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Aphrodite’s Rock (Petra tou Romiou)

Aphrodite’s birthplace according to legend — a question from exam preparation

Local name: Πέτρα του Ρωμιού

Collection: Cyprus Basics Exam · Cyprus · Open in OpenStreetMap

The story

Petra tou Romiou is a group of large white limestone blocks right at the water’s edge on the coast of Paphos District, on the land of the community of Kouklia. According to Hesiod, Aphrodite was born from the sea foam and came ashore in Cyprus, and local tradition points to these very rocks. The name means “the rock of the Greek”, since romios was a word for a Greek. According to one legend, the boulder was hurled by the Byzantine hero Digenis Akritas as he fought off raids on the island. About seven kilometers to the northwest lies ancient Palaepaphos, with one of the main sanctuaries of Aphrodite. Together with New Paphos it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1980. Since 2001 the coast and the hills around it have been a national forest park.

According to myth, Aphrodite rose from the sea foam at Petra tou Romiou, and in exam preparation collections this is the correct answer. The traps are the Baths of Aphrodite, the Adonis trail on Akamas and Avakas Gorge: they are all in Paphos District too, but they are the wrong answer.

Visiting

Admission is free. Park at the tourist pavilion across the road from the rocks; an underpass leads to the shore. Above the pavilion, a Department of Forests trail starts and leads to a viewpoint.

On the way

• Paphos → Troodos
• Paphos → Limassol
• Paphos → Nicosia

Photos

Sources

• Cyprus Department of Antiquities — Palaepaphos (Kouklia), sanctuary of Aphrodite; Palaepaphos and New Paphos on the UNESCO list since 1980
• Cyprus Department of Forests — National Forest Parks (Ε.Δ.Π. Πέτρα του Ρωμιού: 349.2 ha, declared 17/8/2001)
• Deputy Ministry of Tourism (visitcyprus.com) — audio guide “Petra tou Romiou (The Rock of the Greek)”, PDF: limestone, the Digenis legend, Hesiod, the pavilion and the underpass
• Unofficial collection of exam questions: “Η γέννηση της Αφροδίτης στην Κύπρο” (correct answer: Πέτρα του Ρωμιού)

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