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To the North of Paphos, just off the road to Polis, you can find Evretou; the valley, the village and the dam.  It is a place where you can easily while away several hours exploring and discovering an array of delights… 

There are two ways of reaching the dam; take a right turn signposted ‘Simou, Lasa & Fyti’ or just below the village of Simou there is a left turn signposted ‘Skarfos Bridge’ - follow the part concrete / part gravel road that winds down the valley and discover the remains of this lovely Venetian bridge.  Built in 1618, it is 2.75m wide and 8.5m long and was built with pebbles and limestone blocks hewn from the river bed.  The river has long been diverted but the road over the bridge was the main thoroughfare between Paphos and Polis in medieval times and was used for transporting copper after which cyprus is named.

If you traverse the modern bridge downstream, bear left and approx 200m further on you will come to the ancient watermill situated above a citrus grove – another beautiful photo opportunity!  Backtrack a little and look for the sign to the dam and follow the track until you see water.  It is best to park and wander to really discover things.  The abandoned Turkish Cypriot village of Evretou is now home to numerous goats but it still makes fascinating strolling.  To circumnavigate the dam would take several hours and you would need to ensure plentiful supplies of drinking water and sun protection. 

Many species of flowers & flora can be found around here including some of the more rare orchids.  It is also a bird watchers paradise and recent sightings have included Storks and Bonelli’s Eagles to name a couple.  If fishing is your thing, then grab a rod and a licence (obtainable from the Harbourmasters Office in Paphos or Latchi) and try your luck catching bass, zander, carp, roach, bream and catfish!

The other approach to the dam and one that gives a totally different perspective of the valley is a little further along the Polis road in the village of Skoulli.  Here, there is a right hand turn signposted ‘Peristerona and Lysos’. A kilometre or so up this road and you will see the Evretou Dam signpost.  Follow the road through to it’s end and you will find yourself at the dam wall.  Although you can’t wander very far unless you have rugged shoes on, it is very picturesque and worth the trip, especially if you are exploring the area.  Have fun and explore Evretou, valley, village and dam.

Established in the 1970s as a subsidiary company of Louis Plc and quoted on the cyprus Stock Exchange , Louis Cruise Lines is one of the most recognised and respected cyprus-based shipping companies. It operates cruises from cyprus, France and Italy - as well as Greece under the name Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines. It also charters several ships to Thomson Cruises and Transocean Tours. The fleet includes the SS The Emerald - the last ocean liner built in the United States still in service.

With a fleet of 14 cruise ships, the company serves destinations across the Mediterranean and North Africa, the Holy Land, Continue Reading »

The Paphos region in the west of cyprus is a popular year-round destination for holidaymakers and permanent residents alike. Its healthy ‘micro climate’ makes it an ideal location to enjoy the best of what cyprus has to offer.

Just twenty five minutes from Paphos International Airport,  the ‘old town’ area has a selection of shops, banks, bars and restaurants – extending towards the palm tree lined promenade of Kato Paphos which hugs the edge of the Mediterranean and the historic fort at the mouth of the picturesque harbour.

The attraction of the wider area is much more than this traditional tourist ‘hotspot’ – you only have to travel about 12kms west of Paphos to the Coral Bay area to discover a landscape and coastline of increasing contrasts and stark beauty.

Coral Bay, with its horse-shoe shaped sandy beach, is a delightful resort renowned for its superb sandy beaches and calm shallow waters. Away from this idyllic setting, the coastline is dotted with strange rock formations and Sea Caves steeped with folklore. In common with much of the Paphos region, this was once a rural and barren land which has changed dramatically during recent years.

The Sea Caves area is situated north and is only a five minute drive from the restaurants and bars of the centre of Coral Bay. It is one of the finest residential areas on the island offering some of the most exclusive villas in cyprus but still retaining its ‘natural’ beauty and privacy. This is hardly surprising considering the breathtaking rugged coastline dotted with ancient smugglers caves and small sandy coves with crystal clear Mediterranean waters that lie close by. The name is derived from the stunning geological formations which have appeared across the centuries caused by the sea gouging out the limestone cliffs.

Just to the west of Sea Caves along the coastline is the small picture-postcard fishing harbour of St George (Agios Georgious) with its beautiful church and sand and shingle beach. This is a perfect spot for snorkeling and scuba Diving or topping up your tan. Agios Georgious was formerly the important settlement of  ‘Drepanum’ in Roman times. Today it has some of the best fish restaurants in the island, serving fish brought in by the local fishermen on a daily basis.

Important Roman and Christian archaeological sites also lie just inland from here including a complex of rock-cut tombs that go un-noticed by most visitors.

As the coastline of cyprus is protected and there are no private beaches, you are free to walk along the coastline and enjoy the landscape and breathtaking views. Right on your doorstep is the Akamas Peninsula, totally unspoilt, beautiful scenery, somewhere to escape to for peace & quiet. Just off the coast is the ‘Sacred Island’ of Yerosissos which plays a great part in many photos of the spectacular sunsets!

The whole area invites exploration – and not just of the typical, tourist type trail of looking at ancient monuments and relics in museums. The history of cyprus as an island is unapologetically linked to its maritime and Mediterranean heritage. So a good place to start the voyage of fresh discovery is the sea itself. Diving and snorkelling is the key to unlocking the adventure. If you’re not experienced, expert help is available from the professional organisers of Diving and kayaking trips who operate in the area. They can guide you through the essentials to ensure both your safety as well as your enjoyment of the experience.

Starting from the shallows, you can work your way through sand dunes and channels. Ancient terracotta pots lie everywhere!

The classic Sea Caves tour is very popular. After driving a short distance to a secluded natural bay, you go through some of the ‘basics for beginners ’. This is to ensure that everybody can control their boat safely whilst having fun - so the routine is to put you through a series of ‘fun’ games and challenges to test your boat control and eagerness to get wet!  The tour can then begin.

Leaving the bay, you head along the rocky coast to an area of amazing limestone erosion that has formed stacks and arches; you paddle through and it’s here that you can try your luck in the  ‘Washing Machine’ a deceptive rotational current that will have you pointing every direction but forwards!

From here you paddle on to the Sea Caves - an impressive series of wet caves an average of 30 meters long - and paddle inside these to explore their physical features which give the caves their names, so you can visit ‘Jonah’, ‘Purple Haze’, ‘Standing Room Only’ and ‘The Big One’, to name a few. Note that these caves are only accessible by kayak so being part of an organised group is absolutely essential, besides which you will have them all to yourself! 

The crystal blue sea and the peculiar rock formations are unique to the area – and this is truly a meeting with nature in its most raw and spectacular form. In past times some of the caves have been inhabited by Monk Seals - and some still are.

So, on a routine visit to Paphos, you can enjoy what ‘mainstream’ cyprus has to offer the tourist – plus a whole lot more besides if you take a relatively small step off the beaten track. Simply scratch beneath the surface of modernity and let your senses touch the fabric of antiquity, preserved so dutifully by nature and protected from the ravages of human intervention by an uncompromising land and seascape.

Hestia Holidays have a superb property available for renting right in the heart of the Sea Caves Area, click on the word ‘Sea Caves’ anywhere in this article to see more details.

When they think of cyprus, most people think of it as an island – which it is. They also perhaps think of the lively night life and club scene of agia napa – which there is. cyprus also tends to be associated with long stretches of clean sandy beaches basking in the sunshine of the Eastern Mediterranean – which is also true.

It is also the destination of choice for many thousands of British people who have bought their own apartment or villa on the island either as a holiday home or for permanent living. As a former British colony, cyprus today reflects many aspects of this more recent heritage – English is widely spoken, there are dual language street names and you drive on the left hand side of the road!  

Yet cyprus and its heritage goes back into antiquity and mythology. Apart from its association with a host of invading and ruling powers across the centuries, it is also the reputed birthplace of Aphrodite, the mythical goddess of love. Aphrodite’s rock is the name assigned to a rock which juts out from the waters of the Mediterranean Sea near Paphos in the west of the country.

Although cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, it has a scattering of tiny islands off its own coastline. These in turn have their own heritage and reputation carried through to the modern day. One of these places is the small island of Yeronissos, just off the coast of Agios Georgious, near Peyia in Paphos. Only a few decades before Christ, pilgrims flocked here to worship an ancient god, probably Apollo, and enjoy banqueting. This island is also known as the ‘Sacred Island’ and today is a popular dive site for many active visitors to cyprus.

Archaeologists from New York University under the direction of Professor Joan Breton Connelly digging on the southern coast of the island have discovered open-air kitchen and washing-up facilities facing out to the sea, while the dining rooms, equipped with sitting benches seemed to be located inland, according to a report published in 2005.
 

The report also said that south of a diagonal wall a hearth and many cooking pots were found, along with a washing basin at floor level, made of re-used broken amphora shards smeared with a thick baked clay lining.

Built up against and respecting the diagonal wall were found a series of substantial stone rubble walls, oriented along north/south and east/west axes, apparently representing a very slightly later phase in construction and defining a series of rooms measuring roughly 4.5 by 4.5 metre.

Two of the rooms were equipped with stone platforms that rose some 40cm above floor level. The area surrounding these platforms or benches was literally filled with pottery, lamps, and other objects.

In a nearby room two stone slabs were inscribed with the Greek monogram Eta Gamma, around which many pots were similarly deposited.

The 2005 season on Yeronissos resulted in the excavation of many cooking pots, drinking bowls and cups, jugs and lagynoi, stone pierced disks, bronze needles, a bronze fish hook and three limestone amulets.

The material recovered during previous seasons can be comfortably dated within the years 80-30 BC, but an even narrow chronology is likely and it is during the third quarter of the 1st century BC that the island enjoyed its most robust period of activity. The precise nature of activity in late Hellenistic Yeronissos is not yet fully understood, though evidence points to the worship of Apollo.

These remarkable discoveries are firm evidence that cyprus is rooted in the very essence of ancient civilisation - and the sometimes mystical attachments our current knowledge has of where the modern island has come from in its heritage trail.

The Yeronissos Island is regularly captured and plays an important role as part of the perfect sunset enjoyed from Agios Georgious…

Anyone who has ever visited cyprus is almost bound to heap a whole load of superlatives upon the island in trying to describe where they have been, what they have seen - and why they want to come back for more!

When it comes to the natural environment, you will certainly be spoilt for choice when searching for the true beauty of what cyprus has to offer.  Nowhere is this more so than in the Akamas area on the north western tip of the island, where nature maintains a unique but fragile beauty. Unique, as it is the last coastal region on the island to remain largely untouched by mass tourism and development. Fragile, as its beauty can be damaged by its attraction to the visitor.  Continue Reading »

What makes a tourist attraction a tourist attraction? This question is possibly a permanent item on the agenda of national tourist organisations the world over – and in cyprus the issue is probably much the same.

The island’s very existence is rooted in ancient civilisation and mythology. Paphos is a prime example. St.Paul’s pillar within the compound of the church of Chrysopolitissa is where, by tradition, Saint Paul was flogged. A few kilometers from the main town is Aphrodite’s Rock, which juts out of the Mediterranean Sea at the spot where Aphrodite, the mythological goddess of love is said to have emerged from the sea in 1200BC.

People come from across the world to visit these locations – yet more recent events have added to the interest value of visiting Paphos. One such object - of nautical attention - can be seen whilst traveling along the main Paphos to Coral Bay Road.

On 23 March 1998, the Honduran-flagged M/V Demetrios II ran aground off Paphos Lighthouse, close to Chloraka Village, in heavy seas during a voyage from Greece to Syria with a cargo of timber.
When the accident took place, the ship had eight crew members - four Greeks, two Pakistanis and two Syrians. The crew were rescued and airlifted to the safety of Paphos by a British Military Helicopter.

At the time of the incident, reports in the English-language newspaper  ‘The cyprus Mail’ stated that seafarers certificates issued for some of the crew of the cargo ship were forged - confirmed in a report appearing in Lloyds List that the competency certificates issued for the Greek captain and the Pakistani first officer were “high-quality” Liberian fakes.
The Demetrios II was left stranded on rocks near the Paphos lighthouse, where it remains to this day – a fascinating landmark and an item of noteworthy interest!

One of the great joys of getting away from it all and visiting a sun-soaked island like cyprus is that you also have a chance to get away from your comfort zone, explore new places and get to know more about a culture that goes back thousands of years.

This particular culture includes the longstanding tradition of wine-making. How often do we really think about where our bottle of wine actually comes from when we pick up the latest bargain from the supermarket or the off licence? Not very often perhaps? So why not take advantage of the opportunity to fill this gap in your knowledge and get even more satisfaction from your stay in cyprus? Continue Reading »

The castle of Kolossi, also known as Kulas, is one of the most important extant fortification works in cyprus from the era of Frankish domination and is directly linked to important events of the history of cyprus. The most important of these being the conquest of the island by Richard Coeur-de-lion (Richard the Lionheart of England) and later on by the Knights Templar and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitallers).

Kolossi Castle is a fine example of military architecture originally constructed in the 13th century and subsequently rebuilt in its present form in the middle of the 15th century. It served first as the Grand Commandery of the Knights Templar and, after the fall of Acre in 1291, for some years as the headquarters of the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

Kolossi and its castle are directly connected with several key events in the tempestuous history of cyprus. In 1191 Richard the Lionheart of England conquered cyprus after it had been ruled by Isaac Commenus. Isaac Comnenus was the Byzantine Continue Reading »

Horseracing is not something that immediately springs to mind when you think of cyprus – an island more commonly associated with ancient ruins, watersports, sunbathing and clubbing in agia napa. However, cyprus is a wonderful place of contrasts and genuinely has a wide variety of attractions and recreational pursuits to offer the tourist and permanent resident alike. An intriguing part of this menu of delights is the Continue Reading »

Think of a country – cyprus. Now think of a beer – keo !

Yes, cyprus may be known for its sun-drenched beaches and vibrant nightlife scene – but enduring memories of a holiday spent in a hotel or rented luxury villa are easily spiced with the sights, sounds - and especially the tastes - of this island paradise in the Eastern Mediterranean.

When you’re back home thousands of miles away, just the mention of that cyprus Continue Reading »