A day of up and down over ridges, with some scenic footpaths and a twelfth century monastery.
After another sumptuous breakfast, I said goodbye to Andreas and received a hug from Flora, I was sad to leave such hospitable and informative hosts. Then it was a climb out of the valley on one nature trail, before rejoining the E4 as it dipped into the next valley on another nature trail, passing pine, golden oak and strawberry trees. After crossing the next ridge the footpath dropped down among the vines to Saranti. I enjoyed a coffee at the village cafe which the boss gave me for free, such kindness was entirely undeserved!
A little further was the twelfth century monastery of Panagia tou Araka (the Panagia by the way is the Virgin Mary). The priest waved me towards the church. I converted my shorts to long trousers mode (a sign of respect), removed my hat and went inside. Although ancient the colours of the frescoes were vivid blues and ochres, above them all in the dome was Jesus looking down at me, below there was the Virgin Mother, saints and apostles, and angels, whose wings looked rather inadequately attached. The building was a simple nave and the roof was extended to protect frescoes painted on the outside walls.
In the following village of Lagoudera there was reported to be a hideout of the EOKA, the group which fought the British when Cyprus was part of the Empire. I went down some narrow street in search of it and an older man asked where I was going (at least I think he did it was all Greek to me). I said the EOKA hideout and showed the words written down (in English). His younger companion took me up a road and pointed out the route. There was some misunderstanding as the way he pointed out was the E4, which went to the next monastery of Stavros Agiasmati. So the EOKA hideout was not found by the British today (or at least not by this British person). To visit the fifteenth century Stavros Agiasmati monastery you had to ring a number between certain times to get the key. Depending on which sign I read, I was either too late or almost too late today, so I decided one monastery viewing was probably enough for today.
The footpaths up until this point had been scenic, meandering among the rocks and trees, everything you could want from a footpath. I could see the city of Nicosia (now called Lefkara) some 30 kilometres way, and the northern mountains of Cyprus beyond. Benches were provided at convenient points to rest and admire the view. After Stavros Agiasmati it was gravel track again and then a tarmac road up a valley to the Panagia picnic site and forestry offices. From there I climbed through pine forest looking for a flat area 3 kilometres further on described by a previous blogger. Near the ridge line I found a cosy spot among the trees on an old terrace and settled in for the night as the moon rose and a dog barked in the distance.
27 kilometres walked today with a 720 metre total ascent. A gps file of my walk can be downloaded from wikiloc.com or ViewRanger under short code johnpon0045.
After another sumptuous breakfast, I said goodbye to Andreas and received a hug from Flora, I was sad to leave such hospitable and informative hosts. Then it was a climb out of the valley on one nature trail, before rejoining the E4 as it dipped into the next valley on another nature trail, passing pine, golden oak and strawberry trees. After crossing the next ridge the footpath dropped down among the vines to Saranti. I enjoyed a coffee at the village cafe which the boss gave me for free, such kindness was entirely undeserved!
A little further was the twelfth century monastery of Panagia tou Araka (the Panagia by the way is the Virgin Mary). The priest waved me towards the church. I converted my shorts to long trousers mode (a sign of respect), removed my hat and went inside. Although ancient the colours of the frescoes were vivid blues and ochres, above them all in the dome was Jesus looking down at me, below there was the Virgin Mother, saints and apostles, and angels, whose wings looked rather inadequately attached. The building was a simple nave and the roof was extended to protect frescoes painted on the outside walls.
In the following village of Lagoudera there was reported to be a hideout of the EOKA, the group which fought the British when Cyprus was part of the Empire. I went down some narrow street in search of it and an older man asked where I was going (at least I think he did it was all Greek to me). I said the EOKA hideout and showed the words written down (in English). His younger companion took me up a road and pointed out the route. There was some misunderstanding as the way he pointed out was the E4, which went to the next monastery of Stavros Agiasmati. So the EOKA hideout was not found by the British today (or at least not by this British person). To visit the fifteenth century Stavros Agiasmati monastery you had to ring a number between certain times to get the key. Depending on which sign I read, I was either too late or almost too late today, so I decided one monastery viewing was probably enough for today.
The footpaths up until this point had been scenic, meandering among the rocks and trees, everything you could want from a footpath. I could see the city of Nicosia (now called Lefkara) some 30 kilometres way, and the northern mountains of Cyprus beyond. Benches were provided at convenient points to rest and admire the view. After Stavros Agiasmati it was gravel track again and then a tarmac road up a valley to the Panagia picnic site and forestry offices. From there I climbed through pine forest looking for a flat area 3 kilometres further on described by a previous blogger. Near the ridge line I found a cosy spot among the trees on an old terrace and settled in for the night as the moon rose and a dog barked in the distance.
27 kilometres walked today with a 720 metre total ascent. A gps file of my walk can be downloaded from wikiloc.com or ViewRanger under short code johnpon0045.
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