SOLI ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

This site (Soli Antik Kenti, Αρχαιολογικός Χώρος των Σόλων/Archaiologikos Choros ton Solon) houses the Greco-Roman remains of Soli/Σόλοι, one of the most powerful city-states of Cyprus during antiquity. Here, you can admire well-preserved Palaeochristian mosaics and enjoy a pleasant panorama of Morfou Bay. The town is said to have been founded on the site of Aïpéia, itself founded in the ^11th century BC by settlers from Thessaly (Greece). The copper mines of the Solea valley on the Troodos ensured its wealth for over two millennia. In the ^7th century BC, the city was populated by Athenians and renamed Soli. Destroyed by the Persians in 493 BC, it was rebuilt and provided valuable assistance to Alexander the Great during his conquests. It was then incorporated into the Hellenistic kingdom of Egypt. Renamed Soles by the Romans, it was one of the first Cypriot towns to be won over to Christianity, thanks to the passage here of the apostles Mark and Paul. The city was destroyed by the Arabs in 648. Known as Casal Solia ("estate of Soli") under the Lusignans, the site was plundered in the ^19th century to build Port Said and the Suez Canal in Egypt.

Mosaics. Shortly after the entrance are the ruins of a vast ^4th-century Early Christian basilica, rebuilt in the^5th century and reworked until the ^8th century. Under cover, they were unearthed in the 1960s by Quebec archaeologists. The large building (45 x 25 m) was dedicated to St. Auxibius, the first bishop of Soli (^1st or ^4th century), who, according to Christian tradition, was baptized here by St. Mark and ordained bishop by St. Paul around 60 A.D. It features remarkable ^4th-century mosaics: geometric motifs (checkerboards, crosses, etc.) and animals (birds, fish, horse, bear, dog) with symbolic meanings, such as fish representing baptismal water. One of them bears the Greek inscription "Jesus, protect those who made these mosaics". The Roman theater, which could seat 3,500 people, is disappointing: it was clumsily reconstructed in 1962. But above it, there are beautiful views. On the shore, note the old jetty used in the ^20th century to ship copper from the Troodos. And on the southern slope of the hill lies the necropolis where the "Gold of Soli" was unearthed, on display in the Morfou Museum.