Aphrodite

We drove up to Pissouri village and called at one of the tavernas in the main square for a cup of Cyprus coffee. We sat for some time watching people! We were surprised to find this group of shops and tavernas, having completely missed them on our previous visit to the old village.

Pissouri Square

After filling the car with fuel at the patrol station opposite the supermarket, we drove west along the old road to the birthplace of Aphrodite. We pulled in to the tourist car park and walked under the road to the beach.

Aphrodite's Birthplace

If you did not know where you were, it looks just like yet another rock sticking out of the sea close to the beach! However, Aphrodite was an important, if mythical, figure in the history of this area, dating back at least three millennia.

We walked along the pebbled beach and sat against a small rock to read for a while. However, it was quite breezy and there was no shade from the sun which today was rather strong.

Lunchtime coastal view

Back at the car we took our lunch and walked up the hill to a nature trail to look down on the bay and across the hills and valleys inland. Under a shrub we found both shelter and shade whilst we ate our sandwiches.

Inland view with motorway viaduct

A little later Mike walked to nearer the coast and found a bench to sit on. However, he was permanently in fear of losing his hat in the wind!

Not all nature trail signs are illuminating!

By 2 o'clock he was joined by Christine and we opted to walk a little further along the cliff top trail, around inland and eventually back down to the car park.

Aphrodite's Temple

From there we drove closer to Paphos to visit Sanctuary of Aphrodite's Temple. In some ways this site was much less impressive that the Sanctuary we visited a couple of days ago. Most of the ancient buildings were little more than an outline onthge ground although a couple of floors still had parches of mosaics.

Mosaic floor

But we learned that this was a very much older site. Its origins go back over eleven centuries BC and the historical artifacts were really quite remarkable given that age. A bath for wealthy person looked almost modern and the pottery often quite delicate and intricately decorated.

Manor House

Although the Romans did use this site it was later redeveloped in 14C as a factory for sugar production and the principal remaining buildings are a Manor House built at that time as the administrative hub for that work.

The ancient worship of Aphrodite was largely open air so did not require the ornate structures that later Roman worship involved. As we left a small group of ladies were re-enacting an Aphrodite dance, or so we presumed. Mike's disappointment was that, unlike the ancient statues and images, they remained fully clothed!

Before leaving the village we enjoyed a cup of tea from one of several tavernas around the little village square, alongside the church.

After driving back along the motorway, almost devoid of traffic, we called at the supermarket to stock up. This took some time. One of the interests in self catering (real self catering) is discovering the differences in local shopping. Alas we have not yet found a real market but even so, it was not always as simple as at home.

Back at the apartment there was note to call the owner. Christine rang him as Mike set about preparing a meal. The owner was quite agitated and upset as he had received a phone call to say that our tour operator had gone bankrupt and he would not be paid for our stay.

There was nothing obvious on the internet so we emailed the agent who had made our reservation. She came back very quickly to explain that an intermediary company, Euro Rooms, had indeed ceased trading but Hays Travel was still very much alive. We were reassured that the owner would get paid and that the rest of our holiday was not at risk. We had a further email giving added reassurance. We have to say that we were much impressed by the support from the Hays agent. Let's hope that our faith is not misplaced!