Sinti Monastery
It's time for another guest blog, and this time Max has taken a break from his minerals to show us somewhere a bit more spiritual. Over to you Max...
Sinti Monastery is a very important ancient monument and not far away from Paphos, in the beautiful Xeros River Valley. I thought I would take a round trip. In order that people can visit the place all year round (even after a good Winter's rain) in a normal car I took the longer route over the hills where the roads nowadays are all properly surfaced.
On the way back you can either take the same road (Winter) or use the short cut along the Xeros river bed which is only 8 km until the next village Nata.
The start point of the journey would be the large roundabout where the Limassol highway ends at Paphos, taking the exit Konia towards Episkopi. There you must slow down through the small village and cross the river: road sign: Nata.
On The Way To Nata
You climb up the hilly road and after some hundred meters you will have that impressive view back to the village with its rock formation (little Meteora).
From Nata to Start The Round Trip
Driving through the village of Nata take care to follow the narrow road leading towards old Choletra and very soon you can see the brand new bridge crossing the Xeros River, and the large valley were the Monastery lies upstream.
Posh Bridge
In the past it was very difficult to cross the river even with a 4x4, especially after heavy Winter rain. I wonder if the posh bridge was built with EU money as there is even stone cladding. On the left hand side one can see an old watermill, which is in a private property - so no photo.
On the way to Stavrokonnou
After crossing the bridge we continue the journey steadily uphill, with nice views down to the valley, and the monastery far away.
One can see some farming activities...
Must Have Some Rocks...
On the other side of this road there are interesting rock formations. In Spring when everything is green around, it would look even nicer...