Prodromos Expert Trail - Atalanti Trail Troodos Cyprus

Beautiful mountain top road

Prodromos is a village in the province of Limassol found in the geographic region of Southern Marathasa, at a distance of 60 kilometers northwesterly from the city of Limassol.

It is built at an altitude of 1.380 meters from the average sea level and is the only village of Cyprus having such a high altitude.

It accepts a very high average annual rainfall that reaches 922 millimeters. In its region they are cultivated various species of deciduous fruit trees (apple trees, cherry trees, plum trees, pear-trees and peach trees). The village of Prodromos is particularly famous for the exceptional quality of its apples. However the bigger extent of the village is uncultivated. Part of the government owned forest of Troodos raises in its administrative limits. The bigger water sources not only for Prodromos but also for the entire mountain range of Troodos, are the group sources of Chartzi. Due to works at the “Chromium” mine, almost all groundwater at the region of Prodromos has changed direction.Up to 1962 the deciduous fruit trees of the village, that their extent was about 24 hectares, were irrigated exclusively by the sources of Chartzi and other smaller sources. However the continuous increasing needs for the irrigation of the new plantations of fruit trees as well as the utilization of the sources Chartzi for the water supply and irrigation of the village, imposed the manufacture in 1962 of the dam of Prodromos having a capacity of 110.000 cubic meters. The dam is found near the main street of Prodromos-Troodos, in the locality "Damaskinari" and from this dam, 23 hectares, that are cultivated with deciduous fruit trees, are irrigated.

The road connection of Prodromos with the around villages is done with helical streets, due to the mountainous bas-relief of the region. In the northern side is connected with the village of Pedoulas (about 3 Km), in the north-western side with the monastery of Virgin Mary at Kykkos (about 22 Km), in the western side with the village of Lemythou (about 2,5 Km), in the south-eastern side with the village of Pano Platres (about 2 Km) and in the south-western side with the village of Paliomylos (about 1.5 Km). From the square of Troodos there is a distance of 8 kilometers to reach Prodromos and from the city of Nicosia a distance of 85 kilometers.

The village had a continuous demographic increase from 1881 up to 1946. In 1881 its residents were 200 and were increased to 240 in 1891, to 282 in 1901, to 317 in 1911, to 331 in 1921, to 436 in 1931 and to 506 in 1946. In 1960 the residents were decreased to 484 and to 416 in 1973. After the Turkish invasion in 1974 enough Greekcypriots refugees were installed at the village of Prodromos and they increased for a small time interval its population, without however staying in the village after 1976. Thus in 1976 the population of the village was increased to 505 residents, that however were decreased to 318 in 1982. In the last inventory of 2001 the residents of the village were 147.
The village of Prodromos is characterized by cold and rainy winter and cool and dry summer. During the winter months, apart from the very high rainfall, it accepts also enough snow. The snow, that its height often exceeds one meter, covers the ground for some weeks and there is too much cold with temperatures that at some cases are below 0oC. In 1973 and in 1974 it was recorded the extreme lower temperature of – 8 oC. Contrary to winter, during summertime at the village of Prodromos is very cool with hotter months being July and August. The average daily higher temperature in July is 27 oC and the average daily lower is 17 oC.

Atalanti is one of the most popular trails in Cyprus
Atalanti trail is the second highest in Cyprus after Artemis and one of the most beautiful on Troodos Mountain. Cyprus may not be a popular hiking destination but truth is that it has some excellent trails extending from easy to moderate difficulty which are perfect for families and people who want to have some fun walking out in the nature but without pushing the envelope.

From all the trails on the island, Atalanti is maybe the most ideal, since even though it’s not a small one—it’s around 14km long, it is relative flat, doesn’t have any particular difficult or dangerous sections and still will reward hikers with some amazing views while being isolated enough to give the sought after feeling of serenity that we all are looking for when we spend a day outdoors. There are other great trails on Troodos which are circular but they are a bit more demanding with the exception of Artemis.

The fact that it is circular, is a great benefit since no special arrangements have to be made in order to hike it. The starting and finishing points are near Troodos square—the most famous spot on the mountains of Cyprus.