When I entered Cyprus in mid-December 2020 with intention to stay for 3 months, there was not much of lockdown.  Museums and archaeological sites were open, and I was able to visit Choirokoitia and Paphos WHSs within my first 2 days in the country without any problems. Staying in the Paphos District for 3 months, I thought I would visit the Painted Churches in the Troodos Region WHS sometimes in January or February. I was not following the local news and just going about my own business. Then on January 10 I was told by my landlord that a strict lockdown was to commence on the next day. 

Suddenly, we had to stay inside our residences with allowance of only two 3-hour slots a day outside and were also not allowed to move from one District of the country to another. The Troodos Region was basically in the Nicosia District. The feeling that I might not even be able to visit the Troodos WHS before I leave Cyprus in mid-March persisted for a long time, until I was caught by a few police officers on street when I was wandering around at midnight despite the 9 pm curfew.  The officers then let me go. I realized at that moment that after all the Cypriots in the southern half of the island were ethnically Greek and loose. 

So I decided to take it easy.  As a non-resident of the country, I had a right to go to the airport to leave the country and therefore to travel from Paphos to Larnaca where the airport is. I made a plan to travel from Paphos through Limassol, the Troodos region, and Nicosia to Larnaca, claiming my hotels as my residences for 1 to 3 days each. For this reason I had to wait to visit the Troodos region until my last week of stay in Cyprus, which was the first week of March. 

After visiting the top of Mt. Olympos, a TWHS and the highest point in Cyprus at 1952 m , I took a mini bus (which is free within the Troodos regions) from the village of Troodos to the village of Kakopetria in the afternoon, and as soon as I arrived at my hotel in Kakopetria I headed to the following two churches on foot. 

1. Church of Agios (St.) Nikolaos tis Steyis, Kakopetria

The 1st church I visited was open, and I was happy to be able to claim this WHS. The church seemed to be attended by a caretaker during the opening hours, but he was not following me around. There was a sign for no photographs at the church. As I entered, it was very dark, and I could hardly see anything. I thought I would have to use the flashlight of my phone to see the frescos but then thought if I was going to use the flashlight, I might as well take photos.

I found the church building architecturally quite interesting. It does not even look like it is a church within a church. The outer church seems to cover the inner church only half-way. You can see one roof over another from outside. 

2. Church of Panagia (The Virgin) Podhithou, Galata

I arrived at this church in the outskirt of Galata at 4:10 pm, and a sign with the phone number of a caretaker said it closed at 4pm.  When I called the phone number, there was no answer.

The next day, after visiting the Kykkos Monastery, the single most important monastery in Cyprus, by two mini buses from Kakopetria, I went back to this church before 4 pm. I called the phone number and had a caretaker open the door for me.  There was a sign for no photos, and the caretaker was following me around as if I would take photos. 

This church supposedly contains some of the newer paintings under the banner of Italian-Byzantine School. But the interior of the church within church was only half painted. 

The caretaker's phone number is: +357 99671776.  I would call this number before visiting this church. It can be opened by him until 4 pm except on Monday. 

* Church of Agios Sozomenos, Galata

This church is not among the 10 WH churches but is the one of the two that were requested by State Party not to be examined in 2006. Since this church is right in the middle of the village of Galata, 1 km from Kakopetria, I asked the same caretaker above if he could open it for me, and he rather reluctantly did. His phone number was not posted on this church, so it probably means nobody really gets in this church. He did not let me take photos even though there was no sign for no photographs. This church is not very well taken care of, and it was also possible to take photos of the paintings on the outer wall of the inner church through the holes/cracks of the outer church, which I did after the caretaker locked the door and left. 

On the third day in the Troodos region my friend, Vasilis, from Nicosia drove out to Kakopetria to hang out with me. I met Vasilis at the Great Lavra of Mt. Athos in 2010, and we kept in touch. He had come out to Paphos a few weeks before, which was the first time I saw him in 11 years. He did the mandatory military service for 2 years for Cyprus in the Troodos region, so he was very much familiar with this region. I wanted to visit Panagia tis Asinou in Nikitari that day, but when Vasilis called the church at about 2 pm, it turned out that the caretaker had left the church due to no visitors earlier on the day. So instead we decided to go visit the following 3 churches. 

3. Church of Archangelos Michael (Archangel Michael), Pedoulas

This small church is supposed to have been restored and to contain some of the best paintings among the 10 churches, but I was surprised that the door was kept open without any attendants around. Indeed, when I first saw the small brick structure with an open door, I thought it was a public (human) toilet, not even a stable. It contained a large portrait of Archangel Michael as well as a very unusual painting of completely naked Jesus being baptized by John at River Jordan. 

Vasilis mentioned that when he was a child, he used to come to this village of Pedoulas with his parents for a week-long summer getaway every year, so we walked around the village a little. 

4. Church of Panagia tou Moutoulla, Moutoulla

By the time we arrived after 4 pm, it was closed. This is supposed to be the oldest of the 10 churches. Despite that, it was not taken care of so well, and I was able to take some photos of the paintings on the outer wall of the inner church through the wall of the outer church, on which there was no sign for no photos. 

The UNESCO material says, "They also contain a wealth of dated inscriptions, an uncommon feature in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Middle Ages, which makes them particularly important for recording the chronology of Byzantine painting." The photo I post here from this church seems to contain such a dated inscription. But Vasilis said he couldn't read the Byzantine Greek medieval alphabet on this photo. 

5. Monastery of Agios Ionannis (John) Lambadhistis, Kalopangiotis

This was also closed. It is the only monastery among the 10 churches and consists of several buildings, one of which is now a museum. 

So 2 of the 3 churches we visited that afternoon were unfortunately closed, but this WHS is also inscribed under Criterion 6, which is about the Byzantine vernacular architecture of the simple church buildings.  I quite enjoyed this aspect. It was about discovering yet another style of Christian church. 

I plan to go back to Cyprus perhaps for another 3 months in the near future, so I would visit some more of these rustic churches. Almost all the 10 churches, even Panagia tis Asinou in Nikitari, are reachable by bus if you are willing to walk for a few kilometers each in the last legs. 

Vasilis' invitation to a socially-distanced dinner at his parents' house in Nicosia completed that day for me. 

A day before the departure from the Larnaca airport I also visited the Hala Sultan Tekke and the Larnaca Salt Lake Complex TWHS and the Church of Panagia Aggeloktisti TWHS.