Travel Guide Agios Amvrosios – Esentepe

Slightly removed from a coastline overrun with housing developments for wealthy foreigners, "Saint Ambrose" (Agios Amvrosios) or "Windy Hill" (Esentepe) is renowned for its sea turtle nesting area, apricots, the church of Christ-Antiphonitis, golf course and rich history. Tradition has it that the great theologian Ambrose of Milan, originally from Palestine, stayed here in the 4th century, before moving to Italy. The village is also associated with the Trojan War: on their return from the conflict, Greeks from Arcadia are said to have founded Makaria, a city whose site has been identified 10 km to the east, between Roots Beach and Küçük Erenköy. And it was to escape Arab raids that the inhabitants of Makaria settled here around the 7th century. Agios Amvrosios continued to be populated by Greek Cypriots. They were expelled in 1974, and the large church dedicated to St. Ambrose (1867) was converted into a mosque. To the south, two roads climb the Pentadactylos mountains: the one on the left leads to the church of Christ-Antiphonitis (6 km), while the one on the right leads to the Sourp Magar monastery (15 km).