When I prepared my trip to Cyprus, I found that the 1980 ICOMOS document report on listing Paphos as World Heritage Site especially the matter of "Petra tou Romiou" was quite interesting and strange. In the old document three sites were proposed, two sites from Kouklia village which were Petra tou Romiou and Palaepaphos, and one site at Paphos, the Kato Paphos, but from official information right now those three sites turn out to be one site from Kouklia, the Palaepaphos, and two sites from Paphos, Kato Paphos with Neo Paphos and the Tombs of the Kings. I do not know why the area was clearly changed, maybe something happened behind the door of World Heritage Committee. Maybe the idea of Petra tou Romiou rock representing legend of Aphrodite’s birth was too intangible at that period before the idea of cultural landscape or mix site existed.

Although Petra tou Romiou is mysteriously omitted by UNESCO, the rock is still the most popular tourist destination of Paphos, and I am not surprised since the area is beautiful, I walked along the beach and hoped to see the wave and bubble in the form of Aphrodite as in the legend. The view around Petra tou Romiou is also great. I skipped the Palaepaphos site in Kouklia village and drove directly to the sites at Paphos. After lunch I leisurely walked to the famous Paphos Archaeological Park. I already noted that the attraction of Paphos is mosaic in the House of Aion and House of Dionysus and indeed the mosaic in those two houses are really impressive especially at the House of Dionysus. The quality and size of mosaic floor in House of Dionysus is truly world class, equally the one I impressed in Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta of Aquileia. However, the most surprising one in my opinion is the colorful mosaic of Achilles at Villa of Theseus that is displayed without any protective shelter right now. Apart from mosaic, all those ruins are quite disappointing with nothing much to see also the uninspiring seaside dry environment with almost no tree or any green made the whole Archaeological Park a bit of desert. Then I went to the Tombs of the Kings to find out that this place probably the second most popular sight of Paphos after Petra tou Romiou. The star attraction is Tomb No.3 with the impressive underground tomb and well-preserved Doric columns. Another one is the huge Tomb No.8 with the vibe of Ethiopian’s Lalibela Churches. With those dark tunnels and chambers, the tombs seemed to be popular among children with noisy hind and seek game.

Overall Paphos is an amazing place, but I found that those ruins are not my cup of tea. There is nothing much left to imagine together with empty landscape with no shade really made me wanted to finish the visit quickly and rushed back to café or hotel for refreshment. Anyway, Paphos is the first Greek ruin I have experienced so it will take a special place in my memory and a good bottom line for comparison to other future ancient Greek sites that I hope to visit in Greece. Also, I am happy that at least I have seen Villa of Theseus before Cypriot government and Getty make a final decision to build protective shelters, seeing those mosaics with direct natural light and those under shelter is really different experience.