Palaipafos

Palaipafos, also known as Palaepaphos, is an archaeological site located near the hamlet of Kouklia in Paphos. Its foundation traditions evoke both Aphrodite and Agepenor, a hero of the Trojan War, and it is tied to the ancient religion of the "Great Goddess" of fertility. The Sanctuary of Aphrodite, constructed by the Mycenaeans circa 1200 BC, is Palaipafos' oldest and most renowned landmark.

Palaipafos was a religious and cultural center until its final monarch, Nikokles, transferred the capital to neighboring Nea Paphos in the 4th century BC. Palaipafos resurfaced as a cultural and religious center under the Romans. Many noteworthy monuments can be found on the site, and the museum, which is housed in a 13th-century mansion, displays the excavated remains.

The House of Leda; the northeast entrance of the defensive wall; the city wall and the Palace of Hadji Abdulla; the Church of Panagia Katholiki; the Lusignan Manor House; the cemeteries and the Lusignan sugar-cane factory on the coastal plain are the other noteworthy structures of Palaipafos.

The museum, which is situated in a Lusignan Manor, displays many interesting artifacts from the area and depicts how the Cult of the Goddess of Fertility evolved into the Cult of Aphrodite, while the sugar-cane refinery is also available to the public. The Sanctuary of Aphrodite is one of the site's most important structures and the most famous of the Goddess' sanctuaries. Its ruins originate from the 12th century BC, and it was used as a place of worship until the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.

Address: Kouklia village, 14km east of Pafos.