Xyrastaroda - Agiasma - Vasiliki Nature Trail big loop

Xyrastaroda - Agiasma is well know path due Holly Fontain , route goes lot more forward to Vasiliki. Forestry department closed trail I think due one small bridge is damaged at winter and not replaced yet. Route perfectly walk-able not obstacles at all. I did loop back on paved road, most people not even reach the end of the trail and did turn back.

Agiasma is Holly Virgin Fountain you can find it on the trail.

The monastery of Panagia tou Kykkou, widely known simply as “Kykkos”, is the most famous in Cyprus. Located on the far edge of the Troodos area, 15km west of Pedoulas and the Marathasa valley, it’s often dismissed because its buildings are relatively modern, but it will tell you more about Greek Cypriots and their religion today than all the more venerable churches of Troodos put together. With its mixture of religious observance and commercial enterprise, the presence of national hero President Makarios’s tomb and the nearby EOKA hideouts, it’s a must-visit for anybody trying to get a handle on modern Cyprus.

The original monastery was established at the end of the eleventh century by the Byzantine Emperor, though none of the original buildings has survived the numerous fires that have swept through the region. Nothing in the current monastery pre-dates the last fire in 1831, and much of it is later than that, though the famous icon of the Virgin Mary seems to have miraculously survived.

The Kykkos Monastery is the richest on the island and it shows. Its buildings are pristine and immaculately maintained, its murals vivid and bright, its monks numerous. This wealth grew partly because of the pulling power of the icon, and partly because, during Ottoman times, many people chose to donate their money to the church rather than see it whittled away by heavy Ottoman taxes. On entry, through a highly decorated porch, you walk into a handsome courtyard with a museum at the far left and, above the monastery roof, a wooded hillside with a recently built bell tower. Beyond the main courtyard the visitor is free to explore a series of passageways and flights of steps and paved courtyards that can’t seem to muster a right angle between them.