Introducing Aphrodite Of Cyprus – her birthplace and main temple at palaepafos, Cyprus.

Blessed by nature and its gods, the island of Cyprus was the place that gave birth to a Mother Goddess who played a leading role in the life of its people already from the Chalcolithic Age, circa 3500 B.C. down to late antiquity. As archaeological evidence has shown, the inhabitants of ancient Pafos worshiped a great goddess who was associated with fertility. During our virtual tour, we are going to meet this great goddess of ancient Cyprus, whose memory managed to survive well into today’s place names and Festivals.

Our first stop will be in the area of Petra tou Romiou, the mythical birthplace of goddess Aphrodite. The wider sea area of Petra tou Romiou on the southwest coast of Cyprus in the District of Paphos is considered by geo-scientists nowadays to be the point of collision of the African and the Eurasian lithosphere and the point of emergence of Cyprus from the sea. It is probably no coincidence that mythology places the emergence of the goddess Aphrodite at this very same site, only a few kilometers to the southeast of Palaepafos where ancient Cypriots worshiped their great goddess.

Continuing next, we will meet the great goddess of Cyprus at the remains of her megalithic temple at Palaepafos (today’s Kouklia village) where, as archaeological evidence has shown, since the 17th century BC the inhabitants of the area worshiped a female divinity with a diverse character who protected every aspect of their life. As epigraphic evidence has shown, before she was named Aphrodite, probably sometime after the 4th century BC, she was known as Anassa, as Paphian, as Theos and as Kypris.

Finally we will follow Aphrodite’s steps in time, starting with her cult during the 2nd millennium BC, when this local goddess of the island was deeply influenced by the religions of the Near East. Next, during the 12th century BC, encountering the Greeks, she acquired some of her Aegean characteristics and later, when she merged with the Syrian Astarte her Phoenician elements. As epigraphic evidence show, after the 4th century BC she was completely hellenized and climbed Mount Olympus to be the goddess of beauty and love of the Greek Mythology, with the tantalizing stories of her life having been a source of inspiration for poets and artists throughout the world ever since.