The thoroughly modern entrance leading to the ancient Pafos Archeological site...
Near the tip of the Pafos Peninsula and the yacht basin, is the heavily developed tourist section of the city… It is here that I parked the Big Fella, as suggested by Romos, which would give me easy access to both the vast archeological site of Pafos, as well as the Castle that was built on the narrow strip of land jutting out into the harbour…
The entry fee to what is known collectively as the “Pafos Mosaics” was twice that of any other site I had visited and once I had ascended the long flight of wide, shallow steps leading up onto the hill behind the entrance, I could see why this was…
Diagram showing the layout of the area that stretches north of the current yacht basin of Pafos...
The entire plateau where the original ancient city had been located, was part of the site, and was made up of no less than ten individual ancient monuments… At the visitors centre I watched a short video introduction on the site, and wondered how I was going to manage to see all of it in just a few hours…!!
The area includes four distinct and separate Roman houses each with its amazing mosaic floor tiles that are recognized as the best examples of their type ever discovered…
The Achilles Mosaic, in the house of Theseus, stands open to the elements...
There are Roman baths, an ancient Greek Amphitheatre, a medieval fortress, two early Christian Basilicas and a Gothic church, all spread over the plain above the present city…
Columns on the seaward side of the House of Orpheus the Musician...
The mosaics of Pafos are recognised as one of the best examples of ancient art ever discovered... Some of them were only uncovered as "recently" as 1962...!!
The old was surrounded by sturdy rock walls, and was entered through a number of official gates… Building on the original city was begun in the 4th Century B.C. by the Greek King, Nikokles, and continued throughout the ages by the Romans who ruled here until the 4th Century A.D.
The Roman baths that form part of the House of Orpheus...
During the 800 years of its occupation, the city was decimated by numerous earthquakes, and the one that struck the island in 365 A.D., marked the end of ancient Pafos, although some of the buildings were still being used as late as the early 7th Century…
In blazing sunshine, I walked through the ruins of the Houses of Dionysos, Orpheus, Theseus and Aion, peering down at the intricate mosaics that lined the floors of many of the rooms within these ruins…
Two of them, that of Aion and Dionysus have been covered by large structures to protect their valuable contents from the sun, but the largest two Houses, of Orpheus and Theseus lie open to the elements, and have weathered over 1500 years of wind, rain and sunshine…!!
I walked over to the ruins of the Saranda Kolones, a medieval fortress built in 1200 A.D. to protect the old city… It was surrounded by a deep ditch on three sides and entrance to it was via a wooden bridge… The fourth wall faced the harbour and controlled entry to it, and the city itself… Various earthquakes throughout the ages had all but destroyed the structure…
The remains of the medieval fortress of Saranda Kolones...
A call from Romos advising that he completed his business and would meet me near the Pafor Castle down on the sea front, had me hurrying back to the entrance, glad to be out of the heat, but sorry that I could not spend more time wandering about the ruins of this ancient site…
The two hours that I had spent there passed in a blur, and trying to absorb the details of what I had seen, left my head spinning…
My advice to any prospective visitor interested in the mysteries of the ancients, is to set aside a full day to explore the area… The entry ticket allows you to enter and exit the site as often as you need to during the course of a single day… You are also able to walk along the coast from here to visit the Tombs of the Kings, which is part of the complex…
©GBWT 2010
Great. Sounds like this is the one to visit before anything else. How is your arm healing ?