Looking into the spring I could see a cave heading into the darkness. Under different circumstances I would be tempted to go exploring. However, I have read about the cave network underneath Geroskipou before. If you remember, we have featured the shrine caves at Agios Georgios a number of times in our articles. These aren't very far away from here, and are part of the same rock plate. There are caves there that go all the way to the main square in Geroskipou, but the air in them is bad, so they are closed off. This cave is probably part of the same network.

If you ever see a concert advertised here, definitely give it some consideration. It is a great location, and I imagine sitting in the grass watching a performance by the spring in a warm autumn evening would be quite special.

The discovery of a bothros* in the mid-20th century at the locality "Monagi", a few meters south-east of "Kato Vrysi", which contained hundreds of terracotta figurines, bears witness to the existence of a sanctuary dedicated to Aphrodite, at least in the Archaic period. In addition, ancient Hierocepia**, with its plentiful water supply, caves, underground tunnels and the dense, wild vegetation, had all the morphological characteristics of a place of worship of the goddess in the Greek World.

* a bothros is an ancient word for a depression or hole.

** Hierocepia was the name of the area in ancient times.

This is the church mentioned in the sign. It is located to the rear of the main square.

When we first moved to Cyprus, I read about the Cult of Aphrodite, but didn't give it much thought. It is particularly relevent to Geroskipou and Paphos as a whole though. So I shall leave you with a bit more information about it:

APHRODITE was the Olympian goddess of beauty, love and procreation.

Her cult was very popular in ancient Greece with numerous shrines and temples throughout the land. Her main cult centres within Greece were the city of Korinthos (Corinth) on the Isthmus, and the island of Kythera (Cytherea) off the coast of Lakedaimonia. Beyond Greece the island of Kypros (Cyprus) was famed for its Mystery cult of the goddess. Aphrodite was also worshipped with private rituals and prayers.

In classical sculpture Aphrodite was usually portrayed as a naked or partially disrobed women, often with her arms drawn in a futile gesture of modesty. The first nude Aphrodite was sculpted by the artist Praxiteles in the C5th B.C. as a cult idol for the city-state of Knidos (Cnidus). It was received with a certain amount of controversy in its day, but the style quickly became the norm.