Aphrodite’s Rock (also known as Petra tou Romiou) is one of Cyprus’s most iconic landmarks.
It is located along the island’s southwest coast, about 25 km from the city of Paphos, and its fame is inextricably linked to the Greek myth of the birth of the goddess of love, Aphrodite.
According to the legend recounted by Hesiod in “Theogony,” the rock marks the exact spot where Aphrodite emerged from the sea foam.
The Theogony is an epic-mythological poem on the genealogy of the Greek deities and is considered one of the foundational texts of Greek civilization.
The myth tells that the Titan Cronus castrated his father Uranus (the Sky) and threw his genitals into the sea. From the foam (afros) generated by the contact of the divine blood with the salt water, the goddess was born.
In addition to Greek myth, the place is also called Petra tou Romiou.
The name means “Rock of the Greek” and derives from another medieval legend. It is said that the Byzantine hero Digenis Akritas hurled enormous boulders (the present-day rocks) at the Saracen invaders to protect the island.
A popular belief holds that whoever swims around the rock three times (preferably at midnight and during a full moon) will be granted eternal beauty or rejuvenation.
