Description of the attraction
During the period of iconoclasm, many monasteries and churches were established in the Troodos mountains. This is due to the fact that it was in the mountains that it was very easy to hide from persecution and persecution. The monks often hid the most valuable icons there.
This is how the history of the highest mountainous Orthodox monastery in Cyprus, which bears the name of Trootidissa, began. It is located near the Kedrovaya Dolina nature reserve. It is believed that the monk, whose name, unfortunately, has not survived, brought to Cyprus an icon of the Mother of God Trooditissa from Asia Minor. The ascetic settled in a small cave not far from the place where the monastery now stands. After his death, the icon was miraculously discovered in his skete - a local shepherd noticed some kind of glow on the mountain and, taking his comrades with him, decided to check what kind of strange light it was. People climbed the mountain and saw a wonderful icon in the cave, and decided to build a temple in that place. But legend has it that every time the peasants started building a church, the building collapsed. One night, one of them dreamed of an angel who indicated a new location for the temple. It was there that it was built, and then the found icon was transferred there. And later a monastery appeared next to him.
The first mentions of the church in written sources date back only to the XIV century. At the end of the 16th century, it completely burned down. Only the icon of the Mother of God survived. As for the modern church and monastery buildings, they were built in the period from the 18th to the 20th century.
So, a new temple appeared in 1731, at the same time a school was built with it. Thanks to the patronage of wealthy citizens, he acquired rich utensils and a new gilded iconostasis. In 1999, the walls of the church were re-painted by the best artists in Cyprus.
This place is quite popular both among ordinary tourists and among pilgrims - childless couples often come to pray to the famous miraculous icon of Trootidissa to ask the Mother of God for a baby. In addition, another relic is kept in the monastery - the "belt of the Mother of God", which is also believed to help those who dream of a child.
