The small sea cliff of Petra tou Romiou, also known as Aphrodite's Rock or Greek Rock, is located just off the coast of Cyprus near Paphos. This beautiful and picturesque bay is considered the legendary birthplace of the goddess of love Aphrodite, and therefore is very popular among many tourists.
Location: , .
Geographic coordinates: 34°39′49″ N. latitude, 32°37′37″ e. d.
The ancient Greek legend with which this place is associated says that one day Gaia (goddess of the earth) asked one of her sons Kronos to castrate her husband Uranus (god of the sky). Kronos cut off his father's manhood and threw him into the sea - from the seed, flesh and blood of castrated Uranus, snow-white foam was formed, in which the “foam-born” Aphrodite was born. The goddess of love was born near the Greek island of Cythera, but the wind carried her to the island of Cyprus, where she, emerging from the sea waves, was met by the goddesses of the seasons - Ora.
The goddess Aphrodite became the central deity in Cyprus for many centuries, and numerous temples and sanctuaries were built in her honor. After the Romans captured the island, they adapted Greek mythology to their liking and continued to worship the same goddess under the name of Venus.
Aphrodite's Rock on the map
Another name of the rock Petra tou Romiou is translated as “the rock of the Romans (Greeks)” and comes from the legendary Byzantine hero Digenis Akritos, who, defending the island of Cyprus from a Saracen raid, threw one rock towards the enemy. That is why another rock located next to Petra tou Romiou is called Saracen.
Nowadays, tourism infrastructure is actively developing near this popular attraction - a restaurant, a recreation pavilion and the Aphrodite Hills resort have been built.
Interesting Facts:
- The sea in the vicinity of Aphrodite's Rock is very stormy and dangerous, so swimming is officially prohibited. However, there is a belief that any person who swims around the rock will receive a blessing from the goddess for eternal beauty.
- Next to the rock is another mythological landmark - Akhni Beach, where the Achaeans landed in Cyprus upon returning from Troy.
Aphrodite's Stone, or Aphrodite's Bay, or, as the Cypriots themselves call it, Πέτρα του Ρωμιού - one of the most beautiful places in Cyprus. Aphrodite's Bay is located between Paphos and Limassol. It is believed that this particular stretch of coastline in Cyprus is the most picturesque.
There are many things connected with the name of Aphrodite in Cyprus - there are the baths of Aphrodite, the temple of the goddess in Kouklia, and so on. Aphrodite's Bay leads among other places in terms of attendance: it was here, according to legend, that the goddess Aphrodite emerged from the sea foam. Since then, this bay has been considered the birthplace of the goddess. Aphrodite reached the shore on a shell controlled by dolphins, and after that she stopped in the town of Palepaphos, where a temple was later built in her honor :)
On the map of Cyprus, Aphrodite Bay can be easily found by its name (Greek: Πέτρα του Ρωμιού).
Travel closer from Paphos. From Limassol to Aphrodite Bay you can get there in less than an hour by highway (A6 highway) or along a picturesque road (B6), serpentine winding among the mountains and small Cypriot villages.
We were traveling to Aphrodite Bay from. Along the way, you will pass Cypriot villages lying among the mountains, Episkopi, Pissouri, British military bases, and you will also find yourself in the UK several times :)
In spring, all of Cyprus blooms. Very beautiful!
When the road leads to the coast, observation platforms at the sea will begin to appear:
From Paphos you can get to Aphrodite's Stone in 20 minutes by highway. Along the way there will be many signs pointing to the exit to this attraction.
Aphrodite's Bay (Petra tou Romiou)
The name of Aphrodite's stone, Petra tou Romiou (or "rock of the Romans") takes us to the story of the Byzantine hero Digenis Akritos. Diogenis was half Arab, half Greek (Roman). As he says legend of Aphrodite's stone Digenis pushed a rock from the Troodos Mountains into the sea to protect the island from the Saracen invasion. This is how the Petra tou Romiou rock appeared in Cyprus. By the way, a large stone lying in the sea not far from Petra tou Romiou is called the Saracen Rock.
Aphrodite's Stone and the beach of the same name on the map on the left side. On the right is Saracen Rock.
There are always a lot of tourists in Aphrodite Bay. Even in March people swim:
All because this place is associated with many superstitions and myths.
It is believed that if a woman bathes in the waters of Aphrodite’s rocks, she will gain beauty and eternal youth, and men will become strong and courageous. Others say that you need to swim around one of the stones three times. And a couple in love, plunging into the waves of Aphrodite Bay in Cyprus, will live happily ever after and will never be separated.
Couples wander all over the coast in search of the perfect heart-shaped pebble. If you find it, you will be 100% lucky in love:
The waves near the cliffs of Aphrodite are raging, bless you, and the wind is simply squally.
Here is the Aphrodite stone itself, or the rock of Petra tou Romiou:
This formation is called very funny - sea kekur(stress on the first syllable). Simply put, it is a cone-shaped or columnar rock of natural origin, as if rising from the depths of the sea.
It is prohibited to climb onto Aphrodite's stone.
Cold! Instead of swimming in Aphrodite's bay, it's better to just soak our feet in the sea foam, where the goddess of love came from:
Directly opposite Aphrodite's Bay there is free parking where you can park your car. Nearby there is a small shop with souvenirs, toilets, and a restaurant. There is an underground passage leading to the bay, so there is no need to cross the highway.
Cost of services on Aphrodite Beach: shower - 50 cents, changing rooms are free.
A nice place. Unreal azure and turquoise colors!
A question that concerns many is whether it is possible to swim in Aphrodite Bay?
The answer is yes, you can. But it won't bring much pleasure.
Since the rocks of Aphrodite are closely associated with various legends and superstitions, you can almost always find people swimming here - despite the weather and wind. I'll tell you about our experience of swimming in Aphrodite Bay.
Winter and spring the water in Aphrodite Bay is very cold. Summer is also cool - the water temperature is several degrees lower than in Paphos, or warm or. At the end of July it felt like 20 degrees (versus 25-26 in the resorts of Cyprus).
Beach at Aphrodite's Stone quite wild, completely pebble, the stones are not particularly pleasant and painful to step on. In the summer, a lot of brown algae swim here, which cover the bottom and can cling to your legs when you swim :) The algae is thrown ashore by the wave, they lie along the coastline in the sun (brown stripe in the photo) and smell. Plus, the waves in the bay are almost always raging and a strong wind blows. So swimming on Aphrodite's beach is a dubious pleasure.
As a summary - the beach on the rocks of Aphrodite is very picturesque and is definitely worth a visit: for a photo shoot, a picnic, a romantic walk. It's up to you to decide whether to swim or not.
And from the observation decks nearby there is a wonderful view of the sea and rocks, and in the evening - of the sunset over the western part of Cyprus.
Well, how do you like Aphrodite Bay in Cyprus? Would you like to visit here? 😉
If you have questions, ask them in the comments.
Read all posts dedicated to travel and life in Cyprus,
Somehow, this time, just a week-long trip, it takes me a long time to describe. But there is very little left. It remains to talk about three more days in Cyprus. In my opinion, the most “bright” (not counting the wedding of Lida and Roma) of the day.
On the morning of October 5, we said goodbye to Mazotos - whatever you say, it was a good place: quiet, you couldn’t see or hear people, however, from time to time there was a smell of goats, but as I said, goats, or rather the smell accompanying them, is an inevitable Cypriot evil and their smell envelops the island.
In the remaining days, we wanted to explore the western and slightly central part of the island, so we went to Paphos.
The path lay past churches of all kinds
Having passed Limassol, we turned off the highway and began to make our way along goat paths, teeming with cars with red license plates (as you remember, in Cyprus, red license plates are hung on rental cars so that tourists can be distinguished), to a place called Petra tou Romiou.
According to legend, the beloved child of Cyprus, the goddess Aphrodite, was born from the foam of the sea in this very place. A little short of reaching the rocks marking her birthplace, we stopped at a small observation deck located above a cliff and a very beautiful shore.
pebbles sticking out far into the sea behind my right shoulder are the very birthplace of Aphrodite
here they are, very close up
in my opinion, not the most impressive stones, if I were Aphrodite, I would have been born near much nicer stones located under the platform on which we stood
And on this site there was such a “chapel” (such little ones are scattered in abundance throughout Cyprus)
Roma, having walked around and examined the “building” from all sides, opened the door and found pieces of incense and matches, and of course he immediately “smoked” the incense.
taking another look at this blue and white shore
and waving his hand at the airplane flying to Russia
we dropped into a small “tourist center”, in the toilet of which we found such an advertisement addressed to tourists who imagined themselves to be Aphrodites.
After chewing some ice cream we headed to Paphos. This time the guiding machine did not let us down and took us to the “old city”. But we didn’t go straight to see the antiquities, but walked along an endless string of all kinds of cafes, looking for one that we liked and where we would be fed deliciously. Naturally, such a place was found away from the mass gathering of tourists. And so, Roma thinks “what else to eat” from the assortment of “sea reptiles”.
Having had our fill, we set off to explore the city. We started with the embankment and the fort. A cat greeted us on the embankment
Then, we appreciated the marine fauna laid out on the window of another cafe
And as a logical conclusion to the animal theme, we met a pink pelican! The pelican proudly walked along the embankment, very willingly posed for the crowd with cameras, and then dined on sea bass, which some guy from a cafe fed him (we decided that the pelican acquired its color due to regular eating of red groupers)
The embankment is like an embankment - a bunch of moored boats
among which there were very original specimens
photographing all sorts of things
got to the fort
The harbor fort was built by the Lusignans to protect the city from attacks from the sea. However, at one time, the Turks managed to take Paphos without much difficulty and subsequently turned the fort into a prison.
Having wandered around near the fort, we went to look at the ruins of the old city dating back to the 3rd century AD.
The entrance to the national park, according to Cypriot tradition, was guarded by a cat
a lighthouse peeked through the trees
the ruins themselves are completely unremarkable; there are much nicer ones in the world
and the bathhouse, in general, looks like a remake
but the lighthouse was pleasing to the eye
and people tried to take pictures against his background
and there were also perfectly preserved mosaics dating back to the 3rd century AD.
at the beginning of our era, these symbols coexisted quite peacefully
and finally, a panorama of the excavations
and again the lighthouse
I also encouraged people to go and inspect the object called the “tombs of the kings,” but my companions did not succumb to my evil insinuations and we went to look for shelter for the remaining nights. Finding shelter didn’t take much time, just a few circles around the “hotel area”, and there were places in the second hotel we went to, but walking around this area turned out to be much easier than driving, due to the lack of opportunity to turn around.
Throwing things in this building
tried to solve another problem: the gas tank was howling from hunger, and where we stopped there was not even a hint of a gas station. The vague explanations of the local residents also did not give results, the gas stations were not indicated in the telephone message, we had to lift the computer with its program where the gas stations were, the computer was difficult to lift, then even more difficult, with the remaining drops of gasoline, we made our way along goat paths to the only one in the area refueling Finally, having filled the inside of the machine, we went to the hotel and fell into the pool.
Apparently the swim replenished the strength we had previously expended, and as it got dark and colder, Lida and I went for a walk around the neighborhood.
First we met him:
then along the path, in the cat-colored darkness, they came to the embankment and stomped along it until they got tired of it. We're tired of some tatty hotel with such a portico on the roof.
Having passed through the territory of these “five stars”, we appreciated the local swimming pool with a bar counter
and went to bed.
“Petra tou Romiou” is the name of the rock by the sea, next to which, according to legend, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, was born. This place is located 25 km east of Paphos on the main road leading from Paphos to Limassol.
This is a fairly large round boulder that lies at shallow depths near the shore. The waves splash against the stone and, breaking, run towards the sand like white lambs. On both sides stretch golden sandy beaches with rare stones and rocks. The azure sky reflects the sun and crystal sky. This is an amazingly beautiful place.
The charming Aphrodite left dozens of memorable testimonies in Cyprus. The Baths of Aphrodite in Polis and the “Fontana Amorosa” - “Fountain of Love” are also an echo of her appearance on the island of Cyprus. In the village of Kouklia, 14 km from Paphos, are the remains of the earliest Sanctuary of this beautiful goddess. Beauty and love know no boundaries - Aphrodite turned the entire island into her sanctuary, giving Cyprus the mythical glory of the island of love.
"Petra tou Romiou" is translated from Greek as "Greek's stone." The rock received this name in honor of the Byzantine Greek Digenis, a national Greek hero. One of the legends says: when the Saracens attacked the island and besieged Kourion, Digenis decided to train every day in order to kill as many hated enemies as possible in the decisive battle. He chose a simple and ingenuous method - every day he threw stone blocks at the invaders from the fortress wall. They say he achieved great skill in this.
However, more romantic, of course, is the legend about Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty and fertility. According to ancient myths, Aphrodite was born from sea foam near the coast of Cyprus, and was brought to land on a stone known as Petra tou Romiou in a beautiful shell by the light breeze of Zephyr. The gods named it as we now know it, since “afrizo” means “foam” in ancient Greek.
Homer says in the Iliad that Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and a water nymph. According to Hesiod's Theogony, its appearance was preceded by more dramatic events. Be that as it may, in ancient times the cult of Aphrodite in Crete was widely known. Evidence of this can be found in the majestic temple in honor of the goddess on the territory of Old Paphos. Unfortunately, with the arrival of the Romans, the cult died out, and the temple began to empty and collapse. Local residents say that under certain weather conditions, the rising waves break and form a kind of water column, which transforms into a column of foam. If you use your imagination a little, then for a moment you can see an ephemeral, disappearing human form.
The birthplace of Aphrodite, despite the name with such a military history, amazes with the beauty and tranquility of the landscape. There are several beliefs associated with this place. In particular, it is believed that if lovers swim in the local waves, they will never part and will love each other until death. Despite such a rosy prospect, for some reason there are few people who want to swim here. In addition, it is believed that anyone who swims past the local cliff at night on a full moon will gain immortality.
Petra tou Romiou is one of the most beautiful places on the entire island. The air here is transparent and clean; the colors are unique, bright, rich; the landscape is magnificent! Here the sense of reality almost disappears; such a gentle, exciting beauty of the landscape seems ephemeral, fragile, like a dream, like a child’s fantasy. Having visited this wonderful place, you will give yourself unforgettable moments of bliss, tranquility, and reverent admiration.
Basic moments
The name “Petra tou Romiou”, which the bay bears, means “rock of the Romans”. This name, like the myth of Aphrodite, is covered in legends. The sea rock next to Petra tou Romiou is called the Saracen Rock. The main character of the Byzantine poem “Digenis Akrit” was born from the union of a Syrian emir who converted to Christianity and the daughter of a Greek, a Roman strategist. His name Digenis is translated from Greek as “twice-born.” When the Saracen pirates tried to invade Cyprus, Digenis threw a huge rock onto them from the top of the Troodos. She fell into the sea, where she still lies.
The sea near Aphrodite's Rock is usually choppy, so tourists are not recommended to swim far. Most vacationers limit themselves to swimming next to the Greek Stone, which protrudes from the sea in shallow water. It should be taken into account that the bottom of the bay is rocky, so it is better to swim here with shoes. It is prohibited to climb onto the kekur itself.
You can visit Aphrodite's rock at any time. The parking lot is located on the opposite side of the road from the sea. So that tourists can safely get to the seashore, a passage has been made under the highway. Near the parking lot there is a restaurant, a shower and a souvenir shop for holidaymakers.
The myth of the birth of Aphrodite
According to Greek mythology, the birth of the goddess Aphrodite was very unusual. Her mother, the earth goddess Gaia, no longer wanting to put up with the betrayals of her husband Uranus, turned to her son Kronos for help. He castrated Uranus with a sickle and threw his genitals into the sea. From the drops of blood that fell into the sea water, snow-white foam formed, and from it the beautiful Aphrodite was born. The goddess's name itself comes from the Greek word "ἀφρός", meaning foam.
The goddess Aphrodite emerged from the sea naked, standing on a shell. In ancient times, the shell symbolized the vulva. When the young goddess reached the coast and set foot on the ground, flowers began to appear in the place of her steps, grass began to grow, and the air was full of wonderful smells. On the shore, Aphrodite was met by the goddesses of the seasons - Ora, who were in charge of order in nature. They dressed Aphrodite in clothes embroidered with gold, and placed a fragrant wreath on her head.
According to legend, the part of the sea where the young goddess emerged from the foam is marked by a special stone - the “Romean Rock” or “Aphrodite’s Rock”. The plot of the birth of the goddess is reflected in vase paintings, wall paintings, sculpture and painting. The works of such famous artists as Sandro Botticelli, Titian, Rubens, Ingres, Gustav Moreau and Pablo Picasso are dedicated to the ancient myth.
Cult of Aphrodite
The veneration of the goddess of love arose in Cyprus in the pre-Christian era. Cypriots believe that after her birth, Aphrodite began to live in Pala Paphos, and the locals built a beautiful temple in her honor.
Cyprus is still called the island of love. Every year at the beginning of autumn, the international Aphrodite Opera Festival is held in the medieval castle of Paphos. Performances and concerts take place on the square in front of the castle. The festival program features troupes from the best opera houses in the world, who perform works by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Jacques Offenbach, Georges Bizet and Mozart.
How to get there
Aphrodite's Rock is located in the bay of Petra tou Romiou, located between Limassol and Paphos. Tourists come to the bay along the B6 highway, which connects these two Cypriot cities. The distance from Paphos to Petra tou Romiou is 15 km. You can get here by taxi, rented car or as part of a sightseeing tour.