BY agapi
Standing grandly at the west end of the town’s harbour, Pafos (Paphos) Castle (Medieval Fort) was originally a Byzantine fort built to protect the harbour, and was rebuilt by the Lusignans in the 13th century, but then dismantled by the Venetians. The Ottomans rebuilt it in the 16th century when they conquered the island. What […]
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Aphrodite’s mythical birthplace ‘Petra tou Romiou’ is an interesting geological formation of huge rocks along one of the most beautiful coastlines on the island, located on the southwest coast of the Pafos (Paphos) district. According to the legend, the Ancient Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty – Aphrodite – was born of the sea foam […]
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Located in Kato Pafos (Paphos), the Panagia Chrysopolitissa Church was built in the 13th century over the ruins of the largest Early Byzantine basilica on the island. Within the compound is St. Paul’s Pillar, where according to tradition, Saint Paul was flogged before the Roman governor Sergius Paulus was converted to Christianity. The church was […]
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The so-called Catacomb of Agia Solomoni was originally built in the Hellenistic period. It consists of an open court surrounded by five rock – cut chambers, one of which has a spring. The west chamber has an apse set into the west wall and remnants of Christian wall paintings. It is clear that at some […]
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Located in the village of Geroskipou, this interesting 9th century Byzantine church is a five-domed, three-aisled, barrel-vaulted basilica, making it one of only two such churches on the whole island, and a significant example of Byzantine architecture. The beautiful interior wall paintings date to various periods, from the 8th-15th centuries. A monochrome reddish cross, painted […]
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The history of the Monastery of Agios Neofytos is well documented in the autobiography of its founder, the Cypriot hermit and writer Neofytos. It is built in what used to be a secluded location at the head of a picturesque valley, about 10 kilometres northwest of Pafos (Paphos). The “Egkleistra”, an enclosure carved out of […]
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The Μonastery of Agios Irakleidios, a women’s monastery, contains wonderful 13th and 16th century frescoes and the most ancient wooden iconostasis in Cyprus which is ornamented with heraldic historical beasts such as the Byzantine eagle and the Lusignan lion, and with the armory of various Latin knights. Saint Irakleidios, a pupil of the Apostles Paul, Barnabas and Mark, who was ordained […]
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Agios Ioannis (St John’s cathedral), within the walled city of Lefkosia (Nicosia), is built on the site of the 14th century chapel of the Benedictine Abbey of Agios Ioannis, the Evangelist of Bibi. Archbishop Nikiforos rebuilt the monastery chapel from its foundations in 1662. Dedicated to Agios Ioannis the Theologian, it remained a monastery until […]
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Tenta, the name of a lens – shaped hill that rises about 20 metres above the western side of Vasilikos Valley, lies about 2.5 kilometres from the village of Kalavassos. The earliest remains of human habitation at Tenta date back to the Aceramic Neolithic period (c. 7500 BC – c. 5200 BC). There appears to […]
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This 15th century convent near the village of Lefkara consists of a church, cloisters and other monastic buildings. Besides performing their religious rites, the nuns also paint icons. The church is the common mix of Byzantine and Gothic styles, with a pointed vault with traverse ribs and side porticos. On the north and south walls […]
