Pafos Archaeological Park

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Mosaic detail with Dionysus procession, Villa des Aion, Pafos
Mosaic of Ikarios and Dionysus, Villa of Dionysus
Franconian fortress of Sarandë Colonnes

The Pafos Archaeological Park is the fenced excavation area of ​​the ancient city of Paphos in what is now the city of Pafos on the south-western coast of Cyprus. It covers about a third of the ancient city. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The city was founded probably in the 4th century BC. BC, even before it became a city of the Ptolemaic Empire . The remains of buildings that have been preserved come mainly from the subsequent Roman period.

tour

The tour begins with a visitor center, which provides some general information and shows individual finds from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. The highlights of the park are the Roman villas with their in-situ floor mosaics from Tesserae .

The Villa des Aion is the remains of a smaller building that lies in front of the governor's palace. The floor mosaics in the reception hall show, among other things, Leda with Zeus, who has turned into a swan, and Dionysus on the lap of the god Hermes. 34 ° 45 ′ 24 ″ N, 32 ° 24 ′ 20 ″ E

The villa of Theseus was probably the almost 10,000 m² palace of the Roman governor. The core of the palace is a wide inner courtyard with over 100 surrounding smaller rooms. The villa, which has been excavated by archaeologists from the University of Warsaw since 1965, is believed to have been built in the second half of the 2nd century AD and lived in until the 7th century. Your most important mosaic shows Theseus and the Minotaur in room 36, which is directly adjacent to the inner courtyard. 34 ° 45 ′ 24 ″ N, 32 ° 24 ′ 15 ″ E

A particularly large number of well-preserved mosaics were discovered in the villa of Dionysus between 1962 and 1965, which are covered for their protection. They deal with the typical topics of the Roman upper class in the imperial era and show primarily hunting, fighting and love scenes. The name "Villa of Dionysus" does not refer to the name of the host, but is named after the large mosaic with Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. 34 ° 45 ′ 30 "N, 32 ° 24 ′ 22" E

The Roman Odeon 34 ° 45 ′ 37 ″ N, 32 ° 24 ′ 26 ″ E in front of the Agora 34 ° 45 ′ 37 ″ N, 32 ° 24 ′ 29 ″ E has been largely reconstructed.

Also worth seeing is the fortress of Saranda Kolones from Franconian times, in which many ancient columns were reused as spolia . 34 ° 45 ′ 27 "N, 32 ° 24 ′ 35" E

literature

  • WA Daszewski and D. Michaelides, guides of the Paphos mosaics, (published by the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation), Nicosia 1989, ISBN 9963-42-012-5
  • Andreas Schneider, Cyprus (travel guide), DuMont Reiseverlag, 3rd edition, Ostfildern 2014

Web links

Commons : Pafos Archaeological Park  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Schneider, Cyprus, p. 148
  2. ↑ Daszewski and Michaelides, Guide to the Paphos Mosaics, p. 52f