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 'Ammochostos Monster', Travels in the Eastern Mediterranean, John Smith Moffat, Published 1889 | |
| Grouping | Cryptid |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | The Friendly Monster, Creature From The Depths |
| Country | Cyprus |
| Region | Cape Greco Kouris Dam |
| Habitat | Sea |
The Ayia Napa sea monster is a cryptid, claimed to inhabit the coast of Ayia Napa in Cyprus, a popular tourist resort on the Mediterranean. Most sightings occur around Cape Greco (Κάβο Γκρέκο / Cavo Greco). It is known by the local fishermen as "O Filikos Teras", [1] which translates as "The Friendly Monster". There have been no reports of it causing any harm, although it has been reported at times to rip and drag away fishing nets. There have been countless sightings of the "Creature from the Depths."
Ayia Napa is a resort at the far eastern end of the southern coast of Cyprus.
Cyprus, officially the Cypriot Republic, is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean and the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel, north of Egypt, and southeast of Greece.
A resort is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term resort may be used for a hotel property that provides an array of amenities, typically including entertainment and recreational activities. A hotel is frequently a central feature of a resort, such as the Grand Hotel at Mackinac Island, Michigan. Some resorts are also condominium complexes that are timeshares or owed fractionally or wholly owned condominium. A resort is not always a commercial establishment operated by a single company, but in the late 20th century, that sort of facility became more common.
There is no evidence that the monster exists except in folklore and through various sightings by tourists and locals alike.[ citation needed ] There exists little photographic evidence, except unverified short-films and pictures.[ citation needed ] A search for the monster was featured on Destination Truth . [2]
Destination Truth is a weekly American paranormal reality television series that premiered on June 6, 2007, on Syfy. Produced by Mandt Bros. Productions and Ping Pong Productions, the program follows paranormal researcher Josh Gates around the world to investigate claims of the supernatural, mainly in the field of cryptozoology. The third season concluded on April 21, 2010, and currently holds the highest ratings ever for the series, which continued with a fourth season, beginning on Thursday, September 9, 2010, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. The fifth season began July 10, 2012. On March 27, 2014, Gates confirmed via his Facebook account that Destination Truth had ended its run and would not be returning for a sixth season. However, Travel Channel began airing reruns of the show in the spring of 2017.
Many believers of the myth of the Ayia Napa Sea Monster like to link it with the common mythical sea monster of Greek mythology called Scylla,[ citation needed ] which is depicted in the mosaics that remain in the House of Dionysus, a Roman villa from the 2nd century AD in Paphos, Cyprus. [3] Many ancient authorities describe it as a monstrous form of a giant maiden in torso, with a serpent for its lower body, having six snarling dog-heads issuing from its midriff, including their twelve forelimbs. This is the form described by Gaius Julius Hyginus, the Bibliotheca and the Suda , among so many others, and it is this form most often depicted on vase paintings. According to a description from Hyginus, a Latin author, it possessed “more heads than the vase-painters could paint”, and whoever encountered it was killed almost instantaneously.
In Greek mythology, Scylla was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite her counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of each other—so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass dangerously close to Scylla and vice versa.
Paphos is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today at Kouklia, and New Paphos.
Gaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the famous Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20. It is not clear whether Hyginus was a native of the Iberian Peninsula or of Alexandria.
Government officials have started a search for the monster.[ citation needed ] The hope of spotting the Ayia Napa Sea Monster remains a highlight for many tourists on boating day-trips.[ citation needed ] Many hotels boast to being close to sightings.[ citation needed ] There is no possible link to any such sea monster and any monster said to be living in Kouris Dam, which according to reports are more likely to be crocodiles that had been kept as pets but unlawfully released.[ citation needed ]
