These two stamps on
the FDC show scenes of Picturesque Akamas in Cyprus.
Akamas is a promontory and cape at the northwest extremity of Cyprus with
an area of 230 square kilometres. Ptolemy described it as a thickly wooded headland,
divided into two by summits [a mountain range] rising towards the north. The peninsula is named after 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.
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 and the planned A7 motorway between Polis and Paphos ; organisations such as the Green
Party of Cyprus, Greenpeace and Friends
of the Earth are taking action to
protect the area.
Thank you Merja for this FDC with the lovely stamps.
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