Trachypedoula
Trachypedoula is a village in the Paphos province of Cyprus and it is situated 36 kilometers east of the homonymous city, 55 kilometers northwest of Limassol and 115 kilometers southwest of Nicosia.
Built at an altitude of 515 meters, near the Diarizos river and on the route leading to the Troodos Mountains, Trachypedoula with its few dozen inhabitants, the many drinking fountains with cool water coming down from the mountains and the beautiful traditional stone houses, belongs to the geographical region of the “wine villages” of Cyprus.
The Diarizos Valley, where the community is situated, is included in Natura 2000 as a protected area and many local and foreign scientists (geologists, entomologists, ornithologists, botanists and many others) visit it on expeditions. It includes areas of exceptional natural beauty with enormous historical and cultural significance. As a matter of fact, there are also many mountaineers who come here to climb the huge rocks that moved from Africa 70 million years ago.
According to the tradition, the community of Trachypedoula was founded by three shepherds from nearby Salamiou, who lived here in the middle of the 18th century. The name of the village came from the rough rocky terrain that is found in the area (trachys being “rough” in Greek) and the word “pezoula”, which in Greek means stone benches. Another version refers to Trachy, the mountain of the Peloponnese, from where the first inhabitants came in the 12th century.
Trachypedoula had to be rebuilt in the 19th century, as the earthquakes that had hit the area caused extensive damage.
Today, in the community there are supermarkets and traditional cafes to serve its visitors, the beautiful “Charalambos Christodoulides” park, while the central church of the village is dedicated to Agios Charalambos and Agios Prokopios and was built on the foundations of an older temple. The church celebrates on February 10th and the 8th of July. Other churches near the settlement are the chapel of Agios Mamas and the abandoned Monastery of Agios Savvas Karonos in Prastio, Trachypedoula.
The most interesting and curious sight that exists in the community is the model of the Geological Section of the Diarizos and Troodos Valley. It is essentially a two-dimensional model on a wall made by scientists and representing the presence and formation of the rocks of the Troodos, its sedimentary sequence and the Mammonian complex. What the visitor to Trachypedoula is seeing is a colorful design that shows all the types of rocks in the area. The geological section begins from the Stone of Romios and Kouklia, intersects the valley of Diarizos and the mountain range of Troodos and reaches Nikitari in Nicosia, just before the plain of Mesaoria. This model is considered by experts to be an excellent tool for environmental education and training for both young and old. Near the village and at a distance of about 4 km southeast of the settlement, there are also the famous Hasaboulia Rocks or “Kourtelorotsos”, an impressive natural landscape with massive stones of recrystallized limestone of coral origin, dominating the landscape almost in the middle of the road. A living legend that survives to this day and has been a source of fear for the inhabitants and the passers-by during the British occupation, Hasaboulia was a family of Turkish Cypriots who came from the Episkopi of Limassol and during the British occupation they moved to the neighboring with Trachypedoula, Mamonia. The Rocks of Hasaboulia, a well-known location for rock climbers, is the point where the 3 brothers hid and attacked passers-by. The rocks are on the road shortly after Kouklia and on the old road that connects Mamonia with Agios Georgios Paphou, Trachypedoula and Kidasi.
One of the most important sights near the village, namely 9.5 km northwest of the community, is the church of Panagia Sindi, one of the most original examples of monastic architecture in Cyprus, which is on the UNESCO Protection List. The Panagia of Sindi today constitutes an open museum and an archaeological site with great historical and archaeological value.
In Trachypedoula finally, since 1996, every last Sunday of October, takes place the demonstration of traditional olive oil production, to which many visitors come from all over Cyprus.