Paphos Archaeological Park, Nea Pathos, Cyprus
Posted by: AngelPick
N 34° 45.361 E 032° 24.506
36S E 445858 N 3846146
Paphos Archaeological Park contains many mosaics and other ruins.
Waymark Code: WMGQRT
Location: Cyprus
Date Posted: 04/02/2013
Views: 30
Because of their great antiquity, and because they are closely and directly related to the cult and legend of Aphrodite (Venus), who became the ideal of beauty and love, inspiring writers, poets and artists throughout human history, Paphos is of outstanding universal value. Pre-Hellenic fertility deities were worshipped in Cyprus from Neolithic times. Many of the archaeological remains are of great antiquity, as Paphos has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. While the mosaics of Nea Paphos are extremely rare and rank among the best examples in the world. The architectural remains of villas, palaces, theatres, fortresses and rock-hewn peristyle tombs are of outstanding historical value as they are one of the keys of the understanding of ancient architecture.
Nearby, the stone pillar where St Paul according to tradition was bound and beaten for preaching Christianity. The Chrysorrogiatissa Monastery was founded in the 12th century and is dedicated to Our Lady of the Golden Pomegranate. The neighbouring monastery of Agios Neofytos contains some of the world's finest Byzantine frescoes and icons as well as an interesting Byzantine museum.
Palaipaphos (Old Paphos) was one of the most celebrated pilgrimage centres of the ancient Greek world, and once the city-kingdom of Cyprus. Here stood the famous elaborate sanctuary of Aphrodite, the most ancient remains of which date back to the 12th century BC. It is the most significant of a dozen such consecrated sites in Cyprus The glorious days of the sanctuary lasted until the 3rd-4th centuries AD. Amphoras and ceremonial bowls from here, many of which are on display in the Cyprus Museum in Lefkosia, depict exquisitely costumed priestesses as well as erotic scenes from the sacred gardens that once surrounded the temple.
The Pathos Archaeological Park was inscripted by UNESCO in 1980 and is registered as No. 79.
Admission to the site is EUROS 3.40 (March 2013).
Many thanks to the UNESCO website
HERE and the small Wikipedia website
HERE
Both of these sites provided the info above, many thanks...