Overview
The eleventh-century church of Ayios Nikolaos tis Stegis (St. Nicholas of the Roof), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is situated on a hill overlooking a flowing brook in the verdant Solea Valley.
The domed cross-in-square church once belonged to a monastery complex and derives its name from the pitched timber roof that was built to protect it from the weather. The only surviving monastery church of its kind in Cyprus, it is decorated entirely in frescos dating from the eleventh to the seventeenth centuries.
Because these frescoes are the most important surviving set on the island from these periods, it is considered one of the most interesting Byzantine churches in Cyprus.
The church dates to the eleventh century, while the monastery dates to the end of the thirteenth or the beginning of the fourteenth century. It flourished from the Middle Byzantine period up to the period of Frankish rule. It began its decline during the eighteenth century, and by the end of the nineteenth century, it had ceased to function as a monastery.
The entrance is free of charge and is accessible to wheelchairs.
