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Paphos
| Site number: | 79 |
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| Type of site: | Cultural | |
| Date: | prehist-12thBC | |
| Date of Inscription: | 1980 | |
| Location: | Europe, Cyprus, District of Paphos | |
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| Description: | Inhabited since the Neolithic period, Paphos had acted as the centre of the cult of Aphrodite and of pre-Hellenic fertility deities. According to legend Aphrodite was born on this island; the Myceneans erected her temple here in the 12th century B.C. With its surviving villas, palaces, theatres, fortresses and tombs, the site holds incomparable architectural and historic value. The encompassing Nea Paphos mosaics are among the most striking in the world. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available. | |
| Paphos (Paphos is usually written Paphos or Paphus in English, (Ancient Greek: Πάφος; Modern Greek: Πάφος, Páfos; Latin: Paphus, and for a time, Augusta; Turkish: Baf, formerly Baffa) is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In Antiquity two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos. Paphos is the mythical birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, of love, sexual intercourse and beauty. And the founding myth is interwoven with the goddess at every level. In Greco-Roman times Paphos was the island's capital, and it is famous for the remains of the Roman Governor's palace, where extensive, fine mosaics are a major tourist attraction. The apostle Paul of Tarsus visited the town during the first century. The town of Paphos is included in the official UNESCO list of cultural and natural treasures of the world's heritage. The Mayor of the Paphos Municipality is Savvas Vergas, a member of Diko party. The town is capital of Paphos District. Paphos is the birthplace of Marios Joannou Elia, an internationally famous composer and Rauf Denktaş, who was Turkish Cypriot leader for more than 30 years. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. | ||
| Source: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/79 | |
| Reference: | 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page. | |