Akamas (Greek: Ακάμας, Turkish: Akama), 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 Akamas, a son of Theseus, hero of the Trojan War and founder of the city-kingdom of Soli.
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 sealed. Visitor attractions in Akamas include a loggerhead turtle sanctuary and the Baths of Aphrodite where the goddess is said to have bathed, near Polis.
- ^ "Akamas on the Cypriot Conservation Society website". Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ Pliny the Elder, The Natural History,English translation, Book 5 § 35 [1]
- ^ British soldiers train in Kalo Chorio after Akamas deal, Cyprus Mail, Wednesday, August 11, 1999 [2]