Feature - Machairas Monastery near Nicosia, Cyprus

Description:

There are many great places to visit in the Troodos Mountains. Cyprus has a vast history so it is no surprise that it has lots of churches, chapels and monasteries.
 

Today's feature is focused on the famous Machairas Monastery which gives the visitor the chance to see beautiful architecture, historical artefacts and the picture postcard scenery which surrounds it.
 

Machairas Monastery is located on the slopes of Mount Kionia in the Machairas Mountains, approximately 40 kilometres from the Cyprus capital city of Nicosia at an altitude of 870 metres. The Monastery was founded in the 12th Century and is close to the village of Lazanias.
 

This picturesque monastery lies on uneven ground in the mountains above a ravine. The Monastery has a rectangular shaped layout and is covered with a red tiled timber roof. The bell tower stands out from the distance. Grand chandeliers, icons and stone floors can be seen inside the Monastery.

 
The Monastery houses the miraculous icon of Panagia of Machairas (the Virgin Mary). It is believed that an unknown hermit smuggled the icon, said to have been painted by Luke the Apostle, from Asia Minor in the years of Iconoclasm (8th - 9th centuries) and hid the icon in a cave.

 
The icon remained there even after the hermit had died. In 1145 another two hermits, Neophytos and Ignatios, came across the cave where the icon had been hidden.  They cut away the undergrowth covering the cave with a knife (Machairi in Greek).

 
After the death of Neophytos, Ignatios travelled to Constantinople with another monk, Prokopios, where they were able to secure financial assistance from the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos.
 

Upon their return to Cyprus, they built a small church which was later extended by the monk Neilos in the 13^th Century. Neilos became the first abbot of the Monastery and later became the Bishop of Tamasos.

 
According to an inscription on a stone slab, the Monastery burned down completely in 1530 and only the icon of the Virgin Mary survived the fire. The same was said about the Kykkos Monastery which also has an icon of the Virgin Mary. Machairas Monastery was beautifully restored after the fire.

 
Machairas Monastery is one of the largest and most famous monasteries in Cyprus and it belongs to the jurisdiction of the Archbishop in Nicosia.

 
Monks live at the Monastery in the monk's cells which are built around a central church and the monks live off the agriculture from the land and donations given to them by the church.

 
Opening Hours:

Monday - Friday: 08:30 - 17:30,

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday: 09:00 - 12:00 (for groups)

 
The Monastery is open all year round.

 
No photos or video can be taken within the monastery area.

 
Festivals are held annually in the name of the Virgin Mary on 20th - 21st November and 14th and 15th August.  
 
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