Welcome To Back In Time Tours

Taking you on a journey back to the past

in Cyprus

The Roman city of Paphos laid forgotten for many years until 1962 when ground levaling work was being carried out and some pieces of mosaic fragments were found. The Department of Antiquities were called in and ground work was stopped. Between 1962 and 1965 under the direction of the late K Nicolaou of the Department of Antiquities, a number of mosaic floors were found belonging to a large villa. This was called the House of Dionysos. The viilas which have been found in this quarter of the city are thought to have belonged to rich merchants and the largest one, possibly the residence of the pro-counsel himself. The other villas are the house of Aion and the house of Orpheus. The park is a world heritage site. There is also a Castle to see called Saranta Kolones (which means forty pillars). There were originally two castles on the site - a Byzantine castle which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1222 and the later castle built by the Lusignans which is where the castle gets its name from. The castle was built from recycling stone from the old city which you can see when you walk around. Just a 10 minute walk is the Basilica, the ruins of the largest early Byzantine basilica on the island. Within the compound you can see Saint Paul's Pillar, where according to legend this is where Saint Paul was flogged before the Roman Governor Sergius Paulus coverted to Christianity.