After our five weeks in Gibraltar, we decided to head next to Cyprus. We knew we would find a lot of interesting history there, and housing is half the cost of Gibraltar. Cyprus is a beautiful island country about as far east in the Mediterranean Sea as Gibraltar is west (see map below.) Our temperatures for the past six months have been in the mid  50 to 70 F range and Spring will be here soon.  We have been fortunate to walk along the sea as well as explore many archeological ruins for our daily outings.  Life is pretty quiet on the island and many shops and sights are still shuttered, but we are noticing signs of “normal” life returning. People here find 60 degree weather (16c) to be cold. They are bundled up in their winter parkas and even the dogs are wearing coats! We walk around the island in our shirtsleeves, and they look at us like we are crazy. But it’s a nice walking temperature for us.

Besides learning about the Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine eras from the beautiful mosaics, ruins and churches we were amazed to hear of signs of human civilization dating back as far as 12,000 BCE.  Of particular interest to me were the stories of the apostle Paul, St. Barnabus and St. Mark introducing Christianity to Cyprus in the 1st century, a relatively short time ago in comparison to 12,000 BCE! While we wanted to see more of the traditional Byzantine churches up in the Troodoos mountain area, this will have to wait. To follow our most recent paths, I have included a map of the region, also showing Porto, Portugal where we hope to head next.
Places we have been recently 2021-2021 in black

Places we have been recently 2021-2021 are in black lettering.

We arrived in Paphos on the west coast of Cyprus mid December, and Deb immediately headed off to the US to spend a couple of weeks with her family. Tim had a nice couple of weeks wandering Paphos, mostly along the ocean trails. Our ultra-modern apartment backed up to a huge archeological preserve “Nea Paphos” that housed the remains of a Greek and then Roman city. The city is known for it’s dozens of elaborate mosaics.

mosaic Cyprus

Cyprus mosaic

The mosaics were mostly found in the remains of four large Roman villas. In addition, Cyprus is considered the mythological birthplace of Aphrodite. And Paphos was the center of her worship.

mosaic Cyprus

For our daily walks, we mostly walked along the ocean paths that ran to the North. The path was a mix of rugged coastline, luxury homes, and even a shipwreck.

abandoned ship off Paphos

swimming area near Paphos

A few of the luxury homes up the coast from us.

modern dwellings in Paphos

And although the water was cool, Deb did find time for a swim on one of the warmer days.

Deb swimming near Paphos

Although Cyprus has a hot and humid climate during the summer, the winter was very comfortable for us. We had occasional rain, but things were also much greener than we expected.

interesting tree with orange bulbs

Up the coast from us a couple of miles was a Roman burial ground. The rock appears to be a type of limestone, and burial crypts were carved into the rock by hand.

Here is a brief history of Tomb of the Kings from the website: http://www.mcw.gov.cy/.

“The ‘Tombs of the Kings’ is the impressive necropolis (a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments) that is located just outside the walls, to the north and east of Pafos town. It was built during the Hellenistic period (3rd century B.C.). It’s name is associated with the impressive character of its burial monuments. The ‘Tombs of the Kings’ was the place where the higher administrative officers and distinguished Ptolemaic (ancient Greece) personalities as well as the members of their families were buried. The necropolis was continuously used as a burial area during the Hellenistic and Roman periods (3rd century B.C.-beginning of 4th century A.D.). There is sufficient evidence to support the fact that the first Christians also used the site for their burials, while at the same time the site constituted an endless quarry. Squatters established themselves in some of the tombs during the Medieval period and made alterations to the original architecture.”

Cyprus ruins near Paphos

Originally, the open areas would have had rock covers.

Cyprus ruins near Paphos

 
well preserved archeologic ruins

archeological ruins looks like tombs

In some cases they appear to have carved out so many tombs in the rock that there is almost nothing left.

Cyprus ruins near Paphos

The opening below heads off to the right, and one can go for a couple hundred feet underground through the various tombs and caverns.

archeological ruins Paphos

Back to our ocean walks- this memorial statue was on the North end of our daily trek. Reminded me of an eagles nest. I believe this commemorated one of their military generals.

soldier statue with "bird nest"

Well, that’s all for now. We’ll do a second post on Cyprus, outlining our stay in Larnaca. Then on to Israel!

Deb and Tim in Cyprus