It was a long but amazing day of cultural visits. Today we drove to Paphos and visited the Kourin archaeological site, Aphrodite’s Rock, Paphos Mosaics, and the Tomb of the Kings.
First stop was the Kourin archaeological site. It was so interesting to see how the remnants of houses and rooms from so long ago still standing today. One fact we learned that stood out to me was the system they used to collect rainwater. We were able to observe the draining system, and the complexity and stability of it after thousands of years surprised me. At the same archaeological site we got to sit in an amphitheater. First glance it looked like the entire structure had been preserved, but we soon learned that more than half of it had been destroyed during an earthquake. We got the chance to stand in a spot located in the middle of the stage and when you talk (or sing) your voice is projected much louder than it would normally be. This is another structural phenomenon that I still don’t completely understand but regardless it is very neat that they figured this out.
Next we visited the Petra tou Romiou, Aphrodite’s Rock. This location is said to be the birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. We learned that she emerged from sea foam near this rock. Many people in Cyprus are told that if they swim to this rock naked, at midnight, and during a full moon then magically women could be given a tiny bit of her beauty and men eternal youth. While we unfortunately didn’t get the chance to do that (bummer) we did get to climb up one of the rocks and admire the view from above.
Quickly after, we stopped at the Tomb of the Kings. Here we got to go into many underground burial chambers that were used for any class of individuals or families that wanted to be buried together. We learned that for a long time the cremation was allowed so if they ran out of space smaller chambers were used to hold the ash remains of people. After this we stopped for lunch at the pelican tavern, and the only reason I mention is because of the very cool tame pelican we met while there.
Our last visit of the day was to the Paphos mosaics. This site was so unique and unbelievable. The mosaics were a part of the house of Dionysus, which had been owned by a wealthy wine maker. The remaining structure had been discovered by someone operating a tractor and upon investigations an entire buildings floor had been discovered. You can see both mosaics that had been created with different colors of pebbles from the ocean and some that had been created with small stones. The patterns, intricacy, and details put into each one of these different mosaics was stunning. We were told that if you looked at this one mosaic you could name off any shape or pattern and you would be able to spot it. It worked for me and many of the shapes that had been incorporated on this specific mosaic were later used as recognizable symbols for countries or movements worldwide.
I learned so much information today from our multiple cultural visits and I do not think I would be able to name one as my favorite.
