Troodos Mountains


Troodos or Trodos is the largest mountain range in Cyprus, located roughly in the centre of the island. Its highest peak is Mount Olympus – also known in Greek as Χιονίστρα - at.
Covering a third of Cyprus's area, the Troodos mountain range stretches across most of the western side of the island. The mountains form a significant rain shadow on the island. There are many mountain resorts, Byzantine monasteries, and churches on the peaks, as well as villages nestling in its valleys and clinging to terraced hillsides. The area has been known since antiquity for its mines, which for centuries supplied copper to the entire Mediterranean. During the Byzantine period it became a centre of Byzantine art, as churches and monasteries were built in the mountains, away from the threatened coastline.
The mountains are home to Troodos Station, a listening post for both the American National Security Agency and the British GCHQ.
The name Troodos probably comes from one of two sources: either +, referring to the three roads that lead to the mountain, or + +, meaning the mountains of Adonis.
It has many endemic plants and animals, including the Cyprus cedar.

Geology

The Troodos Mountains are known for containing an undisturbed ophiolite sequence, the Troodos Ophiolite. The range rose slowly from the sea as a result of the collision between the African and European tectonic plates, a process that eventually formed the island of Cyprus. As this process slowed and nearly ceased, the rock formations remained largely intact, while subsequent erosion exposed the former magma chamber beneath the mountains, revealing intact rocks and petrified pillow lava formed millions of years ago - an excellent example of ophiolite stratigraphy. The observations of the Troodos ophiolite by Ian Graham Gass and co-workers were among the pieces of evidence that led to the theory of seafloor spreading. A detailed descriptive geological survey of Troodos was published in 1959. Although it predates the modern theory of plate tectonics, it provides exhaustive descriptions of rocks and structures.

Climate

Like the rest of Cyprus, the climate is Mediterranean but it has somewhat greater diurnal ranges in temperature than coastal areas. For example, at Prodromos, daily mean temperatures are around in January and in July.

Flora and fauna

The most ubiquitous trees in the Troodos mountains are the Turkish pine and the golden oak. Some plants of the Olea, Rhus and Rosa genera populate the mountains, in particular Crataegus azarolus, Crataegus monogyna, Rhus coriaria and Rosa canina.
At higher altitudes, forests dominated by Anatolian black pine grow, along with several Juniperus species. The common whitebeam also grows there, together with the endemic shrubs Rosa chionistrae and Berberis cretica. The Cyprus cedar occurs at the highest peaks.
Chief among the fauna is the endangered Cyprus mouflon. The venomous Cypriot blunt-nosed viper is present in the mountains, as well as a rich bird population, including the common raven, Bonelli's eagle, Red Crossbill and the Eurasian Griffon Vulture.

Churches

The region is known for its many Byzantine churches and monasteries, richly decorated with murals, of which the Kykkos monastery is the richest and most famous. Nine churches and one monastery in Troodos together form a World Heritage Site, originally inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1985. The nine Byzantine churches are:

Selected villages