The French architect Edmond Duthoit describes his journey to Kykko monastery:

Here, terrible precipices with sharp naked rocks; there is everywhere the danger of being killed over and over again; but flowers everywhere. Trees rise in clusters; at the edge of the rivulets grow enormous plane-trees whose clear and plain greenery make a nice contrast with the dark green of huge fir-trees.It is the first time I see trees in Cyprus but these are magnificent. I found there the ideal representation that I had in mind of an abbey of the Middle Ages. The church is of modern times very rich in silver even though the Turks have looted it many times. Although the daily program is the same as that of the western establishments, the architecture is quite different. One cannot search for lines here or for a studied plan. It is a mass of buildings in wood, in stone, in mud-brick all put together and some suspending over others with projecting roofs, covered galleries and enormous external staircases.