Pano Panagia, the village of Makarios in the Paphos hills

Pano Panagia is a hill village that many people visit for a single name, Makarios III. But the area also has wine, a monastery with a winery and the road to Cedar Valley. Below are the sights and the way up. The hills around it are covered in Paphos district.

The house of Makarios III

In the village centre stands the birthplace and family home of Archbishop Makarios III, the first president of Cyprus, open to visitors all year. To the Pafos tourism board it’s a modest house turned into a place of memory, with items from the Ethnarch’s childhood, and a museum staff member accompanies the visit. It warns that opening times vary, so it’s worth ringing or asking in the village.

What else to see in Pano Panagia

The church of Panagia Eleousa, north-east of the village, dates from the 14th century and is dedicated to the Panagia Eleousa of Kykkos. It’s a stone basilica with a timber roof under tiles, protected by the Department of Antiquities, and opens only on certain days of the year. Healings are attributed to it, and tradition says that during epidemics the Virgin wrapped the church in cotton wool to prevent deaths, a custom the village still keeps. Its feast is on 15 August.

The village’s main church is dedicated to Agios Georgios and celebrates its feasts on 23 April and 3 November, according to the Metropolis of Paphos.

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Makarios and the monastery

Makarios’s bond with his home ground shows in the neighbouring monastery too. In 1948, by then Bishop of Kition, he wrote in the Chrysorrogiatissa visitors’ book that in his primary school years in Panagia he often walked up to the monastery, and that those visits stirred his wish to become a monk, the path he took straight after primary school. The monastery now devotes a room to him, with a mural portrait and those words written on either side.

Mountain wine

Panagia lies on the Vouni Panagias-Ambelitis wine route, which climbs through pine forest to 800 m and brings together ten wineries. The tourism board explains that Xynisteri gives aromatic, light wines here, that Maratheftiko adds the reds and that the altitude suits Mavro, the native red grape. One of the stops is Chrysorrogiatissa monastery, with its historic winery. The route runs from Paphos through Mesogi, Tsada, Stroumbi, Polemi, Kannaviou and Asprogia before reaching Pano Panagia, then carries on to Statos-Agios Fotios and down towards Acheleia.

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Getting there

Pafos Buses route 637 leaves Karavela station and climbs through Tsada, Polemi and Kannaviou to Panagia, four times on weekdays and three on Saturdays. By car, the road through the village continues towards Kykkos monastery and Cedar Valley.

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

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