Pafos Mosaics
(Thomas;2006)
In old Pafos ("old" means the lower part of town, near the harbour) there are the remains of several huge Roman villas. There's not much left standing but a huge collection of mosaics has been excavated during the last decades. They are partly in the open, with wind and sun slowly wearing them down, but even when there is a protective cover they are invariably dusty and dirty. In comparison to some of the eye-catching mosaics we saw in Turkey (during our spring trip) we were a little disappointed. Anyway, here are five of the better ones.
The first shows the wrath of Apollo (right) who sentences Marsyas (left). The latter was a singer who had the temerity to challenge the god to a singing contest; of course he lost.
Another contest, another winner: this is Cassiopeia who has just won a beauty contest (Miss Cyprus?) against the Nereids.
The next three mosaics come from the so-called house of Dionysos. First two animal scenes: a tiger…
as well as a peacock.
This one shows Dionysos himself: proudly riding on a chariot which is pulled by two leopards, flanked by satyrs and slaves.
Want to see more? Go back to Avgas Gorges or go on to Ayios Neofytos or go up to Southern Cyprus.
$updated from: Southern Cyprus.htxt Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:04:38 trvl2 (By Vero and Thomas Lauer)$