Overview
 Kourtellorotsos seen from south-west |
Lagoudera, a village near the geographical centre of Cyprus is best known for its vicinity to two of the 10 painted churches in the Troodos Mountain Range which have been declared World Heritage by UNESCO: the churches Agia tou Araka and Asinou. The two churches are connected by a mountain trail which runs across two passes, coming close to the summit of Kourtellorotsos (Greek: Κουρτελλοροτσος), in fact passing the saddle between two of its summits.
Like all mountains in the eastern Troodos, Kourtellorotsos is made up from limestone but in contrast to its neighbours Madari and Adelfoi right across the basin in which Lagoudera is cradled, the mountain is round topped without the towers and rock formations of the other two. Moreover it is covered with trees and thorny bushes so that an ascent requires a serious bushwhack. Kourtellorotsos has three summits, the western one of which is separated from the slightly higher eastern ones by the aforementioned saddles.
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The mountain is part of one of the northernmost ridges of the Troodos Range, from where the range drops into the plain of Güzelyourt at almost sea level. Consequently views from Kourtellorotsos reach far an wide but are obstructed by the greenery on its top. To the east, across Lagoudera is the Adelfoi summit, to the west views end at the Kionia Ridge and in the north - across the plain - the mountains of the long stretched Kyrenia Range indicate the northern coastline of the island.
Panoramic View
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Getting There
Kourtellorotsos (round top mountain in the foreground) in front of the eastern Troodos
You can reach the Greek (southern) part of Cyprus from any major airport in Europe. The island has two international airports at Larnaka in the east and Pafos in the south-west. Both airports are connected by a motorway.
The trailhead for Kourtellorotsos is in Lagoudera, a rather remote village. The shortest access is across Agros
- From one of the international airports of Southern Cyprus, at Larnaka or Pafos take the motorway (A1 / A6) to Lemesos
- At the exit 27 take E110 to Agros
- At Agros turn onto E907 to Chandria and Lagoudera. Park outside the village near the old barn church Panagia tou Araka.
Red Tape
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There's no red tape. For once Kourtellorotsos is a summit without any military presence.
Accommodation
Accommodation of all kinds is easy to find along the coasts of the island. You can book hotels and apartments from any travel office. Moreover, a lot of British expatriates are living on the island part time. You can get lucky to book one of their winter homes in summer.Lagoudera didn't look like there were any hotels or inns in the village. However, on the south coast on the strip between the cities of Lemesos and Larnaka there is lots of accommodation.
Weather Conditions
Maps & Books
Maps
I must admit that I didn't find any decent maps of the island, maybe caused by the military nervousness mentioned above. I have used the following street map:
- Cyprus / Chipre / Zypern
1:200 000
Freytag & Berndt
ISBN: 978-3-7079-0478-9
Books
Here the situation is different. An excellent guidebook is available from Rother Verlag, both in German and English. It covers the whole island in 50 daytours.
- Zypern (Süd & Nord) / Cyprus (South & North)
Rolf Goetz
Rother Wanderführer / Rother Walking Guide
Rother Verlag
ISBN (German): 978-3-7633-4271-6
ISBN (English): 978-3-7633-4814-5
Images
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