[ Mar.2015 ] In our tour to the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus, after visiting the grave of Makarios, we went to the Kykkos Monastery, where he lived as a monk.
In this monastery, there is still the icon of the Virgin Mary, which they think was painted by Luke the Evangelist.
We saw it in the church, but it was covered by something in silver for protection.
Of course, we were not allowed to take photos.
They have treasures of gemstones and other things donated by believers and apparently, it is one of the wealthiest monasteries in the world.
There is a police station nearby to guard it.
There is also a fire station because there were fires many times in the past.
The area in which we could walk around was all new and there were many gorgeous mosaics.
Also I found a wooden board that looked like the Toaca, which we learned about during our Romanian holiday last year.
According to our guide, Mary, at weekends they are busy with baptisms.
She was baptised here, too.
