A Priest in mourning collecting his tears in a Tear Jar, Cyprus (fresco)

In the dry climate of ancient Greece, water was prized above all. Giving up water from one's own body, when crying tears for the dead, was considered a sacrifice. They caught their precious tears in tiny pitchers or "tear jars." The tears became holy water and could be used to sprinkle on doorways to keep out evil, or cool the brow of a sick child; Situated west of Pedoulas in the Troodos Mountains and founded by the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, The Holy, Royal and Stavropegic Monastery of Kykkos (Greek:Ιερά Μονή Κύκκου), is one of the wealthiest and best-known monasteries in Cyprus; Artwork by the Kepola brothers, Cypriot icon painters and others from Greece and Romania;