Saranta Kolones or 40 Columns Castle at Kato Paphos Archaelogical site
‘You got 5 minutes?’ I wasn’t sure if it was a question or a warning that I needed to vacate the hotel before check-out time had expired. ‘I think i have an hour!’ I answered noticing that it was only around 9.30am, 1.5 hours in fact before the checkout deadline. ‘Come with me’ he gruffly urged, motioning me through the narrow passageway, past the reception and past the pool, which backed onto a tiny, but functioning, whitewashed Orthodox church, that I passed by every day on my two days in Paphos.
Charming white washed church directly behind Crystallo Hotel, Paphos
I wondered if he had caught me giggling at the bar sign at the pool: ‘Wine 3EUR per glass; ‘bootle’ of wine (rose only) 12EUR….’ Or did he notice that I used a hotel towel at the pool; what was I in trouble for?’ I trundled after him through the rugged grasses and backblocks directly behind the hotel to the piles of fenced off stone and rock that I had bypassed every day that I walked down to the beach or in search of the beach, catacombs, churches and other tourist attractions of Paphos, Cyprus. ‘You’re from Australia, aren’t you?’ he probed. He then proceeded to explain that a Professor Green and his team from Sydney University had been excavating this site since the 1990s. It was all still fenced off, with each part backing onto houses or apartments. According to this hotel owner, homes have been demolished in the process of the excavation; he mentioned this without any tone of judgement, but I did wonder if this meant that eventually his hotel (Hotel Crystallos) which took up a block of the land, would be demolished in the process. I thanked him and mentioned that I was indeed intending to visit the significant Paphos Archaeological Park before my departure of the city. It was Orthodox Easter Monday and I had missed out attending yesterday due its public holiday closure. That was Easter Sunday, one of the few days of the year, in which this occurs. I was urged to drive to the carpark at the site rather than walking. No amount of discussion about how I had enjoyed my daily 15-minute walk to the precinct convinced my host that I wanted to leave the car parked out the front of the hotel to reach the site. ‘Park there, then you will have more time’, he insisted. Wondering if he just wanted to free up parking spaces, I eventually agreed, and did eventually find a park in the highly touristed car park. Maybe he was onto something there as, despite power walking around the site, I spent around two hours there, met a couple from Sweden (another core tourist group after the UK) and even then only scratched the surface of what there was to learn about Hellenistic, Roman, early Christian, Frankish and Ottomon life in this region. I felt it was well worth the 4EUR spent to enter the site, and I didn’t even, attempt to use my ICOM pass (or, I’m afraid to admit, pass as a pensioner!!) but I am still happy to admit that some of the best experiences of my two days in Paphos were spent in the less touristed caves, catacombs and churches off the beaten track, but just around the corner from my hotel.
Ottomon Public Baths, visible from the street in Paphos
Hellenistic Theatre with Lighthouse, built in 1888, when Cyprus was under British administration, the island was a key military base protecting the route of ships travelling through the Suez Canal to the colonies.
Detail of mosaic of Phaedra and Hippolytus, late 2nd, early 3rd century AD, at Kato Paphos. Hippolytus is accompanied by his dog, hunting and is embarrassed while reading Phaedra's love letter.
Detail of Peacock mosaic, Kato Paphos
Kourion Archaeological site, near Limassol.
One of the many great things about travel in Cyprus, especially as an Australian is that you can easily drive, as, unlike most of Europe, you can drive on the left-hand side. Another benefit for Australians is that there are relatively short distances between locations. In one day, I managed a sleep-in, drove one hour from Paphos, after spending two hours at the Archaeological precinct, stopped at Limassol for two hours and, an hour later, arrived in Larnaca with plenty of time for a walk around the streets and the marina. In Limassol, rivalling Paphos’s Archaeological Park is Kourion, a city kingdom, built on the hills of the area and eventually destroyed in a severe earthquake in 365 AD.
What's left of the gladiators' house at Kourion
When driving solo, it is common to end up somewhere near where you typed in, but not quite. I had keyed in ‘Kourion’ and ended up on the heavily pebbled Kourion beach instead of the archaeological precinct. A quick check assured me I wasn’t far off, so I maximised my error by eating my prepared sandwich, taking in the white cliffs and stoney beach. Not as touristed as other beaches in Cyprus, I was tempted to strip off and take a dip.
A quick drive around the corner took me to a car park. I could see the site above and decided, much to the bemusement of the ticket seller to walk the 15-minute incline, taking in the deeply creviced caves and sea views along the way.
Kourion is named after the colonist, Kouriefs, and, according to a Herodotus myth, was founded by Achaean settlers who came as permanent settlers from Argos in the Peloponnese. Naturally, they brought with them their language and culture.
On the same hill are the remains of the four-post temple dating from the end of the classical period, particularly the Hellenistic (325-50 cen. BC), Roman (50-330 cen. AD) and early Christian era (4th cen. AC - late 7th cen. AD). It was a sanctuary providing baths for the athletes when they exercised. There is also an arena. It is a central courtyard surrounded by colonnades.
The white cliffs of the Kourion beach are a perfect backdrop to the archaeological site.
The baths themselves originally opened off the central room to the north and east, where there were cold baths (frigidarium). Before each is a shallow footbath; while on the west, the remains of the hypocausts - which heated the medium room (tepidarium), and the hot room (caldarium) - can be seen. In the latter, the built-in basins for hot baths have survived, as have the firing chambers, where hot air was carried through the hypocausts, travelling up through specially cut flues, through the walls, and beneath the terracotta tiles of the floor.
There were various mosaic floors in the ‘House of Achilles’ and the ‘House of the Gladiators’, with the villas named after the scenes depicted on the mosaics.
Public baths at Kourion
Beneath Kourion is a delightful and unique stone church, Agios Ermogenis with an adjacent café and large adventure playground. There were several families enjoying get togethers, making the most of the Orthodox Easter Public Holiday. The church is dedicated to Saint Ermogenis, who was born in the 4th century and, according to the story, was eventually executed for spreading Christianity, his corpse being thrown to the sea in a wooden casket but then found elsewhere by Christians. It is said the relics of the Saint are in this 17th century church and on 5th October a large festival is held in his honour.
Agios Ermogenis
Agios Ermogenis interior
And I did indeed purchase a ‘bootle’ of rose, consumed in both Paphos and Larnaca.