Cyprus - Legends and heavy metal

Greek mythology says that Aphrodite was born of sea foam, and the Cypriots claim it happened here, at Petra tou Romiou:

As the legend goes, Cronus cut off Uranus's testicles (yikes!) and threw them into the sea. They stirred up a foam, out of which Aphrodite grew. She washed ashore riding on a seashell.

The name of the beach means "rock of the Greek," which comes from another legend. The Byzantine warrior hero Digenis Akritas defeated invaders by throwing the rock at their ships with his superhuman strength.

There may not be any truth to these legends - I could tell you that the tooth fairy was born under that rock too - but they make for good stories.

Later that day, we visited the ancient city of Kourion. 

There's been a city on the cliff where Kourion was located since probably the beginning of time. I am sure there were neanderthals walking around there at one time. And archaeologists continue to dig up more and more artifacts from past civilizations. Kourion was an ancient city of the Greeks, the Romans, then the early Christians. It survived for about 800 years until earthquakes destroyed it.

The view from Kourion

Mosaic on the floor of a Roman house - 3rd century A.D.

Brian contemplates antiquity at an early Christian church

Unlike Salamis, Kourion had roofs over some of the artifacts, railings and multiple informative signs. This is what some EU funding will do for your archeological site.

Note the railings and boardwalk

Also unlike Salamis, Kourion was recently the venue for a heavy metal concert. I found out as I was reading about Kourion that the metal band Iced Earth played a concert in the amphitheater there last year. Curious about how head banging and Roman ruins fit together? Watch the trailer (it's only 90 seconds long). Apparently Cyprus is a hotbed of heavy metal fans. Who knew?

A pretty cool concert venue

Did the music stir up ghosts of some ancient musicians from Greek times, who were trying to figure out how the music got so loud and what all the head banging was for? Perhaps. It would make a good legend anyway. I just hope there's nothing in there about anyone's body parts being cut off.