Cyprus:
Aphrodite's Island

By Denise Mpinga - Locked in the dusty chronicles of English medieval history lies a tragic account of a violent shipwreck off the island of Aphrodite: Three ships wrecked. Hundreds drowned. King Richard the Lionheart’s royal seal lost forever in the Mediterranean’s deep blue waters.

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

This isn’t some unsubstantiated myth, occurring somewhere on an island famed for its worship of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Rather, it’s a tale that takes place during the Crusades, featuring heroic prisoners, an epic battle and the miraculous recovery of the king’s seal. It all ends like a romantic fairytale—surely one that Aphrodite orchestrates—with the wedding of King Richard to the beautiful Berengaria.

So, here I am, standing at a lookout tower in the very castle where King Richard’s royal wedding took place more than 800 years ago in the city of Lemesos on the island of Aphrodite, better known today as Cyprus. Palm trees, narrow winding roads, the minaret of a mosque and the dome of a Greek Orthodox church stretch before me. My Cypriot friend Oriana is acting as my unofficial tour guide and gives me yet another piece of mind-numbing information about all the people who have conquered her tiny island—Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Lusignans, Ottomans, and the British, to name a few.

“Everyone has been here,” she says, laughing. “We’re always in the way. Everyone seems to land in Cyprus by accident, always after a storm, it seems.” Not me, I think. I’m not here by accident. I’m here for a mini-college reunion with my friends, Oriana and Adonis, whom I met in a Texas university, of all places. After graduation, Oriana spent years trying to entice me to visit by showing me fancy picture books of medieval castles, ancient Greek and Roman ruins and beautiful Mediterranean resorts.

What finally made me decide to visit Cyprus was the fact that I wanted to visit a Greek-speaking island and take a cruise to Egypt to see the Giza Pyramids. Cyprus is perfectly situated geographically at the crossroads of East and West. It’s off the beaten path for most North American travelers and is best visited as a side-trip from Europe. As the third largest island in the Mediterranean, Cyprus is an arm’s throw away from Greece, Egypt, Turkey and Israel.

Lemesos, the place where King Richard the LionHeart got married, is a great place to start any visit to Cyprus. I made it my home base as I explored some of Cyprus’ best-known tourist attractions—the ruins of ancient Kourion and the Sanctuary of Apollon Ylatis.

Arriving at ancient Kourion, it’s obvious the early settlers who chose to live here permanently around the 13th century B.C. had a great eye for real estate. Kourion’s amphitheater is perched high on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean and is a popular entertainment venue where concerts and plays are often held.

The Sanctuary of Apollon Ylatis, about a mile west of Kourion, heightened my sense of Cyprus’ history even more. This is a must on any itinerary. An earthquake destroyed the original complex in 365 A.D. The sanctuary was established in the 8th century in honor of Apollo, god of the woods. It includes the ruins of an arena, baths and dormitories, which are fun to clamber through.

A 30-minute drive from Lemesos is the laid-back coastal town of Pafos. With its 40,000 residents, Pafos is compact enough to get acquainted with fairly quickly. Small beach resorts, the proximity of the Akamas Peninsula wilderness and the nearby Troodos mountain villages with beautiful monasteries lured us to this place. Pafos’ whitewashed villas, bordered by bougainvilleas bursting with orange, red and pink flowers, also make the town a perfect summer getaway. Mountains frame the town on one side, the cobalt blue sea on the other. Just like a postcard. No wonder Cypriots made it their capital during Greek and Roman times.