Cyprus - Tombs of the Kings

I was feeling full and relaxed after lunch (could have been the large wine. When you order a glass of "house red" here you have no idea how large it will be. This one had been a bucket) but Rick pointed out that the next site we were to visit closed at 5 and it was getting on for 3:30. Google said it was only 7 minutes away but I had lost my faith in her. 

This route was pretty straight forward and we arrived in a short time. The website stated to expect to spend 1 to 2 hours which I had not really believed but it was right. Another huge complex.

I hadn't really known what to expect. I did not visit this site the last time I was here. The first tomb was large but very plain. I asked Rick to stand there to give a sense of the size of the doorway.

Some of the others

were quite elaborate with columns, porticos and rooms

We went down uneven stone stairs into the ones that were still complete, each with a well (for ceremonial purposes) and multiple rooms and niches.

Some were only partially subterranean as the roofs had fallen in or been quarried.

Some, with steep, uneven steps, I just peered into from above.

Some were not below ground and it was unclear if they had been originally or not.

The more important tombs had QR codes to scan but they didn't download very effectively

so we were left guessing.

According to research, roughly 100 Ptolemaic aristocrats who had lived and died in Paphos during the 3rd century B.C – but their resting places didn’t stay sealed or untouched for too long. The catacombs were later used by Christians, with one of the tombs being turned into a chapel. Some of them were later turned into workplaces and makeshift homes during the Middle Ages.

Unfortunately, long before excavations began in 1977, the area was looted and most of the artefacts were deemed to be stolen. Some tombs were left untouched – and these were found when archaeologists excavated a number of burials from the Hellenistic period. Three of the overall 18 hadn’t been robbed; probably due to the fact that there was a large amount of collapsed material in front of them. From Greekreporter.com

It was difficult to determine what had been carved out

and what had just been eroded over time.

The local sandstone is pretty soft.

It was a great day, good weather, lots of walking and impressive sites.