Travel Guide Palaichori

Situated at an altitude of 930 meters, Palaichori has the particularity of being split in two by the Akaki, a tributary of the Serrachis: to the west, Palaichori Morphou/Παλαιχώρι Μόρφου with around 1,100 inhabitants; to the east, Palaichori Orinis/Παλαιχώρι Ορεινής with around 300 inhabitants. On both sides, the delightfully old-fashioned atmosphere fits in well with the name Palaichori, which means "old village". Irrigated by the dam built upstream in 1973, Palaichori is renowned for its fruit and vegetables, zivania and guest houses. Palaichori Orinis is best known for its Metamorfosis tou Sotiros church, one of ten painted churches on the Troodos listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Still on the eastern side, you'll find the small Byzantine Heritage Museum (Tuesday-Friday 10am-1pm, in theory) and the former secret headquarters of Gregoris Afxentiou (1928-1957), one of the leaders of the EOKA during the war of independence. Also noteworthy, on a hill north of Palaichori Orinis, is the Cypriot Mother Monument, a 1961 statue commemorating the sacrifice of mothers who lost a child during the war.