Day 4 in Cyprus: Following the footsteps of Aphrodite in Paphos

I began the day at the Tombs of the Kings in Paphos. The site’s name is a bit of a misnomer: no kings are thought to be buried in the necropolis, but the tombs were originally thought too fancy not to have been built – or rather dug out – for royalty. While some are simply niches dug into rocks, several catacombs branch off from proper Greek-style courtyards with columns that would have resembled the living quarters of the buried.

After spending around an hour at the tombs, I drove on to the Paphos Archaeological Site. Several major buildings have been uncovered there, including the odeon, agora, and four large Roman villas with beautiful floor mosaics. Legend has it that the city, which is referred to as Nea Paphos to distinguish it from the original Paleo Paphos to the east, was founded by Agapenor, who led the Arcadians during the Trojan War. If I had a penny for every city that was allegedly founded by participants in the Trojan War, I could afford a few more luxurious dinners during my travels. In reality, the foundation of Nea Paphos probably dates to around the late fourth century BCE.

Outside the ticketed area of the archaeological site stands the church of Agia Kyriaki Chrysopolitissa with Saint Paul’s Pillar. According to tradition, this is the pillar to which Saint Paul was tied to be flogged when he first arrived in Paphos – incidentally, the Paphos episode is the first time in the Bible that Saint Paul is identified by his Roman name (rather than the name Saul). The story in Acts goes on to say that a false prophet and sorcerer named Elymas opposed Paul’s proselytising and was struck blind, which impressed the proconsul so much that he converted to Christianity. At the time of my visit, the elevated walkway to the church was being majorly renovated, but the pillar and other ruins were well visible.

Beside the archaeological site of Nea Paphos and the ruins around Agia Kyriaki Chrysopolitissa, I also made a stop by Paphos Castle. I did not see a point to going inside, and reading the Google Reviews I feel justified in that gut instinct, but I walked around a little on the seafront and crossed the barrier onto the breakwater to take a few pictures.

My next stop was the archaeological site of Paleo Paphos, which is home to the Sanctuary of Aphrodite Paphia. I almost missed this site while planning my trip because it is criminally under-advertised, and although there are, admittedly, not many impressive structures to see nowadays, the mythological significance of the sanctuary would be hard to exaggerate. This was the place where Aphrodite landed when she arose from the sea, and the temple was the centre of the goddess’s worship in the ancient world; Homer even mentions the altar and grove in the Odyssey.

While I did not see many signboards outside, the groundskeeper directed me to a museum housed in a medieval manor that once served as a sugar mill. I learned that before the arrival of the Phoenicians with their goddess Astarte, who became Aphrodite when she joined the Greek pantheon, the local people worshipped a fertility goddess depicted in a cross-like pose with outstretched arms. Perhaps the most important object at the museum is the black stone worshipped as Aphrodite. The stone was never cut to look like the goddess herself; rather, it was her aniconic representation. There were also a few statues from the Persian period. My favourite object at the museum, though, was a sarcophagus with the painting of Odysseus and his men escaping the cave of Polyphemus on the underside of the cyclops’ sheep.

I ate lunch at Kouklia, where Paleo Paphos is located, before driving toward the beach associated with the birth of Aphrodite. Originally, I was going to drive all the way down to it, but I saw a whole convoy of cars pulling up at an overlook just before the descent, and the view was perfect.

After crossing seamlessly into Akrotiri, I made a tour of Kourion, another ancient site. Kourion is relatively spread out, with the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates being perhaps two kilometres away from the Stadium, and the Stadium lies another kilometre from the main site with the amphitheatre and villas. I was glad I had a car to make this journey, though there did seem to be a nature trail by the Sanctuary that probably connects to the Stadium. The sight that stood out the most to me in Kourion was the temple of Apollo Hylates: it is the only temple I have seen in Cyprus that has at least a fragment of a pediment. The two pillars that support this fragment, as well as the wall behind them, have survived in such a perfect state that one can almost colour in the rest of the temple in one’s mind.

My last stop for the day, before finding my hotel in Limassol, was Kolossi Castle, a blocky structure just across the border from Akrotiri. The castle was originally built by the Crusaders and was owned by both the Hospitallers and the Knights Templar. These ancient connections to the rest of Europe are kept alive and well by busloads of elderly Italian tourists.