Here is Part 2 of this post with some more photos taken around the area of the Stavrovouni Monastery and the mountain of the same name, in Cyprus. Many people visit the area because the monastery is an interesting and important religious site, but here are also amazing walks around the area and the views are just gorgeous. it’s well worth the trip for the amazing landscape here.
This is my second post about my visit to Cyprus a few months ago, where I of course took hundreds of photos – as one does. In this post I am focusing on the Stavrovouni region.
The Stavrovouni Monastery is spectacularly built on the top of a volcano shaped mountain, of the same name – Stavrovouni Mountain, in the Larnaca district. It can be seen from miles away on all sides. The monastery was originally founded by St. Helena in the fourth century AD, and has gone through many changes throughout the centuries. It is one of the oldest monasteries in the world.
The monastery is open to visitors – male visitors, that is. Women aren’t allowed inside – we might be a distraction for the monks! But no matter – the monastery is not the only interesting feature, as the surrounding landscape is truly breathtaking and worth the trip just to experience that alone. I have so many photos it’s difficult to choose which to show – I may do another post to show some more of them.
If you click on the images individually, you should get a clearer, sharper image.
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One very showery evening with sunny spells – perfect for rainbows – at Cuas, Ballydavid, on the Dingle Peninsula. The warm evening light escaping from the dark clouds enhances the brilliance of the montbretias at the roadside.
More rainbow photos on my website http://helene-brennan.com/tag/rainbow
“Flaming flowers brightly blaze….” (Don McLean on Vincent Van Gogh).
Indeed the wildflowers of the Dingle Peninsula are brightly blazing at this time of the year, and have not been created by any artist other than nature, admittedly with a little help from the humans who have introduced many non-indiginous species such as the highly invasive montbretia. Nonetheless, I just love the fantastic swathes of colour they create along the roadsides in the rural areas.
July and August are the best months for these wonderful exhibitions of nature’s art, offering a joyous and thrilling experience for any tourist or local person driving, cycling or walking along the roads. For the driver, the challenge is finding a parking space to leave the car on these narrow roads, in order to get out and walk or take photos of these spectacular and colourful exhibits.
Sadly, there are many people who have either little regard or little awareness of this precious heritage, and often one can see evidence of weedkiller spray along vast areas of roadside at times when the flowers haven’t even had time to bloom and seed. So much must have been lost.
These photos were taken on the roads from Ventry to Ballyferriter, and from Ballyferriter to Murioch. The latter is on the famous Slea Head Drive, but on a section that is often missed by tourists who fail to take the left turn at the Dingle Peninsula Hotel, and instead take the shorter cut back to Dingle.
