Paphos
Capital of the West and positively teeming with history is Pafos, site of the island's
second international airport. The resort town has as its focal point a charming fishing harbour
by Pafos Fort, lined with open-air cafés and tavernas that serve a tempting menu of the day's fresh catch.
Cyprus History: It was on Pafos shoreline that the mythological Goddess Aphrodite was born, a legend that
spawned a massive wave of cult worship from neighbouring countries that lasted several centuries.
The large rock that juts from the sea is known as `Petra Tou Romiou' - The Venus Rock - while the Baths
of Aphrodite at Polis and the 'Fontana Amorosa' - Fountain of Love - also echo her apparent penchant for
the island. At Kouklia lie the remains of the Goddess' earliest Sanctuary.
Another 'first' for Pafos was itsearly recognition of Christianity. While under Roman rule in 45 A.D., it was here that Saint Paul
converted the first ruler to the faith. The legacy from its remarkable history adds up to nothing less
than an open museum, so much so that UNESCO simply added the whole town to its World Cultural Heritage List.
Among the treasures unearthed, are the remarkable mosaics in the Houses of Dionysos, Theseus and Aion,
beautifully preserved after 16 centuries under the soil. Then there are the mysterious vaults and caves,
the Tombs of the Kings, the Pillar to which Saint Paul was allegedly tied and whipped, the ancient Odeon
Theatre and other places of interest including the Byzantine Museum and the District Archaeological Museum.
Geroskipou,
with its remarkable five-domed Byzantine church of Agia Paraskevi, and its Folk Art Museum isa village known for many years now
for its special delight `loukoumi'. Agios Neofytos Monastery, famous for its `Encleistra', Enclosure, carved
out of the mountain by the hermit himself, boasts some of the finest Byzantine frescoes of the l2th and l5th
centuries.
Chrysorrogiatissa Monastery makes its own range of wines using homegrown grapes. A small museum
dedicated to Archbishop Makarios, first president of Cyprus, is found at Pano Panagia. From here it is a rewarding
drive to the majestic Cedar Valley, home of the indigenous Cyprus horned sheep, the moufflon. Lempa village can
be singled out as one with particular historic significance. In its pretty setting near the sea, Lempa's link with
prehistory is the site of a chalcolithic settlement. Today the faithful reconstruction of several dwellings, gives
an insight into chalcolithic life on the island. Further north lies a quiet resort, Polis, overlooking the beautiful
Chrysochou Bay with its charming fishing refuge of Latsi.
The low-lying scenery around Pafos, much of it cultivated
with banana plantations and backed by the foothills of the western Troodos range, has an attractively open
quality to it. This is the gateway to the Peninsula of Akamas, a natural wilderness of incredible beauty with
breathtaking gorges, spectacular coastlines and enjoyable nature trails. The whole town of Pafos is included in
the official UNESCO list of cultural and natural treasures of the world heritage. Wherever one treads in Pafos
one comes across its glorious history which dates back thousands of years, when the cult of goddess Aphrodite
who emerged from its seas, flourished in this beautiful part of the world attracting many visitors from inland
and abroad. Kato Pafos built in the l3th century over the ruins of the largest Early Byzantine basilica on
the island. Within the compound one can see St.Paul's Pillar, where according to tradition Saint Paul was flogged
before the Roman Governor Sergius Paulus was converted to Christianity. Today it is a small harbour town, but in
Hellenistic and Roman times it was the capital of Cyprus. Still under the spell of her Beauty goddess, the area
retaining her magic, has remained intact by time. It seduces its visitor with its majestic landscape, lovely coastline,
historical treasures and delightful villages where tradition is still a way of life. Kept in harmony with
nature are divine mediaeval monasteries, which lie peacefully in the Pafos heartland.
Paphos Castle / fort built in the harbour area of the town of Pafos
by the Lusignans at the beginning of the early l3th century on the site of
a previous Byzantine Castle. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1222. Kato Pafos harbour, originally a
Byzantine fort built to protect the harbour, it was rebuilt by the Lusignans in the l3th century, dismantled by the Venetians in 1570 and
rebuilt by the Ottomans after they captured the island in the 16th
century.
In Geroskipou village,the name of the village comes from the Greek phrase "Hieros Kepos"sometimes spelt "Ieros Kipos", meaning
"the sacred garden ofAphrodite", a fascinating collection of folk arts and crafts is exhibited in the beautiful Chatzismith house.
Also to be foundhere is the AGIA PARASKEVI CHURCH, one of the most interesting Byzantine churches on the island, dating to the l0th century.
It is a basilica surmounted by five domes forming a cross and has beautiful mural paintings dating mainly to the l5th century.
TOMBS OF THE KINGS
Spread over a vast area, these impressive underground tombs date back to the 4th century BC.
They are carved out of solid rock with some being decorated with Doric pillars. High officials rather than Kings were buried here, but the
magnificence of the tombs gave the locality its name.
MOSAICS OF PAFOS
House of Dionysos, House of Theseus and House of Aion. The mosaic floors of these noblemen's villas
dating from the 3rd to the 5th century AD are considered among the finest in the Eastern Mediterranean. They mainly depict scenes from Greek mythology.
ROCK OF APHRODITE
"Petra tou Romiou" means the Rock of the Greek and does not refer to Aphrodite but to another myth,
that of the Byzantine hero Dighenis who threw these rocks at pirates to protect his lady.
The rock of Aphrodite is a rock off the shore along the old main B6 road from Paphos to Limassol and has been regarded since ancient times as the
birthplace of Aphrodite, Goddess of love and fertility. According to ancient tradition, Aphrodite was born from the waves on the site off the
coast of Cyprus. It is said that in certain weather conditions, the waves rise, break and form a column of water that dissolves into a
pillar of foam. With imagination, this looks for just a moment like an ephemeral, evanescent human shape.
Homer's account of Aphrodite's birth is less dramatic. He said she was the daughter of Zeus and the fresh water nymph
Dione, at whose bosom she would sometimes seek solace (Iliad 5.370-417).
In his Theogony (178-206), Hesiod provides the following dramatic account of the event:
"Chronos took the great long jagged sickle; eagerly he
harvested his father's (Zeus') genitals and threw them all off behind.... The genitals...were carried for a long time on the waves.
White foam surrounded the immortal flesh, and in it grew a girl...
her name is Aphrodite among men and gods, because she grew up in the foam
(aphrizo).
BIRTH OF VENUS
Aphrodite
was then escorted ashore on a shell by the soft breezes of the Zephyrs at the rocks known as Petra tou Romiou. This myth is, of
course, most memorably depicted in Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" (on display in the Uffizi
Gallery in Florence). A much older rendering of the event can be seen in a fine mural at Pompeii.
Lying South, off Turkey shores, Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean. National languages spoken on the island are Greek in the
Republic of Cyprus and Turkish in North Cyprus and English in both. When you plan to spend your holidays in Cyprus, this website will offer you
Cyprus tourist information and a guide of the island of Cyprus.
At www.cyprus-villa-holidays.co.uk
we have put together this Cyprus tourist portal directory that provides you with hotels, villas, holiday accommodation, real estate property to rent,
buy or sell, weather reports, restaurants, cafe bars, tavernas, car rentals, airport with flights information, tourism information on Cyprus.
As there is plenty to see and do in Cyprus, so car hire is a commended to make your holiday much interesting.
Rent a Car,
take a weather forecast, check your maps of Cyprus. Now you are free to cross the island all over, exploring rocky coastlines of Cyprus with its
sandy - pebble beaches, journey up to the forests and onto Troodos Mountains and ski a while then back to the Cyprus sunshine resorts. Where
ever you go... enjoy your picturesque vacation in Cyprus.
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