Monasteries in Cyprus and how to visit them

Monasteries are one of the most authentic sides of Cyprus, because they aren’t ruins but living communities. That has a practical consequence, there are rules to respect, and at one of them, Stavrovouni, women aren’t allowed in. Here are the ones I’d visit, ranked, and what each asks of you.

Stavrovouni, the mountain of the Holy Cross

On a rocky 750 m peak, about 40 km from Larnaca, stands Stavrovouni Monastery. The Larnaca tourist board records the tradition that Saint Helena founded it in the 4th century and left a fragment of the Holy Cross there. Pilgrims wrote about it in the 11th century and the monastery itself is mentioned from the 13th. It declined in the 19th century until, in 1889, Father Dionysios Christidis, arriving from Mount Athos, reopened it as a community, and today it’s known as the holy mountain of Cyprus.

The key rule is plain. Women can’t go in, though they can visit the shop by the entrance and the small All Saints chapel, and men must be suitably dressed. At the foot of the mountain, Agia Varvara monastery is open to all, and its monks are known for their icon painting.

Panagia Amasgou and the Commandaria monasteries

In the Kouris valley, 1.5 km from Monagri, the Limassol tourist board describes Panagia Amasgou as one of Cyprus’s great Byzantine monastic complexes. Its oldest frescoes date from the early 12th century, with scenes from the life of Christ from the late 12th and 13th centuries and others from the 14th century and 1564. It was abandoned in the late 18th century and revived in 1992 as a convent. In Monagri itself, the Archangel Michael monastery traces its origin, by tradition, to monks who fled Palestine after 614.

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The southern convents

On the Akrotiri peninsula, St Nicholas of the Cats has been a convent since 1983, with a handful of nuns who care for the cats of the legend and paint icons. In the Larnaca hills, the Agios Minas convent at Vavla dates from the 15th century, a mix of Byzantine and Gothic, and its nuns make preserves and herbs you can buy. Near Pyrga, Panagia Stazousa is an early 14th-century Frankish monastery, now looked after by monks from Stavrovouni.

Churches of former monasteries

In the west of Limassol district, the late 15th-century Holy Cross church at Anogyra was once part of a monastic complex and keeps Palaeologan-style frescoes, according to the tourist board. Today the church stands among the ruined walls around it.

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The Troodos

In the mountains, the Agios Ioannis Lampadistis Monastery at Kalopanayiotis belongs to the group of ten painted churches of the Troodos on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Kykkos and Machairas, the other big mountain monasteries, feature in every guide, and Machairas in this page’s photos, but I have no opening hours or visiting rules from an official source I can cite. Higher up are the Trooditissa Monastery, near Platres, and Makarios’s tomb at Throni, on the hill beside Kykkos. Closer to Nicosia, by Politiko, Agios Irakleidios Convent is home to a community of around thirty nuns.

And in the north

Apostolos Andreas Monastery, on the Karpas peninsula, lies in the part of the island outside government control. I have no official visiting details to cite. The north also has St Barnabas Monastery, beside the ruins of Salamis and home to an icon museum since the monks left, and Bellapais Abbey, a Gothic ruin on the slope above Kyrenia. To plan a visit, begin with crossing to Northern Cyprus.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Limassol: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

How to behave

My list is short. Shoulders and knees covered, voices down, no photos where you’re asked not to and respect for service times. What to pack for these visits is in packing list for Cyprus. If painted churches and fortresses appeal too, carry on with castles in Cyprus, museums in Cyprus, with their icon collections, and UNESCO sites in Cyprus. To stay near the mountain ones, see the Troodos Mountains.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Limassol for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.