Must-seeUNESCO
Palaichori
Birthplace of Karaolis and Matsis, and a church on the UNESCO list
The story
Palaichori is a mountain village in Pitsilia, in Nicosia district, cut in two by the Serrachis river. Above the center stands the small Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior, with sixteenth-century paintings of the Cretan school. In 2001 UNESCO added it as the tenth church on the list of painted churches of Troodos. Michalakis Karaolis and Kyriakos Matsis were born here. They were fighters of EOKA, the underground organization that waged an armed struggle against British rule in 1955 to 1959, for the union of Cyprus with Greece. The British authorities executed Karaolis in 1956, and Matsis was killed in 1958. The village has a monument to the Cypriot Mother and the restored hideout of Grigoris Afxentiou.
Palaichori (Pitsilia, Nicosia district) is the birthplace of EOKA fighters Michalakis Karaolis and Kyriakos Matsis. It also has the Church of the Transfiguration (Agia Sotira), the tenth of the painted churches of Troodos on the UNESCO list, added in 2001.
Visiting
The Church of the Transfiguration and the Museum of Byzantine Heritage in the village center are not always open: check the hours in advance.
Photos
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Painted Churches in the Troodos Region (No. 351): ten churches incl. Ayia Sotira, Palaichori; Cretan-school murals of the 16th century; inscribed 1985, boundary modification 2001
- Ίδρυμα Απελευθερωτικού Αγώνα ΕΟΚΑ 1955–1959 — Καραολής Μιχαλάκης (born in Palaichori, hanged 10 May 1956)
- Ίδρυμα Απελευθερωτικού Αγώνα ΕΟΚΑ 1955–1959 — Μάτσης Κυριάκος (born in Palaichori, killed 19 November 1958)
- Deputy Ministry of Tourism, visitcyprus.com — Palaichori village (Pitsilia, Serrachis river, Afxentiou hideout, Cypriot Mother statue)
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