Cyprus

CYPRUS

Cyprus,   the birthplace of Afroditi (Venus).  At the site which is known as Petra to Romiou, or Rock of Afroditi, there are several rocks protruding from the sea.  As the sea swell rises and falls, the rocks look like human heads rising up out of the water.  It is easy to see how they can be mistaken for the human form rising from the deep, especially as this coast is often shrouded in  mist in the mornings.  On the top of a cliff, overlooking the rocks, is an ancient temple to the goddess.  She was the goddess of  love and fertility.  Legend has it that barren women came to the temple to ask the goddess for a child.  They were told that to appease the goddess, they would have to sleep with the first passing male they saw.  Many of these women had their prayers answered…..

The western side of the island, where we spent most of our time reminds one of great antiquity.  The rock is a rich cream colour, the same colour as the many ruins that one sees throughout the island.  Added to this, due to the lack of summer rains, is dry grass, only a shade darker than the rock.  Interspersed throughout this are green shrubs and squat trees, forming an intricate jig-saw of cream and green.   Many Pafos mountain villages have been built with this stone and still exude the charm of an earlier age.

In contrast, deep gorges and valleys abound in the Troodos Mountains which are covered in pine forest.  Here, the cooler pine-scented mountain air is a delightful contrast to the heat and humidity we found on the coast.  This is also home to the Cyprus mouflon or agrino, one of the two ancestors of the present day sheep. They were introduced to Cyprus during Neolithic times and gradually evolved into a subspecies which is now only found on Cyprus.  A few of them still survive in the mountain forests and are vigorously protected.

Many Medieval churches and monasteries were built in this area.  They abound with beautiful frescoes and icons.  

The monks carried on the ancient tradition of wine-making, which goes back 5,500 years in Cyprus and one can see the oldest wine-making site of the region at Chrysorrogiatissa Monastery.   The sweet tasting Commandaria wine,  made from dried grapes since 800 BC and still obtainable today, was a favorite drink for the medieval crusaders. They toasted Richard the Lionheart with it when he was married in Lemesos in 1191.  Richard declared that this was “the wine of  kings and the king of wines.”  This wine has the distinction of being the world’s oldest named wine still in production today.

Evidence of many other invaders abound, such as the rich 3^rd century AD mosaics of several Roman villas, the Pafos harbour built by the Phoenicians and the small fort at its entrance built by the Lusignans kings and later modified by the Ottomans as well as the nearby  3^rd century BC tombs, the Tombs of the Kings.

We visited Lefkosia (Nikosia), the capital and saw the “Green Line”.  This is a gross misnomer.  “Green Line”  sounds like a pleasant area of parkland, but sadly, it is the dividing line between the Turkish occupied northern half of Cyprus and the southern Republic of Cyprus.  It is sad to think that in 41 years a solution has not been reached for the island to be reunified, so the city remains divided, both by the ancient Venetian walls which were held during the invasion and by the barbed wire along them……

The city has many lovely old buildings and churches, some very old, with beautiful frescoes and icons. We saw one icon which was 1,200 years old.  

Between our marina at St. Raphael and the town of Lemesos (Limassol)  is the ancient city of Amathounda.  The site is very large and much of it still needs to be excavated. It is very beautiful to pass by at night and see the lit remains of the ancient temple.

Lemesos is situated in a very large bay. The waterfront has been beautified over the last few years with treed parkland, complete with a walkway/bike track and many beach tavernas running for many miles along the waterfront.   We ate at some excellent restaurants while there, serving ‘fusion’ Greek meals.

For us, the highlight of our trip to Cyprus was meeting up with cousins who we do not see often.  We spent much of our time eating, drinking and being merry! 

TURKEY

We checked into Turkey at the little seaside village of Daça. Here we needed a ship’s agent to process the documents, at a cost of 100 euro (in addition to our earlier obtained visa of 200 euro).  It was, however, not a problem.  He kept our documents, processed them and returned them to us at the boat on completion.

We went walking around the town.  It quickly became obvious that we had left Europe. The kiosks along the road were selling produce very different from Europe’s.  There was a lot of dried fruit, many different nuts and now for the first time we saw Sujuk, a sweet made of grape juice and nuts. We were woken at 5a.m. the next morning to the sounds of the Mullah calling the faithful to prayers. It was market day so we set off to explore.  The local streets are transformed into an open air market, with stalls selling a huge variety of fruits and vegetables of excellent quality.  Stallholders were very helpful, however none of them spoke any English.  By pointing and using hand actions,  we managed to get by and returned to the boat loaded with enough produce for a wonderful dinner. 

Temple of venus, Afrodisia

The Daça peninsula stretches for about 100km. into the Aegean Sea.  The southern edge of the peninsula forms a large gulf, known as the Hisarönü Körfezi.  In ancient times this was known as the Gulf of Doris, from whence the Greek work Doric derives. The present Turkish name for the gulf means “Gulf of Fortresses”.  There are many ancient and Medieval fortresses along this coast and nearby is Knidos, the major city of this area in ancient times.  This city was the birthplace of many important people– Praxiteles, the most famous of the Hellenic sculptors, the first astronomer and mathematician, Eudoxos  and Sostratos, who was the architect who designed the lighthouse of Alexandria.  This lighthouse became known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

We were very fortunate to be in the erudite company of Fabio & Marissa who have sailed these waters for 30 years. They have a keen appreciation of the reality that  Greek, and indeed, European civilization had some of it's roots here.

Ancient Hierapolis

From here, we sailed along the southern coast of Turkey, in an area known as the Lycian coast. The coast is studded with beautiful blue bays, rugged mountains and pretty little offshore islands.  One notices the stark difference from the nearby dry Greek islands.  The rainfall on this coast is much higher due to the nearby high mountains and the coast is densely forested, with the tree line dropping right to the water’s edge.

Except for the large and bustling towns of Marmaris, Göcek and Fethiye, only small areas of population are to be found today,  very different from ancient times when this was a very important area and the Lycians were very prosperous.  Numerous ancient sites exist.  We anchored in Ekinçik Liman,  a beautiful bay with a deep, densely forested gorge splitting the mountains behind us. We took a day tripper boat up the Dalyan river. This crosses a large sand bar then meanders through a marshy area . We stopped off at the ancient city of Caunos and took a walk up the hill to see the ruins.  The city was built on high ground, with a commanding view of the ancient port, now at the head of the silted up marshlands.    It was a large centre of trade and the remains of two theatres, temples, an agora and city walls have to date been excavated.

Pamukkale limestone

We also visited Parmukkale where limestone deposits cover half of the ancient city of Hierapolis.

Nearby Afrodisia has a magnificant temple and a museum of outstanding quality.

Senate chamber, Afrodisia

 Remains of a Medieval castle on the top of the highest hill, with its sawtooth battlements, brood over the whole complex.  From here our tripper boat took us past the ancient Lycian hillside tombs which were dotted all over the cliff faces of the nearby mountains.

Lycian cliff tombs

In the large bay of Fethiye is an area called Skopea Limani, with the town of Göcek at its head.  This area is strictly protected and one is not allowed to discharge ANYTHING from boats, including grey water – i.e. shower or dishwashing water. We anchored in a little bay known as Kapi Creek and solved our water discharge problem by having a dinner under the stars with friends, at  the little restaurant at the head of the bay. 

As we sailed into Fethiye, we passed a boat we recognized.  This happened to be someone we had last seen in our own bay in Sydney.  We had a fun, albeit unexpected reunion. That evening we went into the centre of town, to the fish market.  Stalls selling fish in the centre of a large square are surrounded by restaurants.  We bought our fresh fish then took it to one of the many restaurants for them to cook it for us.  They charge a nominal amount to do this, making their profit from the accompaniments and drinks. The evening we went there was the last night of Ramadan and even though it was fairly late in the evening, the area was bustling.  It seems that we were not the only ones out on the town.

We sailed through the narrow strait between Symi and Kaş, in ancient times know as Antiphellos. This town used to be Greek until the population resettlement of 1923. Lycian tombs abound along the coastline. As we sailed into Kekova Roads, we saw the magnificent Medieval castle towering above the small settlement of Kale Köy and along the ridge on either side, large Lycian stone sarcophagi.  Numerous sarcophagi are dotted around the hillsides, some half drowned now due to earthquake movement of the land.  The village itself is built amongst Lycian ruins and within the bay are sunken ruins of the ancient city.  Snorkelling here is a favourite pastime.

Cleaning Carob beans

Kale Koy

Lycian tombs on the ridge

Finike, the ancient city of Phoenicia,  was our last stop in Turkey.  We took a side-trip by car to visit the magnificent archaeological museum of Antalya,

Statue of a dancer, Antalya museum

Statue of Venus, first nude female sculpture, 4th century BC, Antalya museum

Sarcophagus, Antalya museum

Statue of Hercules, Antalya museum

 the restored and very beautiful amphitheatre at Aspendos

Aspendos theatre

and to Cappadocia. Cappadocia would make the perfect setting for Dwarf or Hobbit homes  for a “Lord of the Rings” movie. Huge sandstone chimneys rise up from the  valley floor and into them are dug thousands of caves as dwellings and churches.

Typical Cappadocia "chimneys"

Cappadocia

 From  Byzantine times Greek Orthodox monks inhabited the area and it is thought that up to 1000 lived here at its peak. The area is known as the world’s largest outdoor museum. The churches are decorated with frescoes, some of them quite lovely.

Fresco in cave church

Frescoes in cave church

Cave church, Cappadocia

There are two 7- storey underground cities here, with numerous air-vents and storage cellars. We scrambled around in the tunnels, getting hopelessly lost.  There is electric lighting in them today but what  would it have been like in ancient times?   There are huge round stones used to block the entrances during raids and it is said that the people could survive for up to 6 months underground.  These caves have been inhabited since the time of the Hittites and are still used today, many of them in the small villages having been converted into cave hotels for the hoards of tourists who visit Cappadocia today.

In the underground city

Cappadocia caves

As we drove through the area, we saw large, warehouse sized doors leading  into the hillsides, with numerous (modern) chimneys protruding from the hillside.  We did not manage to ascertain what these caves are being used for. We visited several villages that were Greek until 1923, many with lovely old mansions.  This must have been a rich area in the old days, being on the old camel silk route.  We visited two caravanserais. These are rectangular buildings with high walls and large (camel-sized) gates, in which the people on these ancient caravans would rest the night, leaving their camels outside.  This would afford them safety from bandits. The caravanserais were spaced about 20km. apart, a day’s walk for a camel train.  Several of them have now been sympathetically restored and converted into restaurants, a bit of a change from the roadside stops along our present-day highways!

Entrance to caravanserai

Caravanserai with typical hexagonal central roof

Karpathos and Symi

As predicted, we had fairly strong wind and a confused sea on our trip across the Kassos and Karpathos straits. Our autopilot was not coping, so we hand steered all the way. We anchored just outside the little  port of Karpathos, to the sound of children’s laughter coming from the nearby beach.  We were on our own out there and there were only two other yachts within the little port.  Land tourists were more numerous, as a ferry arrives fairly regularly.  From our deck, we could see the little village of Menetes hanging precariously off the side of the mountain behind us.  We rented a car and drove around the island.  Locals in Menentes told us that the villages was built this way as protection from the regular Arabic, pirate and Saracen raids in the old days. Many other villages in Karpathos are built in similar fashion.  We went to the  little village of Olympos, also hanging precariously off high  hills.

Olympos, Karpathis Island

Olympos, Karpathos Island

 Locals still wear their traditional dress here and the remains of many old windmills can be seen.  This village used to be a centre for wheat milling, now sadly lacking on the island.  Only 556 inhabitants remain. The scenery on Karpathos is beautiful and the island sports fairly high mountains with hair-raising hairpin bends giving access to several  lovely  little beaches.

Time was running out on our EU visas so we left for Symi, our last stop in Greece. Symi is a tiny little island, in a large bay, surrounded on three sides by the Turkish mainland.  It has  a very cute village, tumbling down the hillside to the little port. Interestingly, many colourful neoclassical mansions are to be seen.  These stem from the period of prosperity when Symi was an important way-point, on the main shipping trade route, before the advent of steam ships.  The population of the whole island is just 2,500 souls. At its peak at the end of the 19^th century when Symi was  known for  shipbuilding and sponge diving, the population was 22,000.  We arrived late in the afternoon with the little harbour  filling up fast with charter boats.  We tied up alongside the quay but were asked to move to the opposite side of the harbour.  We did this but were again told to move to the opposite side! After protests, it was agreed that we could stay where we were.  That night we had a delightful dinner with friends on a taverna terrace overlooking the little town.  Excellent food, wine and company – that’s what cruising in the Mediterranean is all about.

Symi Harbour

Panoromitis Monastery, Symi Island

On the southern end of the island, in a beautiful well protected bay, is the famous monastery of Panormitis, which received its current form in 1783A.D.  It has an unusual bell tower which is a mix between Baroque and Renaissance architecture. It is a very large monastery, although just four monks remain.  We woke to the sound of church bells early on Sunday morning and later, the sounds of the Sunday morning service drifted across the water to us.  The church has beautiful frescoes and  the monastery also has a lovely little museum.  In the museum is a room with a desk and old radio station.  We wondered about that was about and were interested to hear that during WWII the monastery was converted into a centre for counterintelligence with a covert radio station.  Sadly when it was found in 1944, the abbot, his steward and the radio operator were executed. 

Kythira and Crete

Kythira turned out to be a surprising little gem.  It is a very small island, with a green interior and fresh water springs.

We anchored in the little port of Kapsali which is a sleepy little fishing village.  We walked the hairpin bends to get to the town of Kythira.  The steep climb was worth it as the view from the top  was magnificent.  In ancient times, they were always defending themselves from pirates, the Saracens and their neighbours and I guess that is why there are so many churches there.  Although the town is very small,  we gave up our church count when we got to 27.

Churches below the Kythira castle

Port of Kastelli from Kythira castle

Kythira castle

We decided to take the bush track up to the town on the following day.  This winds around the base of the large defensive fort built at the top of the hill and approaches the town steeply from the sea.  It is amazing to think that soldiers of old would scale these forts and castles dressed in heavy armor and carrying weapons, while at the same time being shot at with arrows and cannons!  The scary bit of the track for us was an area where we had large hairy spiders actually jump on us.  I was happy when we got through that area. Even though we had to contend with spiders, the view from the track was worth it.

Our first stop in Crete was on the northwestern corner of the island in the small port of Kissamos.  From here, a ferry leaves for the round trip to Athens and Corfu and there are also two day tripper boats which leave in the morning and return in the afternoon.  Besides this, there is no other boat movement in the port.  We were the only sailboat there and were warmly welcomed.  We decided to stay for a few days and do some necessary maintenance on the boat. There was a delightful family running a taverna in the port, serving pretty good food and the town of  Kasteli was just a short bike ride away.

Chania

Our next stop was Chania. This is the most popular tourist town in Crete being on the  cruise ship route.  Chania has small winding stone streets and many tavernas have been built inside the skeleton of old ruins. 

Chania street

Artemis V alongside the quay in Chania

Irakleon museum

Irakleon museum

There is a lot of evidence of   previous Venetian and later Turkish occupation.  The harbour entrance is dominated by a beautiful Venetian lighthouse. Here we met a lovely Italian couple and we toured the island with them for three days.  We went to the ancient sites of Phaestos and Knossos and to the wonderful Iraklion museum of archaeology.

Knossos archaological site

A section of the town of Chania has archaeological excavations, evidence of the Minoan civilization which thrived here 7,000 years ago.  It has an excellent, albeit small, museum with Minoan artifacts found in the town.

We left Artemis V in Rethymnon marina where she stayed for the next ten days while we met family and toured Crete by car.  Crete has some high mountains (highest approx 2,500m), some still snowcapped and the scenery is beautiful.

Venetian Harbour, Rethymnon

Village of Spilia

Imbros Gorge

Imbros Gorge

Crete is the last part (320km) of the transEuropean E4 walking trail which starts in Portugal.  We walked the 8km. through the Imbros gorge through which our Anzac troups were evacuated in WWII

and did a 40km. bike ride, all downhill from the top of a mountain down to the sea.

Bike riding in Crete

Spinalonga Island, old leper colony

We are now in Spinalonga Bay, in which lies the little island of Spinalonga.  This used to be a Turkish village before WWII and later a leper colony.  It is interesting to wander around the little village there and it is a popular trip for the tourists. 

Elounda, Spinalonga bay

July has arrived and we are experiencing our first of the strong blows of the summer.  The wind has been howling for the past two days, gusting to 35kn. so we are waiting here for it to ease before we make the hop to Karpathos, across the Kassos and Karpathos straits which are known for strong wind and confused seas.  The Meltemi in July and August blows very strongly in this part of the Aegean and has been known to get up to hurricane force. 

That’s all for now folks.

Artemis & Dimitri.