Must-seeUNESCO
Galata
A Solea Valley village with a painted church on the UNESCO list
The story
Galata is a mountain village in the Solea Valley on the northern slopes of Troodos, in Nicosia District. It stands on both banks of the Klarios River, also called the Karkotis, and runs right into neighboring Kakopetria. On the northern edge of the village, by the main road, stands the church of Panagia Podithou. According to the founders’ inscription, it was built in 1502 by Dimitrios de Coron and his wife Eleni. Its paintings are Italo-Byzantine, influenced by the Italian Renaissance; it is one of the ten painted churches of Troodos on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In the center of the village, by the church of Panagia Odigitria, stands a monument to the village’s heroes: it bears the names of six people who died between 1957 and 1974.
Galata and neighboring Kakopetria are in the Solea area, not in Marathasa, Pitsilia or Tillyria. Also remember Panagia Podithou, one of the ten painted churches of Troodos on the UNESCO list.
Visiting
The village is about 60 km west of Nicosia, on the Nicosia–Troodos road. Panagia Podithou is about 750 m north of the center, on the right of the road as you come in from Nicosia; check opening hours before you go.
Photos
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Painted Churches in the Troodos Region (351)
- Κοινότητα Γαλάτας — Εκκλησίες, εξωκλήσια (Panagia Podithou, founders’ inscription, Panagia Odigitria)
- Κοινότητα Γαλάτας — Ιστορία (Solea, Klarios/Karkotis river, 60 km from Nicosia)
- Κοινότητα Γαλάτας — Οι ήρωες της Γαλάτας (monument by Panagia Odigitria)
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