Pafos has extensive excavations (UNESCO) dating from Greek and Roman times. The Tomb of Kings site has some very imposing and elaborate tomb monuments dating back to the 4th century BCE, so named "Kings" purely because of impressiveness not for actual kings. The Neo Pafos site, is a site still under exploration. The highlights were 1) the extraordinary vividness of House of Aion mosaics. 2) House of Dionysos - while not Villa Romana del Casale, there are more than a dozen rooms of mosaics 3) the extent of the Villa of Theseus - the size of the central peristyle could have been a forum.
In comparison, the Kourion site is not as special, but the setting is beautiful, high on a cliff by the sea. While it has some mosaics (now that we have been to Tunisia, I'm not as easily impressed), the extensive baths really caught our attention. They must have been pretty luxurious.
At Paphos Archaeological Park, the The House of Dionysus, with 2nd – 4th cent. A.D. Roman Mosaics, is covered, but with an open atrium, just as it should be. ;-)
House of Aion.
House of Theseus. Third below is a mosaic of the "First Bath of Achilles".
There are also a reconstructed Roman Theatre, a Roman Agora, a cool ancient city wall, and a modern lighthouse.
The highlight of the Tombs of the Kings site was the Doric architecture elements in 4 of the 8 underground tombs we visited. Plus, crawling and walking around the tombs was a lot of fun. And we had a good guide book.
The wind was blowing while we were at Kourion. I'm holding on to my hat in this 4-second video. Link here.
The House and Baths of Eustolios are covered, and from them, there is an amazing view of the Mediterranean Sea.
There is also a small, mostly reconstructed, Roman Amphitheatre.
The views from the Kourion site were amazing.
The Roman Basilica.
The Roman Baths.
1 comment:
Beautiful mosaics!
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