The B6 main road (locally referred as Limassol - Paphos old road, Greek "Παλαιός δρόμος Λεμεσού - Πάφου") used to be the main connecting route between
Cyprus's second largest city and major seaport
Limassol and
Paphos, one of the island's top tourist destinations.
History
Since the island's capital was moved from
Paphos to
Nicosia
Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...
after the
Roman times, transportation to
Paphos - being a very small town at the time - from the rest of the island was very difficult due to the mountainous geomorphology of the island's Southwestern coast. Until the
British colonial times people also used the sea as an alternative to avoid the extremely long dangerous path connecting the two areas. In the end of 19th Century, near 1890, the first road was built. It was approximately 80 km long and between 10-12 feet wide. The B6 was built at 1963 and it runs along the same corridor of the first road. After the
Turkish invasion
The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Arm ...
in 1974, and the occupation of the touristic key city of
Famagusta
Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...
the government searched for alternatives to attract tourism to the rest of the island. The need of good road transportation to the whole island was one of the first projects to be done. The road is 66 km long (6 km longer than the
A6 Motorway, a modern 4 lane highway that replaced the B6 as the main connecting route). It runs through 7 villages and the
Western Sovereign Base Area
Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory o ...
.
Current status
After the completion of the A6 Motorway in 1996 the road is only used by locals, and rarely big traffic volumes occur. It is a very well maintained road and a very interesting drive. A small part of it after the village
Pissouri is used by tourists as scenic route, having a bend right next to
Petra Tou Romiou, the legendary
Aphrodite's birthplace.
This road is currently closed to traffic from Pissouri to Aphrodites Rock due to instability of the land. It was closed in May 2019.
There are plans to fix and reopen the road between Aphrodites Rock an Pissouri. Tenders finished at the end of November. Construction works are supposed to start end of January and will finish on June.
See also
*
B8 road (Cyprus)
The B8 is a main road of Cyprus. It connects the city of Limassol and the Troödos mountainous region. Although it's a very well maintained road, many accidents have occurred on it especially on a big bend near the village of Moniatis locally ...
*
B20 road (Cyprus)
References
Motorways and roads in Cyprus
Limited-access roads
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