Pitsilia, the quietest corner of the Troodos

Pitsilia is the part of the Troodos I like best for getting lost without a schedule. Its painted churches are as good as those of the western valleys, its villages are all terraces and vines, and there’s plenty of calm. I present it using what ANETroodos, the mountains’ development company, records, together with the Nicosia Tourism Board and the census.

An area east of Olympus

The company places Pitsilia east of Mount Olympus, its villages spread over the slopes of Madari, Machairas and Papoutsa. It speaks of eleven villages among vineyards and valleys, where fertile soil and altitude let the grapes ripen slowly, mostly local varieties. Administratively it straddles two districts. Agros, Kyperounta and Pelendri belong to Limassol, while Palaichori, Lagoudera, Alona and Askas belong to Nicosia.

The high point nearby is Madari, with its fire lookout tower at 1,613 metres on Mount Adelfoi, and trails such as Teisia tis Madaris running along its cliffs.

Four UNESCO churches

Pitsilia has four of the ten painted churches of Troodos. The most important is Panagia tou Araka, at Lagoudera, with frescoes of 1192. Near Platanistasa stands Stavros tou Agiasmati, finished in 1494 and painted throughout. In the south, Timios Stavros at Pelendri keeps murals from the 12th and 14th centuries, and at Palaichori the Transfiguration church dates from the 16th century. The company suggests a 97 kilometre route to see them all.

Each has its own way of visiting. Araka opens every day except Monday, for Agiasmati you ask at the café in Platanistasa and the Palaichori church only opens on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, so plan ahead.

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

The villages

Agros, at 1,100 metres, is the village of roses, with its festival in May, traditional cured meats and the island’s largest mountain hotel. Palaichori, cut in two by the Serrachis river, keeps a Byzantine museum and the hideout of the EOKA hero Grigoris Afxentiou. Kyperounta, at 1,300 metres, has three museums and an adventure park, and Lagoudera, at 1,000, lives around Araka. Further south, Louvaras keeps the 15th-century chapel of Agios Mamas, included in the area’s monuments route.

Between Lagoudera, Polystypos and Alona stretches the hazelnut wood the company highlights, with waymarked trails.

How I’d explore it

I’d stay in Agros, which is central and has more choice, and spend two days. The first, Lagoudera and Platanistasa, with the trail between the two churches if the weather allows. The second, Palaichori on a Tuesday or Wednesday, to find its church open, and Pelendri. For the rest of the range, start with the Troodos Mountains.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Agros on GetYourGuide.

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.

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