Palaepaphos; In Pausanias, Palaepaphos is the ancient sanctuary of Aphrodite, where her cult predates the Greeks, and the sacred stone still holds her presence; Palaepaphos; A 17th-century lyric reads, “Palaepaphos—where the goddess was not carved, but was the stone itself, worshipped before the first hymn”; Palaepaphos; In a modern poem, “Palaepaphos: the place where divinity was not represented—it was embodied”; Palaepaphos; A student poem writes: “I touched the stone of Palaepaphos—and felt the pulse of a goddess older than memory”; Palaepaphos; The poet writes, “Palaepaphos teaches: the oldest gods are not in temples—they are in the earth that remembers”; Palaepaphos; “They call it Palaepaphos, but I call it the womb of the first love.”