Tuesday 17 October 2017

TRAVEL TUESDAY #101 - PAPHOS, CYPRUS

“Behind each woman rises the austere, sacred and mysterious face of Aphrodite.” - Nikos Kazantzakis 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.
Paphos (Greek: Πάφος [Pafos]; Turkish: Baf) is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today at Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Paphos lies on the Mediterranean coast, about 50 km west of Limassol (the biggest port on the island), which has an A6 highway connection. 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 Castle (seen above) is located on the edge of Paphos harbour. It was originally built as a Byzantine fort to protect the harbour. It was then rebuilt by the Lusignans in the thirteenth century after being destroyed in the earthquake of 1222. In 1570 it was dismantled by the Venetians. After capturing the island, the Ottomans restored and strengthened it.

Throughout the ages it has seen many uses. It has served as a fortress, a prison and even a warehouse for salt during the British occupation of the island. More recently the castle serves as a backdrop to the annual open air Paphos cultural festival, which takes place in September. It was declared a listed building in 1935 and represents one of the most distinctive landmarks of the city of Paphos. Several archaeological excavations have taken place to investigate its past.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

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8 comments:

  1. beautiful landmark and i like this meme. it takes me around the world. :)

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  2. Glorious!! You've been so many places I've never heard of!

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  3. Interesting quote. Beautiful shot. I haven't been to this part of Greece before. It's a country I would love to go back and explore sometime.

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  4. Cyprus is a beautiful country - part Greek part Turkish. Beautiful back in the 1960s when I lived there - just as beautiful if maybe just a little bit damaged now. I stood very close to where your photo was just taken, recently in 2014.

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  5. Wow, that castle has quite the history to it. I can't believe how many times it was rebuilt.

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  6. Stark, isn't it? Since it was originally built as a Byzantine fort, the building's location on Paphos harbour was ideal. Yet the Venetians pulled it apart and the Ottomans rebuilt it. Paphos must have been on the cross roads of every trading or marauding people in the Mediterranean.

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  7. Scrambled around the castle today whilst on a weeks holiday in Paphos. Fascinating history and entrance only 2e50

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