This is not usual for us but somehow in our trip through Cyprus the major attraction has been left to the last day, the day of the flight. This was the only way that we were able to plan for it so today we are early and bright ready for the breakfast so we can leave towards the Kato Paphos archaeological park as soon as possible.
As usual we are overwhelmed by the choices available for breakfast in Europe. We go for diversity vs quantity and soon our table is full of delicacies that we have to struggle to eat before we leave.
Next it is time to drive a short distance to the Kato Paphos Archaeological Site. The parking area is quite large but also quite full so we are happy when we find a parking spot relatively close to the entrance.
While we are close to the entrance we discover we are separated by a totally gratuitous fence so now we have to go all the way around it to finally arrive at the entrance. And there to our surprise when we go to pay they say no, no just go in so we go in for free, quite weird.
After a climb of many stairs that might be a bit exhausting in the heat we are inside the archaeological area, it is quite extensive as far as we can see and also given what the map is showing. So we have our work cut out for us as we have to exit at around 2 PM.
The first stop on our visit is the House of Aion. The most famous mosaic here is in the former dining hall with many scenes covering various Greek myths. It is quite well preserved and you can walk around it and watch it from different angles to see the details.
Not all the mosaics are covered but even the ones outside are quite special and we understand why this site is an Unesco World Heritage Site. The mosaics are quite diverse and beautiful, likely we are in the rich area of the old town.
For some of the mosaics we understand what they represent by just looking at them and are only confirming it is true by reading the description. One of these is the representation of the Labyrinth with Theseus killing the Minotaur in the center of the labyrinth.
One of the things which is different from the other sites we visited is that there are more tourists here than anywhere else. And sometimes they can be annoying like our “nemeses” that are jumping in front of us to take hundreds of photos while a like forms behind them waiting for them to finish. This happens also at one of the more impressive sights the Ancient Colonnade which is quite photogenic so we understand a bit the need to take many photos :).
We then move on a few side paths away from the main trail and are finally free of the two groups that were sandwiching us in and making us wait and then hurry at each stop.
We decide to explore even further afield following a trail which leads us to an archaeological site which seems to have been excavated but never prettied. It looks more to what we think an archaeological site would look like without restoration and it is a good contrast to the rest of the larger site. From here we also see the castle and we do our best to find at least some birds.
And while admiring the flowers we do find some birds, the most interesting one being the Zitting Cisticola, a lifer bird for us.
Returning on the main trail we continue on towards a large building which we hope has the restrooms and maybe some vending machines to buy some cold drinks. We find the vending machines nearby but the large building itself encloses a wealth of mosaics from the so called House of Dionysius
We walk around exploring all the mosaics and reading the descriptions. Our preferred mosaics are about the hunt, not because of the topic depicted but more because of how tiger, lions and other wildlife were depicted, you can barely recognize them.
Next stop is near the Odeon and the central square of the old town. Here we also find the restrooms which are small but quite welcome especially after the cold drinks we bought from the vending machines. We also watch as a parachute seems to land on an airplane, an optical illusion but a cool one.
From here the trail continues on but the sites are less excavated or there where fewer buildings in this area. As such we are walking through the fields enjoying the flowers, birds and views but there are few ancient ruins to be seen.
It is a beautiful trail however with the many flowers and it is also not that popular with very few people doing the full circuit.
We see swallows and martins all around us behaving a bit weirdly and following them we notice that they are actually mobbing and keeping an eye on a kestrel that intruded in the airspace above us from the city.
The lighthouse and Odeon are quite far now as the trail finally starts to curve towards them following the cliffs towards the seaside. Here there are some interesting manmade caves, we are wondering if these were for Christian hermits or stores for the defenders in case of war?
With cliffs come the lizards, it is always interesting to watch them, some are bold and unafraid while some run away at the first sign of movement.
As we approach the lighthouse the trail becomes quite scenic as it leads right above the cliffs. To us they seem ever so sligthly to be chiseled by humans to create a natural wall for the city in case of invasions from the sea.
Back at the lighthouse we take the opportunity to view it up close and then descend towards the Odeon as we now make our way back to the entrance via a different path.
There are birds everywhere and some are more common ones like the Great Tit and Crested Lark, both of them are fun to see but we have seen a lot of them during the visit.
However above us passes another bird and we take a photo and don’t even look at it closely as we assume it is either a heron or some type of hawk. And then we look more closely at the photo later and it is an European Bee-Eater, a bird that we were looking for in multiple countries across multiple trips. What a bonus for our visit here!
Last stop is at the Forty Columns Fortress. It is a ruined medieval fortress which takes its name from…you can guess….the number of columns found during the excavation.
It is a Byzantine castle built around the 7th century to protect the port from the Arab raiders and was later remodeled by the Lusignans. It had a moat which is still visible and while relatively small it must have been quite impressive. Unfortunately it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1222 and subsequently abandoned. And with this we are done, we find another exit directly into the parking lot and it is time to go to the airport and return the car and catch our flight.
