mediterranean, greece, cyprus, travel

Hilarion Castle (Photos used with permission from Cyprus Tourism Organization and Oriana Mourides.)

From the royal apartments, which we reach by climbing steep, worn steps, we look down on the overgrown garden and try to imagine how it looked all spruced up during the castle’s more majestic times. At this height, we can even see the Taurus Mountains in Turkey, some 60 miles away across the Mediterranean Sea. We eye Prince John’s tower, located at the convergence of three steep precipices. There’s so much to explore: stables, a church, courtyards, kitchen, basements, hallways, chambers, and ramparts.

As we make our way down the steps, my friends point to a castle a few miles down the mountain range and unlock another romantic tale about star-crossed lovers whose romance ended in tragedy. My friends point out Kantara Castle, where one of Kyrenia’s queens kept Arodafnousa, a beautiful peasant girl who the king loved. Arodafnousa became pregnant, just as the king left to fight in the Holy Land. The queen waited until the king was safely away, then locked Arodafnousa in the castle and starved her to death.

“The flowers seen everywhere here in Cyprus are named after her—Arodafnes,” Oriana explains.

My last day in Cyprus ends with a tale of romance, and with this fitting farewell, I say goodbye to Aphrodite’s island.