Aphrodite Hills is a coastal resort in the Paphos district, Cyprus.
The resort is built on two elevated plateaus divided by a natural ravine. The resort has many features of a Mediterranean town; Greco-Roman architecture dominates, locally quarried stone is used in buildings and the town square has a market, restaurants, souvenir shops, a chapel, fragrant gardens, splashing fountains and an art gallery. The resort also has a spa, golf course, and leisure facilities.[1] Nearly all landscaping vegetation and development has been planned in advance, and therefore the resort is spacious and lacks the typical sprawl and density of most villages in Cyprus.
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The spa is built in a classic Greco-Roman style and enhanced by the Thermae. The spa was named in the world’s top 10 by Condé Nast Traveller.[2]
The 18-hole golf course (230 –hectare) is of championship standard.[3] Most of the holes have views over the Meditaranean. Its 7th hole has become a talking point among golfers worldwide. Golfers, golf clubs, and landscape designers have ranked it as among the very finest courses in Europe."[4]
The majority of tourists who visit Aphrodite Hills are culture seeking tourists who want more than "sea sun and sand".
Aphrodite Hills hosts West End shows, festivities, cultural events, and other plays. West End classics, including, Mamma Mia, Saturday Night Fever, and other shows which feature original choreography, songs and costumes.
Aphrodite Hills is named after the goddess Aphrodite and the resort is only one mile away from Aphrodite's Rock.
Aphrodite Hills and the surrounding areas are some of the most scenic and cinematic in the Mediterranean. Scenes from Panicos Chrysanthous’s Akamas and scenes from Alexia Roider's Styx were filmed nearby. There are plans for a feature film to be shot entirely in the Aphrodite Hills resort area. Three Short documentary / commercial videos have been produced promoting the resort.[5]
Savvas pottery, (where tourists can make their own pots and ornaments) Oleastro olive mill, Cyprus wine museum which has hundreds of varieties of Cypriot wine and many tavernas which play live Cypriot music. There is also a small art gallery in the village square.
There are multi purpose courts and training facilities which attract sports teams from across Europe. Sports facilities include tennis, water sports, scuba-diving, mountain biking, horseback riding, jogging and hill walking through nature trails.
The resort uses over a million tones of water, more than all the villages in the district combined.[6]
It is the most costly village in Cyprus in terms of upkeep and development per resident, nearby villages are neglected and receive little finance for restoration or renovation of traditional houses.
There are accessibility and transport problems and there is a heavy reliance on cars, The beach and other attractions are not in walking distance. There have been attempts to improve this including a free hourly shuttle service.[7]
According to some tourists, Aphrodite Hills lacks life, it lacks the bustle and activity of other nearby villages, although cultural events have been scheduled and the resort as of 2010 will see more activity.
Despite the scale of the project and its awards, there is little knowledge of the resort both in Europe and even in Cyprus itself.
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