EELA 2015

Full Day Excursion – Paphos Town (04/06)

[whitespace height=”30″][section][one_third][whitespace height=”10″]

Full Day Excursion

Paphos Town

Thursday, June 4, 2015

09:00-17:00

[hr style=”1″ margin=”30px 0px 30px 0px”]

Excursions

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

[whitespace height=”10″]The entire town of Pafos is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring monuments of exquisite and unique beauty. Pafos was the capital of Cyprus for a long period of time in antiquity.

On our way to reach Paphos town, we will make our first stop to Pissouri and in particular at ‘Petra tou Romiou. The legend has it that according to mythology, the Goddess of Love and Beauty was born through the foam of this sea.

We will then head off for the ‘Tombs of the Kings’. This area contains underground tombs said to rest noble men, carved out of solid rock, which date back to the 3rd century B.C and causing a sense of mystery and secrecy.

Continuing the trip to pure history, we will then walk to the nearby ‘Roman Villas of Dionysos’, where the guests will see the ploughshare which accidentally uncovered part of a mosaic pavement in 1962. This was the beginning of a series of excavations that finally revealed a total of 22 rooms, 14 of them with mosaic floors representing scenes of hunting and Greek mythology of exquisite beauty and perfect geometry.

Just next to Paphos Archeological Park where the mosaics are located, we will meet Paphos Fort. This was originally built to protect the harbour but was dismantled by the Venetians in 1570. During the 16th century, the Ottomans restored and rebuilt the fort after they captured the island. Here we will make a stop for traditional fish meze lunch by the harbour.

Within our tour, we will visit the 12th century St. Solomoni Christian catacomb as well as a visit to Early Byzantine basilica Chrysopolitissa church and St. Paul’s Pillar.

[/two_third_last]

[/section]