Paphos - City of Cyprus

Paphos is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In Antiquity two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos.Paphos is the birthplace of Marios Joannou Elia, an internationally famous composer.

Paphos is the mythical birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, and the founding myth is interwoven with the goddess at every level. In Greco-Roman times Paphos was the island's capital, and it is famous for the remains of the Roman Governor's palace, where extensive, fine mosaics are a major tourist attraction. The apostle Paul of Tarsus visited the town during the first century. The town of Paphos is included in the official UNESCO list of cultural and natural treasures of the world's heritage.

Archaeologists report that the site of Paphos has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. It was a centre of the cult of Aphrodite and of pre-Hellenic fertility deities. Aphrodite's mythical birthplace was on this island, where her temple was erected by the Myceneans in the twelfth century BC. The remains of villas, palaces, theatres, fortresses and tombs of the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods mean that the site is of exceptional architectural and historic value. The mosaics of Nea Paphos are among the most beautiful in the world.

Old Paphos, now the site of Kouklia was seated on an eminence, at the distance of about ten stadia from the sea, on which, however, it had a roadstead. It was not far distant from the promontory of Zephyrium and the mouth of the little river Bocar.

Paphos enjoys a typical Mediterranean climate, with the greatest amounts of precipitation mainly occurring from mid-November to March. It practically never rains in the summer, but especially in July and August humidity measurements can go up to 85%.

Snowfall occurs rarely, approximately every 10 years, although this does not normally lead to any significant disruption. Snowfall does occur in the hills of Tsada, 6km north, almost annually. The last significant snowfall in the city centre occurred in Winter 2001.