Trooditissa Monastery, among the pines above Platres

Some monasteries are visited for what they hold and others for where they are. Trooditissa is one of the latter, at least for anyone passing through. It’s tucked among pines on the southern slopes of the Troodos and has a history that fades into legend. What is known I’ve summed up from the history the Troodos Development Company records and what Limassol Tourism says about its surroundings.

The highest monastery

Trooditissa stands at 1,370 metres, and the company presents it as the highest-built monastery on the island. For comparison, Kykkos is at about 1,300. It lies some five kilometres north-west of Platres, on the road that carries on to Prodromos, within Foini community in Limassol district.

An origin between cave and deed

It’s one of the few monasteries in Cyprus whose founding date is unknown. The oldest surviving reference is a 14th-century deed. Legend goes much further back, telling how in the 8th or 9th century a shepherd found the icon of the Virgin, to whom the monastery is now dedicated, in a cave.

The church you see today was built in 1731, after the original was set on fire by the Ottomans. Inside is the icon of the Virgin, covered in silver leaf, alongside a collection of religious art that the development company calls admirable.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Platres before prices climb.

The surroundings

The best part of the visit, to me, is the drive. Six kilometres from Platres, before the monastery, Limassol Tourism lists a forest picnic site at 1,300 metres with tables, drinking water, barbecue spots and parking for up to 700 people, surrounded by pine forest. That said, although the listing mentions barbecues, the same board warns that lighting fires is banned in the picnic site and the surrounding forest and asks visitors to bring food already cooked, so I wouldn’t count on grilling.

A little further, four kilometres from the monastery and three from Prodromos, is the Kampi tou Kalogirou campsite, deep in the pines. And three and a half kilometres away is the 8 metre Chantara waterfall, which you can reach by car. Limassol Tourism adds that its name echoes the sound of running water and that the stream crashes onto a huge rock before settling into a calm natural pool.

Fitting in the visit

Trooditissa makes sense as part of a tour of the upper Troodos Mountains. I’d set off from Platres, stop at the monastery, drop down to the waterfall and have lunch in Foini, a potters’ village at 920 metres. No official source I could find gives the monastery’s visiting hours, so treat it as you would any place of worship, in daylight, suitably dressed and quietly. If you’re after churches with frescoes, the great ones are among the painted churches of Troodos.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Trooditissa Monastery and choose by the reviews.

A car frees you from timetables: search car hire in Limassol on DiscoverCars and compare companies.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Platres before prices climb.