Church of Archangel Michael

The church of Archangel Michael stands in the village of Pedoulas, in the Marathasa valley of the Troodos mountain range. Built and decorated with frescoes in 1474, it was the donation of a priest, Vasilios Chamados, who is depicted above the north entrance offering a model of the church to the archangel. The painter was a local named Minas. The church is single-aisled with a sloping mountain roof. Its frescoes are arranged on two levels in the local post-Byzantine style: the upper level shows eleven paintings from the Festival Cycle, the lower level depicts saints, and the Crucifixion and Ascension fill the pediments. A narthex extending to the south and west sides served as a loft for women, as only men entered the main church. A wooden templon from the same period survives intact. In 1985, the church was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List among the painted Byzantine churches of the Troodos range.