Paphos has outstanding mosaics by the harbour and just a ten minute walk from the harbour is the Basilica,twenty minutes from the town is the impressive Tombs of the Kings.
Audio tour of the mosaics now available.
In 1966 work was being carried out which uncovered the remains of several buildings, one of which was found to be a villa, this is now known as The Villa of Theseus.
The villa is the largest villa ever to be found in Cyprus up to date, and dates from the 4th century B C.
Evidence suggests that the villa was started in the 2nd century A D, on ruins of an earlier house of the Hellenistic and Roman period.
As you look around the villa you will see the building was very grand, the villa surrounded a large courtyard on all four sides, and would have had two functions -as an official and a domestic residence, which were defined by the decoration and the marble in the official rooms.
In 1942 when British troops were digging trenches a mosaic was found but the trench was filled in and forgotten.
In 1963 some excavation work was carried out and in 1978 but it was in 1982 when the mosaic of Orpheus charming the beasts was discovered. The Amazon and Hercules and the Lion of Nemea were found at the same time.
The three mosaics were housed under a large structure, but in 2006 due to a storm the structure was damaged and the mosaics have been covered over since to protect them.
The house appears to have been built in the 2nd Century A.D. and was destroyed after earthquakes that struck the region in the first half of the 4th century.
The Odeon, which was restored in 1973, looks out over the Agora, which was the focus of the political, commercial, social and religious centre.
To the side of the Odeon is the temple to Asklipeio God of Medicine.
Sanranta Kolones which means forty columns, This castle was built from recycling stone from the surrounding area, but the first castle to stand on this site was a Byzantine castle built in the 7th century A.D. to protect the city from Arab raids, the present castle was destroyed in 1222by an earthquake.
At the beginning of the 4th century A.D. a magnificent Christian Basilica, the largest on the island, was built.
The floors were decorated with mosaics in floral and geometric patterns
And the columns were made of granite and marble with the Corinthian styled capitals.
You can see Saint Paul’s pillar here, when according to history Saint Paul was flogged by the Romans and also where the Roman Governor Sergius Paulus was converted to Christianity.
Twenty minutes out side Paphos town is the Tombs of the Kings
The Tombs of the Kings are impressive enough to be worthy of Kings, but infact were carved out of the bedrock for rich merchants and their families.
Their tombs were highly decorated and the families come to leave gifts for their dead.
There are smaller tombs which you will find as you walk around the site, at the far end is a tomb with a gate on the front, through which you can see how the tombs were painted.