Entry to the vast cemetery...
At the main gate, the importance of its heritage is proudly displayed...
For those looking for a bit of history and culture during their visit to Pafos, it is worth noting that the entire two has been designated a World Heritage and Cultural Site, and no matter where you might find yourself during a walk here, you are bound to come across some of its unique history that dates back thousands of years…
With Romos away to earn his daily bread, I cruised out to one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, known as the Tombs of the Kings…
According to archaeological evidence, this site was used during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, while the island was under the rule of the Egyptian Pharaohs from the Ptolemaic Dynasty… Some of them date back to the 4th Century B.C. …
Due to their grandeur, the burial chambers were described as royal tombs, but there is no evidence that any kings were ever buried here… It is believed that the cemetery housed the remains of nobles and rich citizens of the area…
They are very similar in design to those found in Alexandria, Egypt…
The first tomb stands close to the entry point of the complex...
The site covers an enormous area, and almost every rocky outcrop had been burrowed into in order to carve burial chambers out of the solid rock…
Some of the larger chambers are underground and resemble the entrance to temples, with solid columns and frescoes etched on the walls… There are seven tombs that have been carefully preserved to allow visitors to enter them, but hundreds of others that are not as impressive, and attract little or no attention…
This gives you an idea of the size of the interior, hewn from solid rock...
If you are planning to visit this site, make sure you have a pair of comfortable walking shoes, and a picnic hamper…!! It extends out towards the seashore, far away from the main entrance, and a series of wide pathways lead you down towards the most commonly visited and larger tombs… I chose to take the less traveled and narrower pathways that led to smaller burial chambers…
The small entrance from where I made my sudden entry, "scaring the people's..."...
This is the method "normal" people use to enter the tombs...!!
I clambered around inside many of them, and in one, saw an opening that seemed to lead into a larger room…
I heard a murmuring coming from somewhere above me, and a small smile must have crossed my face, but I cannot be certain of this…
I crawled through the opening on hands and knees, feeling the hair on my neck standing up as I did so…
I emerged into one of the main burial chambers that are normally entered via a wooden walkway… This chamber is located underground, and has a number of columns supporting the roof of the chamber.
A tour guide was explaining the history of it all to a group of Japanese visitors, and stopped mid-sentence when I emerged from the hole in the wall…!! The elderly Japanese lady who was part of the group almost fainted…!!
“Where he come from..?” one of the guys asked the guide, pointing in my general direction… The guide’s explanation about the tomb we were standing in immediately forgotten…!!
“Er… That is a darker and deeper chamber where tourists do not usually enter…!!” she said, shooting me an exasperated glance… “I am not sure where it leads to…!!”
“We want to see inside…!!” they said, looking expectantly at their guide…
She was not exactly dressed to be clambering about on hands and knees through dank and narrow passageways, and tried to take their attention away from where I stood, by saying, “And over here….”
But they would not be swayed… After a long burst of Japanese, they turned to her and said…
“He was inside…” pointing to me, “We want go also…!!”
And that was how a grumbling tour guide, dressed in a pretty red outfit, and carrying a large red umbrella, came to find herself stooping through the narrow entrance of a seldom visited burial chamber…!!
As they passed by me, the young man behind the guide gave me a big smile and said, “Sank you, sank you…!!” before crouching down to follow her…
“Pleasure’s all mine, Dude..!! Watch your head as you go through…!!” I said, turning away to hide the smile on my face…
The columned underground burial chamber which I stumbled into...
I wished then I had more time to spend there, as I would have spent half the day frightening the hell out of unsuspecting tourists, by appearing suddenly at their elbows, from the depths of dark and eerie caves that none of the guides ever bothered pointing out to them…
The scope for mischief was enormous…!!
I spent an hour wandering around in this ancient cemetery, before the heat of the morning sun drove me back to the shade where the Big Fella waiting…
The Catacomb is situated within metres of the main road...
Riding down towards the harbour area, I came across the Catacombs of Solomoni, built under the original church of the same name…
During the Ottoman reign,
Entry is down a narrow flight of stone steps...
when Christians were persecuted and prevented from worship, they evaded the authorities of the day by hiding and worshiping underground, in catacombs such as this one…
Down a steep flight of stairs, just off the main road, is a fairly large chapel, adorned with icons and holy crosses…
Religious icons adorn the walls, and candles are regulary lit by the visiting faithful...
From down below, I could hear the sound of the traffic buzzing by, and looking up towards ground level, found myself directly under the old Sacred Tree, where for centuries, as legend has it, people have believed that to hang a personal offering on the branches of this tree, they would be cured of any illness that they happened to be afflicted with… To this day, items such as handkerchiefs and small pendants are still hung here in the hope of a cure…
With all the aches and pains that I was carrying, I didn’t think there was enough space on the tree for any of my stuff…!!
No, this is not the Dirty Laundry Tree of Pafos, but offerings left by people hoping for cures for their illnesses...
©GBWT 2010
We want more … we want more !!!!!
Patience, Oh Trusty Guide,… Patience…!! R.
Sounds like a whole lot of fun could be had in these chambers 🙂