Kakopetria

Kakopetria runs along a spur between two streams in the Solea valley, and its old quarter has been restored rather than rebuilt: narrow lanes of stone and timber houses with overhanging upper floors, tiled roofs and small courtyards. Above the village, the church of Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis stands under a second protective pitched roof, which is what its name refers to, and its eleventh to seventeenth-century wall paintings make it one of the ten churches named in the Troodos World Heritage inscription.

History

The village existed at least by the Lusignan period (1192-1489), and excavations in 1938 at Ailades, near the old village, uncovered an ancient shrine, most probably of the goddess Athena, with terracotta figures of her, limestone statuettes, figures of Heracles and bronze and iron spearheads and arrowheads, most likely of the Archaic and Classical periods; the finds are in the Archaeological Museum in Nicosia. Near the village stands the 11th-century church of Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis, part of a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Kakopetria).

What you'll find

• Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis - a painted Byzantine church under a second protective roof.
• The old quarter - restored lanes of timber-framed stone houses.
• The wall paintings - layers of fresco from the eleventh to the seventeenth century.
• The streams - water running down both sides of the village spur.

When to go

April to November is the comfortable season, and autumn colour in the valley is the best of the year. The church closes for a long midday break and on some weekdays. Weekends bring crowds from Nicosia.

Practical notes

Photography is not allowed inside the painted church and the interior is deliberately dim. The new part of the village is ordinary and the old quarter is small. Parking near the church is very limited.

Nearby

Kalopanayiotis is over the ridge in the Marathasa valley, and the Troodos peaks are south.

Key facts