PAPHOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

This national museum (Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Επαρχίας Πάφου/Archaiologiko Mousio Eparchias Pafou, Archaeological Museum Pafos District) brings together the main finds from the Paphos district. Rich and well presented, it comprises five rooms. The first is devoted to prehistory, with objects from the Lempa and Kissonerga sites: skeleton of a 20-year-old woman buried around 3000 BC, flints for woodworking and leatherwork, ceramic vessels representing all the phases of the Bronze Age, figurines, jewelry, reconstitution of diet from charred grains (wheat, barley, lentils, grapes, figs, olives). Room 2 covers the Archaic and Classical periods, with objects mainly from the sites of Palaipaphos (in Kouklia), Marion (in Polis) and Nea Pafos (archaeological site of Nea Paphos): Athenian pottery, Cypriot bichrome pottery decorated with animal representations (^8th-7th centuries BC), a numismatic collection (8th-7th centuries AD), and a collection of objects dating from the Bronze AgeC.), a numismatic collection, votive terracotta statuettes depicting certain parts of the body, large stone statues from Palaipaphos evoking Cycladic kouroi and Egyptian art, a^5th-century B.C. tombstone bearing the Cypriot syllabic inscription "Onasias erected this for his father and mother", etc.

Therapeutic hot-water bottles. Room 3 features objects from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. These are mainly from excavations carried out at the Nea Paphos site: Hellenistic stone sarcophagi, Roman marble sculptures. Note the therapeutic clay hot-water bottles discovered on the Asclepion. Also from the same period, note the tombstones, sarcophagi, columns and capitals gathered outside the museum. Room 4 houses finds from the Roman, Early Christian and Arab periods, from excavations in the port area of Kato Paphos and the Villa of Dionysus in Nea Paphos: wall paintings, oil lamps, Roman glazed pottery with elaborate shapes painted with birds or abstract motifs. Finally, objects from the medieval period can be found in room 5. They come mainly from the archaeological site of the Basilica of Panagia Chrysopolitissa and the Castle of Saranta Kolones (Nea Paphos): Venetian glazed pottery, glass vessels, stone sculptures, wall paintings, Frankish tombstones with inscriptions in Greek and Latin.