Eleventh century · traditionally 1080
Kykkos Monastery stands high in the Troodos Mountains. Its foundation is traditionally placed at the end of the eleventh century and connected with the hermit Isaiah.
According to monastery tradition, the governor Manuel Boutoumites and Emperor Alexios Komnenos helped bring to Cyprus a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, traditionally attributed to the apostle Luke. The story tells of the emperor’s dream and of the procession with which local people received the icon.
The icon survived several fires and is now covered by a silver revetment and a veil. We examine its position in the iconostasis, the hanging lamps, the mosaics in the monastery galleries and the museum, which preserves icons, manuscripts, liturgical objects and archaeological finds.
Kykkos is one of the best-known and wealthiest monasteries on the island. The burial place of Archbishop Makarios III is nearby on Throni Hill.
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