Hello! Today we departed from our hotel in Limassol to visit Paphos and check into our other hotel in the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia. On the way to Paphos, we stopped at the famous site, Aphrodite’s Rock. On the bus ride there our tour guide spoke to us about some of the mythology surrounding the goddess. It was said that Aphrodite was born on the coast of Paphos by the rock, after the union between the sea and sky happened. When she emerged she was dressed by Nymphs and adorned with a necklace of pearls. While she was going to Mount Olympus, to be presented to the gods, her necklace of pearls broke. Today, the small islands surrounding Greece, are called the pearls of the Aegean sea, after this story. When we arrived at the rock, I could see why people believed that Aphrodite was born there. It was extremely beautiful and I included a few pictures below!
After Aphrodite’s Rock, we moved onward towards the archeological site at Paphos. We were able to see ancient mosaics ranging from the Hellenistic period, up until the Roman times in the site called the House of Dionysus. The Hellenistic mosaics which depicted a sea monster, only used black and white stones from the sea. The Scylla monster’s 5 dog heads and scaly body were able to be seen only from these two shades! Moving on, we learned that the site gained its name from the man who commissioned the mosaics in his home. He was a wealthy wine producer, and wanted to give homage to his profession and the god of wine, Dionysus or Bacchus in Latin. This was evident in the main room of the house which depicted a vineyard and Dionysus’s discovery of the grape vine. As we moved on to the Roman style mosaics, we saw that they became more ornate with scenes from mythology and intricate geometric patterns. Darker shades of blue and green were made of glass, while some of the lighter shades were made of natural stone fashioned in the vision of the artist or painted. Pictured below is one of the mosaics depicting Narcissus. In mythology, he was so consumed with his own image that he drowned himself. This story teaches us to not be prideful and to appreciate other people.
After seeing the mosaics, we got free time to explore Paphos. My group spent most of our time getting lunch and shopping. I was surprised to hear a lot of English in Paphos, compared to some other parts of Cyprus. I wonder if the British presence was stronger here, or if Paphos is just a very popular touristy part of the island. Additionally, we had a really long lunch. Our waiter encouraged us to enjoy ourselves and talk a long time eating. This is very unlike America, and I appreciated the time to relax and enjoy some sun! I can’t wait to explore Nicosia tomorrow!