Akamas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the promontory in Cyprus called Akamas; for the Greek mythological figure see Acamas.

Akamas (Greek: Ακάμας), is a promontory and cape at the northwest extremity of Cyprus with an area of 230 square kilometres^[1]. Ptolemy described it as a thickly wooded headland, divided into two by summits [a mountain range] rising towards the north.^[2]. The peninsula is named after the son of Theseus hero of the Trojan Wars and founder of the city-kingdom of Soli.

Up until the year 2000, the peninsula was used by the British Army and Navy for military exercises and as a firing range. Under the 1960 Treaty of Establishment, the British army was allowed to use the Akamas for exercises for up to 70 days a year. ^[3]

At the southern end of the peninsula is the town of Pegeia and on its northeast side the town of Polis. Due to the mountainous nature of the peninsula there are no roads running through its heartland. Furthermore some roads marked on Cypriot road maps of the area are not tarmaced. Visitor attractions in Akamas include a loggerhead turtle sanctuary and the Baths of Aphrodite where the goddess is said to have bathed, near Polis. As the area is therefore relatively inaccessible there is a large diversity of flora and fauna there. Indeed the European Environment Agency noted that it was one of only 22 areas of endemism in Europe. This however looks like it may be threatened by tourist development in the future and organisations such as the Cypriot Green Party, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are looking to protect it.

[edit] References

1. ^ Akamas on the Cypriot Conservation Society website
2. ^ Pliny the Elder, The Natural History,English translation, Book 5 § 35 [1]
3. ^ British soldiers train in Kalo Chorio after Akamas deal, Cyprus Mail, Wednesday, August 11, 1999 [2]

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1856).
• Richard Talbert, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, (ISBN 0-691-03169-X), p. 72.
• An in-depth travel feature about the natural beauty, flora and fauna of the Akamas Peninsula http://www.nhavers.8k.com/cyprus.htm