Troodos Mountains

Troodos or Trodos is the largest mountain range in Cyprus, located roughly in the centre of the island. Its highest peak is Mount Olympus – also known in Greek as Χιονίστρα (Hionistra) - 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 the island. The mountains form a significant rain shadow on the island. There are many mountain resorts, Byzantine monasteries, and churches on the peaks, as well as villages nestling in its valleys and clinging to terraced hillsides. The area has been known since antiquity for its mines, which for centuries supplied copper to the entire Mediterranean. During 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 Cyprus cedar.

The Troodos Mountains are known for containing an undisturbed ophiolite sequence, the Troodos Ophiolite. The range rose slowly from the sea as a result of the collision between the African and European tectonic plates, a process that eventually formed the island of Cyprus. As this process slowed and nearly ceased, the rock formations remained largely intact, while subsequent erosion exposed the former magma chamber beneath the mountains, revealing intact rocks and petrified pillow lava formed millions of years ago - an excellent example of ophiolite stratigraphy. The observations of the Troodos ophiolite by Ian Graham Gass and co-workers were among the pieces of evidence that led to the theory of seafloor spreading. A detailed descriptive geological survey of Troodos was published in 1959. Although it predates the modern theory of plate tectonics, it provides exhaustive descriptions of rocks and structures.

Like the rest of Cyprus, the climate is Mediterranean but it has somewhat greater diurnal ranges in temperature than coastal areas. For example, at Prodromos, daily mean temperatures are around 4 °C (39 °F) in January and 23 °C (73 °F) in July.

The most ubiquitous trees in the Troodos mountains are the Turkish pine (Pinus brutia) and the golden oak (Quercus alnifolia). Some plants of the Olea, Rhus and Rosa genera populate the mountains, in particular Crataegus azarolus, Crataegus monogyna, Rhus coriaria and Rosa canina.