Kykkos Monastery description and photos - Cyprus: Nicosia (Topic)

Kykkos Monastery description and photos - Cyprus: Nicosia. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Kykkos Monastery.

Photo and description

The sacred royal and stauropegic monastery of the Kykkos Icon of the Mother of God, or as it is briefly called the Kykko (Kykkos) monastery, is considered to be one of the richest in all of Cyprus. It is located among lush greenery on a hill near the Troodos Mountains, at an altitude of 1318 meters above sea level.

The monastery was built specifically to store the icon of the Virgin Mary, painted by the apostle Luke himself. It is believed that this icon was brought to Cyprus from Constantinople after the daughter of Emperor Alexei I Comnenus fell ill with a fatal illness - then the Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream and asked to deliver the original icon to the indicated place in Cyprus, then the girl will recover.

This miraculous icon is revered by locals and pilgrims as one of the greatest shrines. People think, that she protects the island and relieves it of all sorts of misfortunes, such as the invasion of locusts in 1760. For the preservation of the image, in 1795 it was covered with a silver frame. Since that time, no one else has seen the very face of the Virgin. But the icon is still kept in the Kikko monastery, and pilgrims from all over the world come to it.

Now the monastery also houses a museum, where you can see many valuable exhibits that tell about the history of this place and the entire island. So, there are church utensils, old icons, works of art. But the building itself is of no small interest - with stone walls, a red tiled roof and rich decor, it also deserves the status of a work of art, not without reason the Cypriots themselves call it the “golden Christian heart” of the island.

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Topic: Kykkos Monastery description and photos - Cyprus: Nicosia.