The famous Orthodox monastery Stavrovouni is located between the cities of Nicosia and Larnaca, on the top of a high mountain. It was erected in 327 AD on the orders of St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, in the place where once stood a temple of Greek goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite. Legend has it that after the miraculous rescue of the ship on which Elena sailed from Palestine, from a terrible storm, a woman had a vision in which an angel appeared to her and ordered the construction of five temples on the island, and on the mountain - the monastery.

Stavrovouni most famous for the fact that it holds a part of the holy Holy Cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. This relic of the monastery gave him the founder of St. Elena.

At the end of the XIX century the monastery was badly damaged by a major fire. And in the 80-ies of the last century, the Cypriot authorities there began large-scale reconstruction and restoration works: were restored frescoes decorating the walls, there was water and electricity was conducted. Those who live on the mountain monks are mainly engaged in subsistence farming, in particular, the production of incense. Also working there icon-painting workshops.

Every year in September, the temple held a big celebration of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which attracts the faithful from all over the world. Remarkably, despite the fact that the initiator of the construction of the monastery was named Elena, a woman on its territory are not permitted, and visitors-men entered a strict dress code.

On the top of the mountain, where there is a monastery of Stavrovouni, it offers a breathtaking view of the surrounding land.