Greetings family and friends,
Cyprus in general and Paphos specifically have a lot of places reaching back into antiquity. On one of the slides in the photo gallery, one can see a map of the various archeological sites to be found around Paphos. A fair number of them are concentrated in the Paphos Archeological Park. The entrance fee is all of four and half euros for the day – I visited twice. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Harbour Castle
Outside of the actual park at one end of the harbor is the Harbour Castle (spelling of harbor is of the British version). The castle is of the Byzantine – Ottoman periods and has an entrance fee of two and half euros. The castle, as pictured on the left, is not particularly elegant but rather of the sturdy category, in my opinion. The views of the harbor and Paphos are not too bad though. For the price, an interesting walk through.
Inside the park is where the real treasures are to be found, particularly the collections of floor mosaics. The residence dubbed the House of Dionysus is of the Hellenistic – Roman periods. Besides, the mosaic to the right, there are many more of equally exquisite artistic beauty. The ones capturing scenes of animals, people, and divinities, are stunning in my view. Believe I photographed most of them and they can be found in the photo gallery.
House of Dionysus
House of Theseus
The House of Theseus, as pictured to the left, is of the Roman period. What is wonderful about this location is that one is allowed to get very close to the ruins. For instance, one is allowed to walk a path that has those pillars on one side and walls on the other side. Within the park, it is my understanding that there are still ongoing excavations with a university in Poland continuing its efforts.
That’s it for now. As always, please feel free to share this link with anyone who expresses an interest. Please have a look at the gallery below for full-size versions of the photos above as well as additional photos of Paphos. Next dispatch will be from Old Blighty!
See you soon,
Papi
You are covering a lot of history on your travels, Mike. Great pictures and narrations. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Bill. Always good to hear from you Uncle. And yes, the history keeps expanding both geographically and chronologically – too much to see!