page_title: Paphos
section_title: New Paphos
hierarchical_section_title: Paphos / Old Paphos / New Paphos
caption_attribution_description: St Paul's Pillar in Paphos, Panagia Chrysopolitissa Church behind
context_page_description: Paphos, sometimes spelled Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and is the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos.
  The current city of Paphos lies on the Mediterranean coast, about 50 km west of Limassol, both of which are connected by the A6 highway. Paphos International Airport is the country's second-largest airport. The city has a subtropical-Mediterranean climate, with the mildest temperatures on the island.
  Paphos is included in the official UNESCO list of cultural and natural treasures of the world's heritage for its ancient ruins and was selected as a European Capital of Culture for 2017 along with Aarhus.
context_section_description: New Paphos (Nea Paphos) was founded on the sea near a natural harbour. It lay about 60 stadia or 12 km northwest of the old city. It also had a founding myth: it was said to have been founded by Agapenor, chief of the Arcadians at the siege of Troy, who, after the capture of the city, was driven out by the storm that separated the Greek fleet onto the coast of Cyprus. (Pausanias viii. 5. § 2.) An Agapenor was mentioned as king of the Paphians in a Greek distich preserved in the Analecta; and Herodotus (vii. 90) alludes to an Arcadian "colony" in Cyprus.
  In reality, it was probably founded by Nicocles, the last king of Palaepaphos, based on an inscription recording his founding of the temple of Artemis Agrotera at Nea Paphos. The inhabitants of Marion were probably also transferred to this new city after its destruction in 312 BC by Ptolemy. A hoard of unused silver coins (in the Cyprus museum) found under the Hellenistic House dating back to the end of the 4th century BC are the earliest find at the site and indicates its founding date.
  Old Paphos always retained the pre-eminence in worship of Aphrodite, and Strabo states that the road leading to it from New Paphos was annually crowded with male and female votaries travelling to the ancient shrine, and coming not only from the New Paphos, but also from other towns of Cyprus. When Seneca said (N. Q. vi. 26, Epistle 91) that Paphos was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, it is difficult to say to which of the towns he refers. Dio Cassius (liv. 23) relates that it was restored by Augustus, and called "Augusta" in his honor; but though this name has been preserved in inscriptions, it never supplanted the ancient one in popular use.
  According to the biblical Acts of the Apostles, after landing at Salamis and proclaiming the Word of God in the synagogues, the prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Saul of Tarsus, traveled along the entire southern coast of the island of Cyprus until they reached Paphos. There, Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul, was converted after Saul rebuked the Sorcerer Elymas. In Paphos, Acts first identifies Saul as Paul.
  Tacitus (Hist. ii. 2, 3) records a visit of the youthful Titus to Paphos before he acceded to the empire, who inquired with much curiosity into its history and antiquities. (Cf. Suetonius Titus c. 5.) Under this name the historian included the ancient as well as the more modern city: and among other traits of the worship of the temple he records that the only image of the goddess was a pyramidal stone.
  The sanctuary was closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire.
caption: St Paul's Pillar in Paphos
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