Hiking on the Stavrovouni mountain!

A fantastic hike today, with amazing views from the top!

It was quite a challenging hike as it was all uphill (including 250 steps). Walking back down the mountain in the dark was difficult too, but definitely worth the experience!

Hike details:

3 hours total hiking time

7.110 kilometers covered

3.900 km uphill

3.210 km downhill

Elevation gain: 315+ meters

Descent: 315- meters

Highest altitude: 660 meters

A few words about the Stavrovouni monastery:

The monastery is located at the peak of the mountain, in the district of Larnaca, Cyprus. It is dedicated to the Holy Cross, and the name ‘Stavrovouni’ means ‘the mountain of the cross’. It’s foundation dates back to 327-328.

According to religious tradition, Saint Helena, mother of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine the Great, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where she discovered the three crosses on which Jesus and the two thieves had been crucified. It is said that while she was taking one of the crosses to Constantinople, they had to leave it in Cyprus during an unexpected shipwreck, and that the cross was transferred in a miraculous way to the area where the monastery is built today.

Till date, the monastery maintains a policy of no women allowed inside the main temple.