Troodos Mountains

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Troodos (sometimes spelled Troödos; ; ) is the largest mountain range in Cyprus, located in roughly the center of the island. Its highest peak is Mount Olympus (), also known as Chionistra (), at , which hosts the Sun Valley and North Face ski areas with their five ski lifts.

The Troodos mountain range stretches across most of the western side of Cyprus. There are many mountain resorts, Byzantine monasteries, and churches on mountain peaks, and nestling in its valleys and mountains are villages clinging to terraced hills. The area has been known since antiquity for its mines, which for centuries supplied copper to the entire Mediterranean. In the Byzantine period it became a centre of Byzantine art, as churches and monasteries were built in the mountains, away from the threatened coastline. The mountains are also home to RAF Troodos, a listening post for the NSA and GCHQ.

The name Troodos probably comes from one of two sources: either + ( + ), referring to the three roads that lead to the mountain, or + + ( + + ), meaning the mountains of Adonis.

Geology

The Troodos Mountains are known worldwide for their geology and the presence of an undisturbed ophiolite sequence, the Troodos Ophiolite. These mountains slowly rose from the sea due to the collision of the African and European tectonic plates, a process that eventually formed the island of Cyprus. The slowing and near-cessation of this process left the rock formations nearly intact, while subsequent erosion uncovered the magma chamber underneath the mountain, allowing a viewing of intact rocks and petrified pillow lava formed millions of years ago, an excellent example of ophiolite stratigraphy. The observations of the Troodos ophiolite by Ian Graham Gass and co-workers was one of the key points that led to the theory of sea floor spreading.

Climate

Churches

The region is known for its many Byzantine churches and monasteries, richly decorated with murals, of which the Kykkos monastery is the richest and most famous. Nine churches and one monastery in Troodos together form a World Heritage Site, originally inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1985. The nine Byzantine churches are:
Stavros tou Agiasmati
Panagia tou Araka
Timiou Stavrou at Pelendri
Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis
Panagia Podithou
Assinou
Agios Ioannis Lampadistis at Kalopanagiotis
Panagia tou Moutoula
Archangel Michael at Pedoulas
Transfiguration of the Saviour Palaichori

Selected villages

Platres
Galata
Evrychou
Kakopetria
Louvaras
Palaichori Oreinis
Kourdali
Pelendri
Kalopanagiotis
Moutoullas
Pachna
Dora
Malia
Kyperounta
Farmakas
Prastio
Arsos
Pedoulas
Omodos
Phini
Kouka
Fikardou
Koilani
Agros
Prodromos
Marathassa Valley
Vasa Koilaniou
Lania
Spilia

Gallery