This walk starts downhill, so everyone knows what to expect on the way back. To compensate, however, it yields two abandoned villages, a memorial to a famous patriot, the lonely church of Panayia Khrysospiliotissa and, of course, the rock tomb. An added bonus this time of year are the spring flowers and blossoms now in profusion.

If you find the uphill finish daunting you can go down to the old site of Pano Kividhes and start from there. If you do make sure that at least you go and pay your respects to Angelika Sotiriou, (Code name Philimon), and enjoy the panoramas east over the scarp lands and north to Troodos.

Leave the old village with its magnificent church and follow a cobbled road gently upwards, before descending into a deep gorge cut into bare terraced slopes. A right branch of this track contours the edge of the hill overlooking its right bank.

The tombs, if that’s what they are, were cut high in the cliff under Panayia Khrystopiliotissa, (St Mary of the Golden Caves). From here across the gorge rooks and rock doves can be seen, wheeling and making their distant racket about the towering crags, and yes, there is a goat track. A dusty ledge, it runs diagonally down from the steep scree on the right.

It is very narrow, and a fluted mudstone overhang cramps movement even for animals. The golden stone is friable, loose underfoot, treacherous. Don’t even THINK about trying it. But if you must, be prepared for a chock as you round the final rock projection – the rush of wings, as pigeons are panicked from their roosts by your unexpected arrival.

There isn’t anything there anyway, just bare caves. The two main chambers are interconnected. They are surprisingly clean and free from the fragrance of goat. It is quiet, peaceful and secluded, but now you have the problem of getting out, even trickier than the descent of the ledge.

Even the alternative of scrambling up the scree for a better look at the church will not appeal to all, although the views from up there into the gorge are quiet startling, with sheer river cliffs on both sides.

Most of us though, would be happier, I suspect, to admire the church and the caves from afar and continue to circum-ambulate the hill, following the right branch of the track that leads back eventually to the village through varied countryside.

At this point you can choose between the escape route back to the village and a long loop that takes you to the other abandoned village of Kato Kividhes. If you elect for the latter, a good dirt road takes you down to the left. It crosses a small valley with views right to the church.

It continues past a huge olive tree, passing into a varied mixture of agricultural and wild country. By the roadside the mandrake, asphodel and crown daisy are in bloom and the cultivated fields are scattered with violet poppies and giant golden celandines.

Soon the ruins if Kato Kividhes come into view among the almond blossom. The whole lace is deserted and in ruins, but you may well meet farmers from the new village up on the scarp, accompanied by their multifarious dogs.

The road then climbs; looping back to rejoin the dirt road you came out on. On reaching this you follow it back for some distance, but the final stretch is a tangles footpath through olives and vineyards, where purple monkey orchids flourish in the shade.

This secluded route brings you by gentle stages back up to the old church and your transport, or, if your have left your car under Philemon, to the invigorating climb back up to the main road.

To get there, take the Paphos road to Erimi, turning right immediately after Erimi Bridge. After passing through Kandou, the road climbs steadily to the new site of Kividhes, passing Souni on the way. The memorial to Angelika Sotiriou is about a mile beyond the village, and the turn off to the old village is a few hundred meters earlier to the right.