Description of the attraction
The small church of St. Nicholas "under the roof" is located in the Troodos mountains just a couple of kilometers southeast of the village of Kakopetria.
This church, which was built in the 11th century, is the only Catholicon - the main monastery church - of the Byzantine period (although the term was not used then), well preserved to this day. Like most Orthodox churches of that time, this small structure was in the shape of a cross and was crowned with a traditional dome. The porch and wooden roof, which can be seen today, did not appear until several centuries later. It is thanks to this sloping roof that the temple got its rather strange "nickname". The nave was also not built immediately, but only at the beginning of the 12th century.
The Church of St. Nicholas "under the roof" gained worldwide fame thanks to its wall paintings, which were created over a long time - from the 11th to the 17th century, although most of the frescoes appeared in the 14th century. Therefore, the whole church is a kind of museum of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine fine arts.
The frescoes that cover all the walls and ceilings of the temple depict scenes from the life of Jesus, his Crucifixion and Resurrection, as well as the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the figures of saints and archangels, the resurrection of Lazarus. Of particular note is the composition depicting the forty holy martyrs and the figure of St. Nicholas, in whose honor the church was consecrated. And the most recent frescoes depict the apostles Peter and Paul and date back to 1633.
In 1985, the church was included in the UNESCO cultural heritage list. At the moment, it is open to tourists and pilgrims, but recently photography and video filming has been prohibited inside.
