Stavrovouni Monastery

Stavrovouni stands alone on a 690-metre peak above the plain between Larnaca and Nicosia, and tradition holds that Saint Helena founded it in 327 on her way back from Jerusalem, leaving a fragment of the True Cross which the monastery still keeps. It follows a strict Athonite rule: women are not admitted inside the walls at all, photography is not allowed, and visiting hours are short. Men who go in see the church, the relic and a view over half the island. Everyone else gets the drive up and the view from the gate.

History

Tradition says Saint Helena and Constantine founded the monastery around 327-329, and it is the earliest documented monastery on the island. The Russian abbot Daniel, who stayed on Cyprus in 1106, described the True Cross kept here as if held in the air by the Holy Spirit; Willibrand of Oldenburg in 1211 wrongly called it the island's highest mountain, and Ludolf of Suchem noted in 1305 that Lebanon could be seen from the top. Orthodox monks lived here under the rule of St Basil, through long periods of poverty. The True Cross itself was lost - in 1598 the Bohemian traveller Kryštof Harant wrote that nobody knew what had become of it - and only a silver cross holding a minute fragment survives. The monastery was left without monks from 1571, though hermits stayed on, and a great fire in 1888 destroyed almost all of it; the next year Elder Dionysios came from Mount Athos, three more Cypriot monks from Athos followed in 1890, and the community grew into a spiritual centre of the island (Wikipedia, Stavrovouni Monastery).

What you'll find

• The peak - a lone 690-metre hill standing above the flat plain.
• The relic - the fragment of the True Cross, kept in the church.
• The view - the plain, the Troodos and both coasts from the summit.
• The chapel below - Agia Varvara at the foot of the mountain, open to all.

When to go

October to May is comfortable; the summit is very hot in summer. The monastery closes for several hours in the middle of every day. Clear winter days give the widest view.

Practical notes

Women cannot enter the monastery at all, which catches out couples who drive up together. Photography is forbidden inside the walls and the rule is enforced. The access road is steep with tight bends and no barrier in places.

Nearby

Larnaca is east on the coast, and Choirokoitia is south.

Key facts