The church of Panagia Podithou is situated in a central area of the Troodos mountain range, in the upper Solea valley. It is built in a narrow and fertile valley of the river Klarios/Karkotis, a few hundred meters to the north of the village of Galata. In 1985 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which includes nine other painted Byzantine churches of the Troodos range.

Panagia Podithou used to be the katholicon (monastery church) of a monastery bearing the same name. According to the dedicatory inscription on the external part of the western wall, it was built in 1502 with the donation of Demetre de Coron and his wife Helen. Demetre, a captain of the barony of Pentageia, is known to have been involved in the political disorder of 1461. The monastery functioned until the beginning of the 19th century. Still, like many other monasteries of the island, it then fell into decline. It was finally abandoned after the tragic events of 1821 when the Archbishop and other notables were executed following the Greek revolution. 

The building is single-aisled with a steep-pitched timber roof. A later portico surrounds the three sides of the church. The roof shelters both the church and the portico and it is covered with flat tiles. (Source)

Stylianou A., Stylianou J. A. 1997. The painted churches of Cyprus: Treasures of Byzantine art. London.

Konstantoudaki-Kitromilidou M., Myrianthefs D. 2005. The Churches of the Virgin Podithou and of the Theotokos (or of the Archangel) in Galata. Nicosia.