Kato Drive
Troodos and the Solea Valley – Cyprus
Saittas is a settlement built around a government-run experimental fruit nursery. Its setting among tall pines on the left bank of the Kouris River attracts many visitors and there is rural acommadition at a small hotel. The houses in tiny Filagra are now mainly summer homes. You Can take a detour off this road to Mesa Potamos, where there is a delightful monastery and waterfalls. Back on the main road, on your left at Kato Amiantos are some unusual old dwellings with overhanging balconies. Near the top of the steep gradient, mavrahero, wild lentils colour the hillsides mauve is spring. Stay on the B9 at the crossroads and follow the signs for Kakopetria. Karvounas is the saddle between Troodos and the Madari range and the watershed between the Kouris and Kargotis rivers. The terrain now changes to immense pines. As you go down, a hundred metres after the turning to Platania picnic site, there is a moufflon reserve on the right. Further down the road are several trout farms, some with their own restaurants. Go left at the sign for Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis and contunie to the church. St. Nicholas of the Roof, built and painted in the early 11th century, is one of the ten mountain churches on the UNESCO World Heritage List. A steeply pitched outer roof protects the original dome from rain and snow. Go back and go left at the sign for Kakopetria. Clinging go both banks of the Kargoris to your left as you enter, is the old village of stone and mudbrick houses with pitched roofs, many of them restored. Kakopetria is a holiday resort with banks, petrol station, hotels and restaurants, including a Vahkis scheme tavern. It was a silk producing centre and there around. As you leave on the road to Galata, there is a restored 18th century watermill to your left. Huge trees shade the square at Galata and nearby are fine examples of its distinctive terraced buildings with wooden balconies and staircases. Some of them have been restored and one is a Folk Art Museum. Across the river is the UNESCO World Heritage listed church of Panagia tis Poditou, an early 16th cent?ry building with its outer roof extending almost to the ground to cover the portico. The Solea villages run into each other and next up is Kaliana with its preserved hani, inn, with arches, mudbrick walls and sloping roof the 18th century buildings is a Folk Art Architectural site and you can see examples of pitharia wine jars and a traditional bread oven in the yard. Driving to Temvria, you continue through a metaphorical fruit salad. After apples, pears, plums and cherries, you now come to mespila, loquats, citrus and pomegranates among gardens awash with colour. Fresh herbs are an integral part of Cypriot cuisine, and many herbs sych as thyme and sage grow wild in the countryside. Because of the island’s dry climate the herbs contain a higher than normal quantity of natural oils, which makes them very pungent. Follow the signs for Korakou, where figs and prickly pears are added to the fruit bowl. Go left at the fork and round the church; then go right at the street sign ‘Eleftheria Avenue’. Follow this road until you came to an old watermill and ruined bridge opposite the signpost for Evrychou, then go left after first buildings, a modern olive mill, onto a cobbled road, which was part of the old camel road from Nicosia to Troodos. It ends at a railway station-the terminus of the old Cyprus Government Railway, completed in 1915 and which went from Famagusta, via Nicosia to Evrychou. Go back to the main road, go left and left again at the t-juncion. Evrychou is a large village where cotton used to grow. Today it is a regional centre and the seat of the Bishopric of Morfou, Fork right at the church, drive up to the B9 and go left at the signpost for Nicosia. As you drive north, the pines give way to olives and cereals and you can see Morfou Bay on your left. Go right onto the road to Koutrafas and follow the signs for Asinou Church. Kato Koutrafas, with its stone and mudbrick houses, is on the edge of the Mesaoria, central plain and the cornfields are parched and barren in summer. At one time, you had to hire a donkey at Nikitari to take you to Asinou, but now it is just a shorth drive. Panagia asinou, one of the most well known of the UNESCO listed churches, sits in a tiny isolated meadow among dense forests. It was built and painted in 1105 and contains fascinating frescos. Go back and go left at the small green sign to Agios Theodoros. This all-weather forest road is bumpy at the start but smoothes out at the top of the hill, from where there is a panoramic view of Morfou Bay, the central plain and the Kyrenia Montains. Go left at Agios Theodoros, a village of almond trees and traditional houses, and follow the road signposted to Spilia. The beautiful Atsas River valley winds up through well-irrigated terraces of almonds, olives and vines. Cyprus HolidaysAt Kourdali, stands the mediaeval church of the Panagia. The belfry of the village church dominates the skyline at Spilia, a village popular with hikers and which has rural accommodation. Leave on the F929 signposted to Kannaviou and go right at the sign for Kyperounta. Then take the left fork and on your right is the Rural Life and Natural History Museum in a restored building. The village also has a winery and a hospital. As you drive to the apple growing village of Dymes, there is a deep wooded valley to your left. In Potamissa, many people grow their vines on frames across the road as there is no room on the steep hillsides. Take the F806 to Pelendri and go into the village to the UNESCO World Heritage listed 13th century church of Timos Stavros. Also, do not miss the Panagia Catholiki church with its Byzantine/Italian frescoes. As you head for Trimiklini, you will pass a winery on your right. Go left onto the B8 and go left again onto the F812, signposted to Agios Mamas. Drive through the centre of this village of whitewashed stone houses, then go right and head for Kapileio. This village, which is known for early peaches, stands on a hillock and has extensive views all around. Continuing, on the hillside to your left are the ruins of old Korfi, which was abandoned after landslides, and after new Korfi, there is a vista of the Kouris Dam, Limassol and the Akrotiri Salt Lake. Go right into Apesia, and behind the church and restored olive press is a small area where time seems to have stood still. Old houses and villagers inhabiting them just as their forefathers did.
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