Paphos City is located in the heart of the Paphos area, which is one of the largest municipalities on the west coast of Cyprus. The city is in fact two cities, the old and the new. Lower or Kato Paphos as it is also known lies off the coast and makes up the majority of the holiday resort. Most of the resort’s bars and restaurants are located around this area of Paphos, either on the bar street or on the harbor front. The liveliest sector is definitely the bar street that runs parallel to the main street. Apart from the many bars, there are some great restaurants serving a wide variety of international cuisine. However, the port is the center of the cafe life in Paphos with its trendy bars and restaurants where you can relax enjoying the magnificent view of the Mediterranean.
Kato Paphos also has a lot to offer for culture lovers. The restored Roman Odeon now hosts summer concerts and theatrical performances right where gladiators once engaged in mortal combat. A few steps from the port are the beautiful ancient mosaic floors of the house of Dionysus that cover most of the excavated rooms. Also near Paphos harbor is the site of the old Saranta Kolones fort built where an original Byzantine castle once stood. Unfortunately, even this later structure was destroyed by an earthquake in 1222. At the end of the harbor stands Paphos Castle again originally built by the Byzantines, rebuilt by the Lusignans in the 13th century only to be dismantled by the Venetians in 1570. They found themselves unable to defend it against the Ottomans, who in turn rebuilt it as it is to this day.
While visiting the ancient sites around Kato Paphos, it’s worth walking up the hill to the Church of Panayia Chryasopolitssa, which is built on the site of the largest early Byzantine basilica in Cyprus. Next to the church there is a fenced area with several stone pillars, one of which is reputed to be the pillar of Saint Paul the Apostle of Jesus. This is where Paul received 39 lashes for preaching the gospel in Cyprus. Soon after, the Roman governor of Paphos converted to Christianity, leading Cyprus to become the first Christian state in the world.
A few miles from Paphos harbor is the ancient site of the tombs of the kings. The tombs are carved into the bedrock and many are decorated with rock-cut Doric columns. Despite its name, no king was interned at the site, but it earned its title because it was deemed fit for a king’s burial. The theory is that various local Nobel laureates or important dignitaries were buried there. You don’t have to look far in the Paphos area to find places of historical interest and some of them date back even before Roman times. Then, of course, there’s all that Greek mythology in which Cyprus plays a big part. The island is said to be where Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexual ecstasy, landed after her birth from the foam of the sea. We won’t go into all the gory details of how she came to be, but it did involve a certain amount of castration by some god or another. Anyway, Aphrodite’s rock is located a few kilometers from Paphos and can be seen from a restaurant on top of a cliff.
The beauty of Paphos from the point of view of tourists from Cyprus is its proximity to the airport and the main coastal highway. Access to the rest of the island, including the capital Nicosia, is very easy, either by coach or with a rental car. With so much to see and do, you’ll never cram it all into one holiday, which is why people return to Paphos year after year. There is no doubt that this charming Cyprus resort with its many historical buildings will remain intact for a long time. Perhaps this combination of old and new is part of its appeal, but you’ll never know until you visit Paphos Cyprus for yourself.