Apheca, also known today in Arabic as 'Afqa or Afka, is located in the mountains of Lebanon near the ancient city of Jebail, just east of the modern town of Qartaba.[1] It is the site of one of the finest waterfalls in the mountains of the Middle East[2] which feeds into the River Adonis (known locally as Nahr Ibrahim or "Abraham's river").[3]
The ruins of the celebrated temple of Venus or Aphrodite are also located in Apheca.[3] Sir Richard Francis Burton and Sir James Frazer further attribute the temple at Apheca to the honouring of Astarte or Ishtar (Ashtaroth).[4][5]
The waterfall at Apheca is the source for the River Adonis and is located on 600 foot bluff that forms an immense natural amphitheatre.[1] The river emerges from a large limestone cave in the cliff wall which stores and channels water from the melted snow of the mountains before releasing it into springs and streams below.[1] At Apheca, several watery threads flow from the cave to form numerous cataracts, a scene of great beauty.[1]
A great and ancient temple is located here.[1] Sir James Frazer attributes its construction to to the legendary namesake of King Cinyras who was said to have founded a sanctuary for Aphrodite (i.e. Astarte).[5] Destroyed by the Emperor Constantine the Great in the fourth century, it was partially rebuilt by Constantine's successor Julian the Apostate.[1] The site was finally abandoned during the reign of Theodosius.[1] Massive hewn blocks and a fine column of Syenite granite still mark the site, on a terrace facing the source of the river.[5] The remains of a Roman aqueduct that carried the waters of the River Adonis to the now abandoned city of Jebail are also located here.[1]
In classical mythology, Apheca is associated with the legend of Venus and Adonis.[1] According to the myth, Cinyras, the King of Cyprus seduced his daughter Myrrha who was transformed into a tree that bears her name (see:Myrrh).[1] After several months, the tree split open and the child Adonis emerged. He was reared by Venus who became enamored of him, causing her lover Mars to grow jealous. Mars sent a vicious boar to kill Adonis.[1] At the pool at the foot of the falls of Apheca, Adonis was bled to death from a deep wound in the groin.[1] Venus despaired of his death and out of pity for her the gods allowed Adonis to ascend from Hades for a short period each year.[1]
Each spring at Apheca, the melting snows flood the river, bringing a reddish mud into the stream from the steep mountain slopes.[1] The red stain can be seen feeding into the river and far out to the Mediterranean sea.[1] Legend holds that this is the blood of Adonis, renewed each year, at the time of his death.[1]
Also in the fertile valley surrounding the river, millions of scarlet anemones bloom.[1] Known as Adonis' flowers, according to the legend, they spring from his blood, spilled as he lay dying beneath the trees at Apheca, and return each year in remembrance.[1]
Sir James Frazer describes the village at Apheca in his 1922 book, The Golden Bough thusly:
"...the miserable village which still bears the name of Afka at the head of the wild, romantic, wooded gorge of the Adonis. The hamlet stands among groves of noble walnut-trees on the brink of the lyn. A little way off the river rushes from a cavern at the foot of a mighty amphitheatre of towering cliffs to plunge in a series of cascades into the awful depths of the glen. The deeper it descends, the ranker and denser grows the vegetation, which, sprouting from the crannies and fissures of the rocks, spreads a green veil over the roaring or murmuring stream in the tremendous chasm below. There is something delicious, almost intoxicating, in the freshness of these tumbling waters, in the sweetness and purity of the mountain air, in the vivid green of the vegetation.[5]
In his "Terminal Essay" in the 1885 translation of The Arabian Nights, he describes it as a place of pilgrimage for the Metawali sect of Shia Islam where vows are addressed to the Sayyidat al-Kabirah or "the Great Lady".[4]