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Paphos is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In Antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos.
mPaphos is the mythical birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, of love, sexuality and beauty, and the founding myth is interwoven with the goddess at every level. In Greco-Roman times, Paphos was the island’s capital, and it is famous for the remains of the Roman Governor’s palace, where extensive, fine mosaics are a major tourist attraction. The Apostle Paul of Tarsus visited the town during the first century. The town of Paphos is included in the official UNESCO list of culture and natural treasures of the world’s heritage.
mIn the founding myth, even the town’s name is linked to the goddess, as the eponymous Paphos was the son of Pygmalion and his ivory cult image of Aphrodite, which was brought to life by the Goddess as “milk-white” Galatea. The author of Bibliotheke, the Hellenistic encyclopedia of myth long attributed to Apollodorus, gives the genealogy. Pygmalion was so devoted to the cult of Aphrodite that he removed the statue to his palace and kept it on his couch. The daimon of the goddess entered into the cult image, and the living Galatea bore Pygmalion a son Paphos and a daughter Metharme Cinvras, perhaps the son of Paphus, but perhaps the successful suitor of Metharme, founded the city under the patronage of Aphrodite and built the great temple to the goddess there. According to another legend preserved by Strabo whose text, however, varies, the Amazons founded it. If mythical time can be related to chronological time, this will have happened in the mid second millennium BC. |
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Roman Governor’s palace, where extensive, fine mosaics are a major tourist attraction. |
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Archaeologists report that the site of Paphos has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. It was a centre of the cult of Aphrodite and of pre-Hellenic fertility deities. Aphrodite’s mythical birthplace was on this island, where the Mycenaean’s erected her temple in the twelfth century BC. The remains of villas, palaces, theatres, fortresses and tombs of the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods mean that the site is of exceptional architectural and historic value. The mosaics of Nea Paphos are among the most beautiful in the world.
mNicocles rebuilt the port of Paphos the last king of Paphos, at the time of Alexander III of Macedon. It became the capital of the island replacing Salamis during the Hellenistic era, under the successors of Alexander III of Macedon – the Ptolemies who favoured a location closer to their capital, Alexandria. The theatre dating to the end of the 4th century BC has been under excavation by the University of Sidney since 1995: it was partly excavated from its hillside setting and partly built up with earth embankments. |
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Old Paphos, now the site of kouklia (Turkish: Kukla or Konuklia) (Engel, Kypros,) was seated on an eminence, at the distance of about ten stadia from the sea, on which; however, it had a roadstead. It was not far distant from the promontory of Zephyrium and the mouth of the little river Bocarus.
mThe Greeks agreed that Aphrodite had landed at the site of Paphos when she rose from the sea. According to Pausanias, her worship was introduced at Paphos from Syria: but it is much more probable that it was of Phoenician origin. Before archaeology commenced it was understood that the cult of Aphrodite had been established before the time of Homer (ca 700 BC), as the grove and altar of Aphrodite at Paphos are mentioned in Odyssey. Archaeology has established that Cypriots venerated a fertility goddess before the arrival of the Greeks, in cult that combined Aegean with Eastern mainland aspects. Female figurines and charms found in the immediate vicinity date as far back as the early third millennium. The temenos was well established before the first structures were erected in the Late Bronze Age: “There was unbroken continuity of cult from that time until 391 AD when the Roman Emperor Theodosius I outlawed all pagan religions and the sanctuary fell into the ruins in which we find it today.”
mHere the worship of the goddess centered, not for Cyprus alone, but for the whole Aegean world. The Cinyradae, or descendants of Cinyras, Greek by name, but of Phoenician origin, were the chief priests. Their power and authority were very great; but it may be inferred from certain inscriptions that a senate and an assembly of the people controlled them. There was also an oracle here. Few cities have ever been so much sung and glorified by the poets. The remains of the vast temple of Aphrodite are still discernible, its circumference being marked by huge foundation walls. After its overthrow by an earthquake, Vespasian rebuilt it, on whose coins it is represented, as well as on earlier and later ones, and especially in the style on those of Septimius Severus. From these representations, and from the existing remains, Hetsch, an architect of Copenhagen, has attempted to restore the building. |
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Houses of Dionysos Mosaic depicting Dionysos and Iokaste, Paphos |
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New Paphos (Nea Paphos), the currently inhabited town, was founded on the sea, near the western end of the island, and possessed a good harbour. It lay about sixty stadia, or twelve km northwest of the old city. It too had a founding myth: it was said to have been founded by Agapenor, chief of the Arcadians at the siege of Troy who, after the capture of that town, was driven by the storm that separated the Greek fleet, onto the coast of Cyprus. Agapenor was mentioned as king of the Paphians in a Greek fable preserved in the Analecta and Herodotus alludes to an Arcadian “colony” in Cyprus. Like its ancient namesake, Nea Paphos was also distinguished for the worship of Aphrodite and contained several magnificent temples dedicated to her. Yet the old city seems to have always retained the preeminence in this respect, and Strabo tells that the road leading to it from Nea Paphos was annually crowded with male and female votaries resorting to the more ancient shrine, and coming not only from the latter place itself, but also from the other towns of Cyprus. When Seneca says that Paphos was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, it is difficult to say to which of the towns he refers. Dio Cassius relates that it was restored by Augustus, and called “Augusta” in his honour; but though this name has been preserved in inscriptions, it never supplanted the ancient one in popular use.
mPaphos is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as having been visited by Paul of Tarsus, when it appears to have been the residence of the Roman governor; it is said that Paul converted the governor, Sergius Paulus, to Christianityafter Paul of Tarsus rebuked the evil Sorcerer Elymas. It was at that point that Paul effectively became the leader. He was from then on called Paul, rather than his former name, Saul.
m Tactius records a visit of the youthful Titus to Paphos before he acceded to the empire, who inquired with much curiosity into its history and antiquities. Under this name, the historian doubtless included the ancient as well as the more modern city: and among other traits of the worship of the temple, he records, with something like surprise, that the only image of the goddess was a pyramidal stone – a relic, doubtless of Phoenician origin. There are still considerable ruins of New Paphos a mile or two from the sea; among which are particularly remarkable, the remains of three temples which had been erected on artificial eminences. |
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Paphos, however, was gradually losing much of its attraction as an administrative centre, especially after the founding of Nicosia. The city and its port continued to decline throughout the Middle Ages and Ottoman Rule, as Nicosia, and the port city of Larnaca was gaining in importance.
mThe city and district continued to lose population throughout the British colonial period and many of its inhabitants moved to Limasol, Nicosia and overseas. The city and district of Paphos remained the most underdeveloped part of the island until 1974.
mAfter 1974, there was rapid economic activity in all fields but especially tourism and the district’s population stopped shrinking and indeed showed some signs of increasing. The government invested heavily in irrigation dams and water distribution works, road infrastructure and the building of Paphos International Airport, the second international airport in Cyprus – while private initiative concentrated in hotel, apartment and villa construction and the entertainment infrastructure. |
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Today Paphos, with a population of about 47,300 (end of 2001), is a popular sea and tourist resort, whish is also home to an attractive fishing harbour. It is divided into two major quarters: Ktima, on the sea terrace, is the main residential district, and Kato Pafos, by the sea, is built around the medieval port and contains most of the luxury hotels and the entertainment infrastructure of the city. Apostolou Pavlou Avenue (St. Paul’s Ave.), the busiest road in Paphos, connects the two quarters of the city. It begins near the city center at Kennedy Sq. and ends outside the Medieval Fort at the harbor. The harbor of Paphos is not so important: the normal shipping goes via the harbour of Limasol. Just as is the marina of Paphos isfor fishing and other kinds of interest.
mAt the harbour, there is the Castle of Paphos, originally built as a Byzantine fort to protect the harbour and rebuilt by the Lusignans in the thirteenth century, then dismantled in 1570 by the Venetians, who found themselves unable to defend it against the Ottomans, who in their turn restored and strengthened it after they captured the island. Saranta Kolones, Kato Paphos, near the harbour, is a castle built in the first years of the rule of the Lusignans (beginning of the twelfth century) maybe on the site of a previous Byzantine Castle. It was destroyed in the earthquake of 1222.
mThe legacy from its remarkable history adds up to nothing less than an open museum, so much, so that UNESCO simply added the whole town to its World Cultural Heritage List. Among the treasures unearthed, are the remarkable |
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Medieval Fort (Paphos Castle) |
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