In the founding myth, the town’s name is linked to the goddess Aphrodite, as the eponymous Paphos was the son (or, in Ovid, daughter) of Pygmalion[15] whose ivory cult image of Aphrodite was brought to life by the goddess as “milk-white” Galatea.[clarification needed]
The author of Bibliotheke gives the genealogy.[16] Pygmalion was so devoted to the cult of Aphrodite that he took the statue to his palace and kept it on his couch. The daimon of the goddess entered into the statue, and the living Galatea bore Pygmalion a son, Paphos, and a daughter, Metharme. Cinyras, debated as to if he is the son of Paphos[17] or Metharme’s suitor, founded the city under Aphrodite’s patronage and built the great temple to the goddess there. According to another legend preserved by Strabo (xi. p. 505), it was founded by the Agapenor, a hero of the Trojan wars.[18]
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Old Paphos (Palaepaphos), now known as Kouklia (Greek: Κούκλια; Turkish: Kukla or Konuklia; French: Covocle) (Engel, Kypros, vol. i. p. 125), is on a hill[19] to the east of the modern city. It had a road which spanned a few miles to the sea. It was not far from the Zephyrium promontory [20] and the mouth of the Bocarus stream.[21]
Archaeology shows that Old Paphos has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. It was a centre for Aphrodite‘s cult. Aphrodite’s mythical birthplace was on the island. The founding myth is interwoven with the goddess such that Old Paphos became the most famous and important place for worshipping Aphrodite in the ancient world.[22]
The Greek names of two ancient kings, Etevandros and Akestor, are attested in Cypriot syllabary on objects of seventh century BC found in Kourion.[23]
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The Greeks agreed that Aphrodite had landed at the site of Paphos when she rose from the sea.[24] According to Pausanias (i. 14), although her worship was introduced to Paphos from Syria, it was much more likely that it was of Phoenician origin. Before being proven by archaeology it was thought that Aphrodite’s cult had been established before the time of Homer (c. 700 BC), as the grove and altar of Aphrodite at Paphos are mentioned in the Odyssey (viii. 362).[18] Archaeology established that Cypriots venerated a fertility goddess in a cult that combined Aegean and eastern mainland aspects before the arrival of the mainland Greeks. Female figurines and charms found in the immediate vicinity date back to the early third millennium. The temenos was well established before the first structures were erected in the Late Bronze Age:
There was unbroken continuity of cult from that time until 391 AD when the Roman Emperor Theodosius I outlawed all pagan religions and the sanctuary fell into the ruins in which we find it today.
— Ashmolean Museum[25]
Old Paphos was the centre of worshipping Aphrodite for the whole Aegean world. The Cinyradae, or descendants of Cinyras, were the chief priests; Greek by name but of Phoenician origin. Their power and authority were great, but it may be inferred from certain inscriptions that they were controlled by a senate and an assembly of the people. There was also an oracle here.[26] Few cities have ever been so much sung and glorified by the poets.[27] The ruins of Aphrodite’s vast sanctuary are still discernible, its circumference marked by huge foundation walls. After its destruction by an earthquake it was rebuilt by Vespasian, on whose coins it is represented, as well as on earlier and later ones, and in the style on those of Septimius Severus.[28] From these representations and the existing ruins, Gustav Friedrich Hetsch, an architect of Copenhagen, has attempted to restore the building.[18][29][30]
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New Paphos (Nea Paphos) was founded on the sea near a natural harbour. It lay about 60 stadia or 12 km northwest of the old city.[31] It also had a founding myth: it was said to have been founded by Agapenor, chief of the Arcadians at the siege of Troy,[32] who, after the capture of the city, was driven out by the storm that separated the Greek fleet onto the coast of Cyprus. (Pausanias viii. 5. § 2.) An Agapenor was mentioned as king of the Paphians in a Greek distich preserved in the Analecta;[33] and Herodotus (vii. 90) alludes to an Arcadian “colony” in Cyprus.[18]
In reality, it was probably founded by Nicocles (d. 306 BC), the last king of Palaepaphos, based on an inscription recording his founding of the temple of Artemis Agrotera at Nea Paphos. The inhabitants of Marion were probably also transferred to this new city after its destruction in 312 BC by Ptolemy.[34] A hoard of unused silver coins (in the Cyprus museum) found under the Hellenistic House dating back to the end of the 4th century BC are the earliest find at the site and indicates its founding date.
Old Paphos always retained the pre-eminence in worship of Aphrodite, and Strabo states that the road leading to it from New Paphos was annually crowded with male and female votaries travelling to the ancient shrine, and coming not only from the New Paphos, but also from other towns of Cyprus. When Seneca said (N. Q. vi. 26, Epistle 91) that Paphos was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, it is difficult to say to which of the towns he refers. Dio Cassius (liv. 23) relates that it was restored by Augustus, and called “Augusta” in his honor; but though this name has been preserved in inscriptions, it never supplanted the ancient one in popular use.[18]
An inscription from the 80s BC speaks of a certain Onesander of Paphos being appointed to the Great Library of Alexandria.[35]
According to the biblical Acts of the Apostles, after landing at Salamis and proclaiming the Word of God in the synagogues,[36] the prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Saul of Tarsus, traveled along the entire southern coast of the island of Cyprus until they reached Paphos.[37] There, Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul, was converted after Saul rebuked the Sorcerer Elymas.[38] In Paphos, Acts first identifies Saul as Paul.[39]
Tacitus (Hist. ii. 2, 3) records a visit of the youthful Titus to Paphos before he acceded to the empire, who inquired with much curiosity into its history and antiquities. (Cf. Suetonius Titus c. 5.) Under this name the historian included the ancient as well as the more modern city: and among other traits of the worship of the temple he records that the only image of the goddess was a pyramidal stone.[18]
The sanctuary was closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire.
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Paphos Archaeological Park covers most of the ancient Greek and Roman City and is a UNESCO World Heritage site for its ancient ruins.
The most significant remains so far discovered are four large and elaborate Roman villas: the House of Dionysos, the House of Orpheus, the House of Aion and the House of Theseus, all with preserved mosaic floors. In addition, excavations have uncovered an Agora, Asklepion, the Basilica of Panagia Limeniotissa, a theatre, and a necropolis known as the Tombs of the Kings.
Panoramic view of the port and the medieval castle.
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Paphos gradually lost much of its attraction as an administrative centre, particularly after the founding of Nicosia. The city and its port continued to decline throughout the Middle Ages and Ottoman rule, as Nicosia, and the port city of Larnaca became more important.
The city and district continued to lose population throughout the British colonial period and many of its inhabitants moved to Limassol, Nicosia and overseas. The city and district of Paphos remained the most underdeveloped part of the island until 1974.
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Following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, there was rapid economic activity in all fields, especially tourism in the Kato Paphos area. The government invested heavily in irrigation dams and water distribution works, road infrastructure and the building of Paphos International Airport, the second international airport in Cyprus.
In the 1980s, Kato Paphos received most of the investment. In the 1990s, Coral Bay Resort was further developed and in the 2000s, the Aphrodite Hills resort was developed.
Today Paphos, with a population of about 35,961 (as of 2018), is a popular tourist resort and is home to a fishing harbour. Ktima is the main residential district while Kato Paphos, by the sea, is built around the medieval port and contains most of the luxury hotels and the entertainment infrastructure of the city. Apostolou Pavlou Avenue (St. Paul’s Avenue), the busiest road in Paphos, connects two quarters of the city. It begins near the city centre at Kennedy Square and ends outside the medieval fort at the harbour.
