Troodos Mountains

Troodos or Trodos is the largest mountain range in Cyprus, located in roughly the center of the island. Its highest peak is Mount Olympus – also known in Greek as Χιονίστρα – at 1,952 metres (6,404 ft).

Covering a third of Cyprus's area, the Troodos mountain range stretches across most of the western side of Cyprus. The mountains form a significant rainshadow on the island. There are many mountain resorts, Byzantine monasteries, and churches on mountain peaks, and, nestling in its valleys and mountains, villages which cling to terraced hills. The area has been known since antiquity for its mines, which for centuries supplied copper to the entire Mediterranean. In the Byzantine period it became a centre of Byzantine art, as churches and monasteries were built in the mountains, away from the threatened coastline.

The mountains are home to Troodos Station, a listening post for both the American National Security Agency and the British GCHQ.

The name Troodos probably comes from one of two sources: either τρία + ὁδός (tría + hodós), referring to the three roads that lead to the mountain, or τό + ὄρος + Ἄδος (to + oro + Ados), meaning the mountains of Adonis.

It has many endemic plants and animals, including the endemic Cyprus cedar.