DESTINATIONS — GREECE & CYPRUS
DESTINATIONS ALSO IN
AFRICA PAGE 57
BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS
I
’m told that if I take off my clothes and swim around the middle rock three times, legend says I’ll stay young and beautiful forever. A tempting offer, perhaps, but from my
vantage point on the rugged coast of southwest Cyprus, I’m far too transfixed by the fiery sunset behind Petra tou Romiou – the place where Aphrodite is said to have emerged fully grown from the waves – to consider skinny dipping. Then again, while the goddess of love and beauty might not have graced me with eternal youth, she has certainly bestowed her gifts on this charming Mediterranean isle. Sure, the pace of change – like the pace of
life here – is slower than in some destinations, but that doesn’t mean Paphos isn’t reinventing itself to stay ahead of the game. Amid the new hotels, old hotels in new guises, a state-of-the- art golf course and a fresh burst of arty energy in the run-up to becoming European Capital of Culture 2017, Paphos is emerging from the country’s financial troubles with a bright future. And speaking of the future, I might give second thoughts to that swim…
Paphos is more than just sun and sea, finds Katie McGonagle
l ANCIENT TREASURE It might not seem like it now, but this little island has been at the heart of Europe’s history for centuries. As well as being the most important centre of worship for the goddess Aphrodite, its copper reserves were the equivalent of the Middle East’s oil deposits today – so important in fact, that the word ‘copper’ comes from the Latin word for Cyprus – and these rich natural resources meant it was settled by the Persians, Greeks, Ptolemies and Romans, and that’s all before we even reach the Middle Ages.
11 December 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 49
GREECE & CYPRUS
travelweekly.co.uk/destinations
PICTURES: CYPRUS TOURISMORGANISATION/ST GERARDI
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