Beyond The Mediterranean Hues

From Mosaic Masterpieces To Colourful Murals, Discover An Immersive Culture In Cyprus. 

- Ajay Sood

As I nervously got out of the car, a genial, portly man in uniform hurried forth to welcome me uttering a reassuring “I know all about you”. It was well past five in the evening and I had just reached the archaeological site of Palaipafos (‘old Pafos’ in Greek) in Kouklia village, Pafos. During our conversation, I learnt he was the man in charge of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. This site was about 14 kilometres from Pafos city and was one of the three that were jointly inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1980—the other two being in the city, close to Pafos Harbour.

While the museum here closes at 5pm during spring, apparently someone from the tourism department had called ahead to accommodate this photographer from India who was keen to check out the 3,200-year old mosaic masterpieces. As I exhaled a deep sigh of relief, I could feel my admiration for the department going up.

Palaipafos, one of the most important ancient city-kingdoms of Cyprus, is linked to the Aphrodite Cultural Route. While archaeological excavations here are still on, some remarkable finds have already been unearthed. From the excavated ruins replete with two feet-thick walls and Gothic columns, some of the 12th-century artefacts and mosaics have been moved into the museum on site.