Throni of Panagia viewpoint 2km above the monastery. He spent time at Kykkos before entering politics; the connection was genuine. The tomb has become a national pilgrimage site. The drive up from the monastery or the footpath takes about 30 minutes; the views over the Troodos valleys from the viewpoint are the best in this part of the island.

The Troodos Around Kykkos

The Kykkos visit is best combined with a broader Troodos day.

Cedar Valley, 30 minutes’ drive from the monastery on rough but passable road, has a protected grove of Cyprus cedar (Cedrus brevifolia), endemic to this island and found nowhere else on Earth. The road through the valley is also the best place on Cyprus to see mouflon, the endemic wild mountain sheep that the island has carefully protected from extinction since the 1930s.

Mount Olympos (1,952 metres, the highest point in Cyprus) is 30km east by mountain road. The UK military maintains listening post installations at the summit, visible as large white radomes from the viewing area below. The views from the summit car park over the island are extensive on clear days.

Pedoulas, 8km northeast of Kykkos, has good mountain tavernas serving grilled meats, loukanika sausages, and fresh trout from local farms. A better lunch option than eating at the monastery.

Kykkos is 67km southwest of Nicosia, about 1.5 hours by car via the B9 road. No public transport; a car is necessary.