Paphos
Roman villa mosaics, the Tombs of the Kings and the sanctuary of Aphrodite. UNESCO listing (opens the UNESCO site) ↗︎
History
The story of Cyprus
People have lived on Cyprus for more than ten thousand years; the round stone houses of Choirokoitia date from the seventh millennium BC. The island's copper made it rich in the Bronze Age, and Greek city-kingdoms grew up along its shores. Legend says Aphrodite rose from the sea at Petra tou Romiou, near Paphos, where her great sanctuary stood.
Under Rome, the villas of Paphos were floored with some of the finest mosaics in the Mediterranean. In the Byzantine centuries, monks painted small mountain churches in the Troodos with frescoes of astonishing colour. Richard the Lionheart took the island in 1191, and the Lusignan kings ruled it until Venice took over in 1489. Ottoman rule followed from 1571 and British administration from 1878; the Republic of Cyprus became independent in 1960 and joined the European Union in 2004.
A short timeline
- Choirokoitiac. 7000 BC
One of the oldest villages in the Mediterranean.
- The city-kingdomsFrom c. 1100 BC
Paphos, Salamis and Kourion.
- Rome and Byzantium58 BC to 1191
The Paphos mosaics and the painted churches.
- Lusignans and Venetians1192 to 1571
Gothic cathedrals and castles.
- Ottoman and British rule1571 to 1960
Then independence in 1960 and the European Union in 2004.
