
The Birthplace of Aphrodite is one of the most beautiful beaches near the city of Pafos, where locals can enjoy swimming with their families. In the water one can see the enormous rock where legend says Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, was born from the ocean.
In the myth of Aphrodite’s birth, the beautiful Goddess of Love emerges naked from the water around Cyprus. She had just been created from the foam of the sea caused by Cronus castrating his father Uranus and throwing his genitals into the water. Although Aphrodite had originally begun drifting towards the Greek island of Cythera, the wind blew her towards her spiritual home near Pafos.
According to local legend, it was on this particular beach – near the temple built at Palaipafos (Old Pafos) to worship her, as early as the Bronze Age, that she arrived, and this is why it is now known as the Birthplace of Aphrodite.
The visit here isn’t really about a day on the beach. It’s more for snapping the most famous seascape on the island.
Just offshore from the beach sit the jagged rock formations of Petra tou Romiou (known in English as Aphrodite’s Rock). According to local legend, this is where the Greek goddess Aphrodite first emerged from the sea.
The beach itself is a tiny horseshoe bay of sand and shingle that is a good swimming spot.
The location, 26 kilometers southeast of Paphos and 45 kilometers west of Limassol, makes this an excellent stop-off point on the scenic coastal route between towns.
Aphrodite’s Beach is particularly popular for sunset photos, so you’ll find the beach, and the lookout point on the cliff above, most crowded around that time of day.