The church of Panagia tou Araka is situated in a central area of the Troodos mountains, in the area of Pitsilia, between the villages of Lagoudera and Saranti. In 1985 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which includes nine other painted Byzantine churches of the Troodos range…. Panagia tou Araka used to be the katholicon (monastery church) of a monastery bearing the same name which seems to have been built during the second half of the 12th century, when monastic life was flourishing in Cyprus.When Vassili Barsky, a Russian monk, visited the island in 1735, the monastery was almost abandoned and was only inhabited by three monks.