On a field of anemones

Zenonas Papaloizou, Project Manager    

The Vision

One day in February of 1992, the Cyprus civil engineer Zenonas Papaloizou was on the road from Alektora to Paphos when he spotted a field of anemones, an increasingly rare field flower that harbingers the first signs of spring. Though the area looked a bit wild for walking he felt drawn to it and without another thought he pulled his car to the verge and grabbed his camera. For the next hour amongst hundreds of olive and carob trees—some of them 200 years old—he photographed rocky fields decorated with colorful anemones and wild orchids. As he continued his explorations, he encountered myriad viewing spots that provided panoramic vistas of the sea and Aphrodite’s Rock. Though he already had a comfortable home in Nicosia, he was uniquely attracted to the pristine beauty and quietude of this landscape, which was close to the village of Kouklia and the sanctuary of the goddess Aphrodite. He could easily envision living in such an idyllic environment.

When it all begun

“There was a certain wildness about the place, in fact it was a favorite spot for hunters seeking hare and pheasant, two animals that like thick undergrowth. And I noticed more than one viper as I traipsed around the land (they’ve been eliminated now). There were even some ancient ruins made of the local stone to add a note of the picturesque and to remind us of the area’s lineage. I thought it would be a great place for a country house, a place to get away from the noise and stress of the city, but perhaps it was too much ‘in the middle of nowhere’ for a developer to see it that way.”

But Zenon had supervised major construction projects in many formerly desolate areas in Cyprus and abroad and had developed a talent for seeing the various elements of an area’s potential—and for him, this location had it all.

Never would he have guessed that eight years later he would return to those same flower-blanketed fields and viewpoint plateaus as Project Manager for one of the most ambitious golf and land development projects in the Mediterranean: Aphrodite Hills Resort.

Not the first, but definitely the best

“We weren’t the first golf course in Cyprus, but Aphrodite Hills Resort was the only serious attempt at creating a world-class golfing centre using only the best materials and professionals available from the US, the UK and other countries where golf was a pre-eminent leisure activity.”

Because of his previous familiarity with and love of the area, Zenon was adamant that the character of the landscape—its wide variety of trees, outcroppings of ancient rock and bramble hills—be preserved and incorporated into the golf course design. And his team was in full agreement with him.

“From day one this project had an amazing team of professionals, each one of them a star in his or her area of expertise, and it was a joy if sometimes not always easy to coordinate their efforts as we advanced through the different phases of the development. And the result is something we are all very proud of, just as we are proud of our new expansion projects that further enhance the reputation of Aphrodite Hills Resort as the premiere all-round resort in Cyprus.”

Matthew Stowell