Why this ride
A 392 km round trip from Kakopetriá - roughly 5 h 54 in the saddle. It goes by way of Choirokoitia, Paphos and back through Choirokoitia. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Church of Panayia and Paphos
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 392 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 54
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Church of Panayia
The churches of the Troodos mountains look, from outside, like barns. In the high, cool country of the island's interior, where snow can fall in winter, builders covered their churches with a second, steeply pitched timber roof of tiles to protect the older domed buildings underneath, and the result is a plain, sturdy exterior that gives no hint of the paintings within. Inside, walls and ceilings are covered with Byzantine frescoes, some from the eleventh century and later, showing saints, angels and scenes of the life of Christ in rich, deep colours. Ten of these churches are listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete Church of Panayia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of Panayia is where the day begins. Next is Choirokoitia.
2. Choirokoitia
Long before the Greeks, the Phoenicians or the Romans arrived in Cyprus, people lived on a hillside above the Maroni river in the southern part of the island, in round stone houses with flat roofs, packed close together inside a defensive wall. Choirokoitia is a Neolithic settlement dating back to around the seventh millennium BC, one of the most important prehistoric sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The inhabitants farmed, herded animals and buried their dead under the floors of their houses. Several of the round houses have been reconstructed near the entrance, giving a vivid sense of how they lived. The site received UNESCO recognition in 1998.
Read the complete Choirokoitia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Choirokoitia comes up about 85 km into the recorded legs. Next is Paphos.
3. Paphos
The ride that brings you here starts in Paphos but belongs, for a while, to Aphrodite. Kouklia, a village on the southwest coast of Cyprus, sits on the site of Palaepaphos, the old Paphos, where the goddess of love was worshipped for well over a thousand years before the Romans arrived. Ancient writers placed her birth in the sea off this coast, and a rock offshore near here is still called Aphrodite's Rock. The sanctuary was a pilgrimage centre across the Mediterranean, and pilgrims travelled from Greece, Egypt and Phoenicia to reach it.
Read the complete Paphos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 190 km into the recorded legs you reach Paphos. Next is back through Choirokoitia.
4. back through Choirokoitia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Choirokoitia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Choirokoitia, late in the day. Next is Church of Panayia.
5. Church of Panayia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of Panayia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Church of Panayia. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Church of Panayia to Choirokoitia
Church of Panayia → Choirokoitia is 85 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Choirokoitia to Paphos
Choirokoitia → Paphos is 105 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Paphos to back through Choirokoitia
Paphos → back through Choirokoitia is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Choirokoitia to Church of Panayia
back through Choirokoitia → Church of Panayia is 98 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.