Monastery of Stavrovouni (Greek Mountain of the Cross) was founded in the 4th century. n. e. the mother of Emperor Constantine Helena, who stopped at this place to wait for the storm. According to tradition, the angel appeared to her and ordered to found a monastery, and leave it in a particle of the Holy Cross, she-found in Jerusalem. Today, this relic, a piece of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, is kept in a silver cross, crowning the right part of the iconostasis.
Stavrovouni stands on top of the mountain, with a magnificent view of the coast and the Troodos mountains. According to legend, once at this place was the temple of Aphrodite. The building of the monastery, which exists today, was built in the 18th century.
Unfortunately, this is the oldest monastery on the island for many centuries was destroyed, and only in the 17th century has been fully restored. However, despite the fact that the island is rich in ancient Christian buildings, most of the monasteries of Cyprus did not appear here at the very beginning of the Christian era, but only in the 12th and 13th centuries.