Studio Location

To find us pass through Latchi until you reach the large sign indicating a right turn to the Baths of Aphrodite. Do not turn right here, but carry straight on towards Neo Khorio. After a few hundred metres the road rises into an S-bend, turning first to the right and then left. Immediately on the left as you exit the bend there is a concreted single-track road. The street name Ayias Zonis is displayed here alongside a sign for Hawkins Studio. Turn left and follow the road past one house on the left hand side. The next house, a hundred metres or so on the left, is the Back of Beyond and the gallery is accessed through the car port above the main entrance.

[Note: Ayias Zonis street forms a loop off the main road to the village. If you overshoot the left turn after the bend and find yourself at the top of the hill, take the next left (look for our sign on a big carob tree) and follow the concrete road down the few hundred metres to the Back of Beyond].

Neo Khorio

The village of Neo Khorio lies on the northwest coast of Cyprus, nestling in the hills above the small fishing port of Latchi and the legendary Baths of Aphrodite. It is the last village before the Akamas wilderness begins and is aptly known as The Gateway to the Akamas.

Traditionally a community of shepherds, farmers and fishermen, the village has taken progress in its stride, growing rapidly with the huge influx of people wishing to buy property and come to live in this most beautiful of areas. Tourism too has had an impact and there is a wide selection of villas and hotel apartments catering for tourists. There are three coffee shops and two excellent tavernas as well as two small supermarkets. Traditional rug making is still carried on and a working loom is on view. There is a picturesque pottery in the village opposite the brand new community centre, where Ara and Nancy welcome visitors, and Sheila and Harry are always pleased to see old and new friends alike at the Hawkins Studio at the Back of Beyond.

In early spring the area is carpeted with wild anemones, and cyclamen, for which the region is famous, bloom profusely. There are a great many wild orchids, some of them quite rare, to discover, and in April a dark red tulip, found only in Cyprus, flowers on the Akamas. The area also encompasses one of the world's main migratory routes and is therefore a magnet for birdwatchers. So, whether your interest lies in flowers or birds, or simply in walking and delighting in the magnificent scenery, Neo Khorio makes a perfect base from which to explore the Akamas. The Forestry Department has laid out several nature trails, one of which is actually an old trade route used by camel traders who, long ago, transported gypsum down to a large wooden jetty near the Baths of Aphrodite for shipment overseas.

Once above the village the road forks, and carrying straight on it leads you to the lovely little church of Ayios Minas and on to the picnic site at Smyies; then to a T-junction, where a right turn will take you to gaze down over the cream and turquoise coastline of Fontana Amorosa, while a left turn will lead you to marvel at the breathtaking views out over the southern coast. Follow this track down to the sea and another left turn will take you past the turtle hatchery at Lara and on to Ayios Giorgios and Coral Bay.

If above the village you choose to take the left hand fork, the track will lead you past mantras where shepherds pen their flocks in at night and on to the deserted Turkish village of Androlikou. The landscape along this route is particularly beautiful when massed pink oleander bushes lining the river bed are in bloom. Through the village and turning right, the track meanders on up through countryside grazed by many hundreds of goats toward Pittikopas and Inia. On the outskirts of the village there is a shaded lookout point. The views from here are beautiful in the extreme and it is one of the few places, other than the Panhandle, where you can sit and see the sea on both sides of the island at the same time.