About Pafos (Paphos)

Enter another world, where idols and temples, graves and goddesses make up the fabric of everyday life.Pafos is where Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, is said to have risen from the waves that crash on its shores.

Petra tou Romiou, or Aphrodite’s Rock, is a massive chunk of stone that marks the spot. Her birthplace was a place of pilgrimage for the entire Hellenic world. Aphrodite’s presence seems to have drawn other divinities and notable mortals as well. Excavations have unearthed the spectacular 3rd - 5th century mosaics of the Houses of Dionysus, Orpheus, and Aion, and the Villa of Theseus - buried for sixteen centuries and yet remarkably intact. Their grace of line and subtlety of color will surely inspire elevated feelings in those who see them. Also in this region is the Odeon Theater, a stone structure still used as it was in ancient times for outdoor concerts, plays, and games.

Later periods of history have also left their traces. The Tombs of the Kings, in Kato Pafos, is a monumental honeycomb structure carved into sheer rock whose vaults held the tombs of Ptolemy period nobles. Nearby, the stone pillar where St. Paul, according to tradition, was bound and beaten for preaching Christianity thrusts heavenward.

The Chrysorrogiatissa Monastery was founded in the 12th century A.D. and is dedicated to “Our Lady of the Golden Pomegranate.” The neighboring monastery of Agios Neofytos contains some of the world’s finest Byzantine frescoes and icons as well as an interesting Byzantine museum.