31 Jan 25 - ORCA Saga Eastern Med Cruise Day 12 - The Paphos Archaeological Park

In the previous Blog Post, I covered some of the Birds and Butterflies we saw as we walked around the outside of the Paphos Archaeological Park. Finally, we entered the town. Before I reached the entrance gate, I saw this fantastic building which turned out to be offices for a local property developer. There is a similar-themed hotel nearby which is full of similar murals depicting Paphos's history. This building helps to bring to life how the original Greek buildings might have been decorated.

A local property developer's offices

This is excellent artwork

More artwork

Another excellent painting

Paphos has a lot of decent-looking gardens within the urban area

A street view: The locals were keeping the streets clean, which was a real contrast to the filthy streets of Palermo

There were a few common species hanging around the town.

Woodpigeon: This is the nominate palumbus subspecies which occurs from Europe to West Siberia, East Turkey & Iraq. They winters in Southern Europe & North Africa

Hooded Crow: This is the sharpii subspecies which occurs from Italy to the Balkans, Asia Minor, North Iran & Kazakhstan

A map of the Paphos Archaeological Park

Perhaps the most bizarre sign on the gents toilet that I've seen: Especially, as it is so nearly spelt as Anti Pee

Sardinian Warbler: This is the nominate melanocephala subspecies which occurs in Southern Europe, the Canary & Mediterranean islands, West Turkey & North Africa

Sardinian Warbler: I was pleased with the last photo given how skulky Sardinian Warblers normally are. But this second individual was more showy

Sardinian Warbler: Then it became even more photogenic

Sardinian Warbler: Even in a bare-leaved bush, they can hide fairly well

This Troodos Lizard was just inside the Archaeological Park. It's clearly had a lucky escape when it lost its tail.

Troodos Lizard: This common and widespread Lizard is endemic to Cyprus

The ruins are excellent and well worth a visit. There are some superb mosaics inside buildings that had been constructed to protect and display them. It would have been good to have a few more signs explaining what each of the ruins are.

Without signs, it is difficult to explain much about the ruins

I suspect gravel has been laid in some areas to protect surfaces under the gravel

The remains of a water pipe

These buildings date from a period when most Ancient Britons were still living in simple wooden huts

It was well worth looking in the buildings as they contained some excellent mosaics.

Mosaic in the House of Aion: The mosaic in this building got its name from a depiction of Aion, the god of time and eternity

Mosaic in the House of Aion

Mosaic in the House of Aion: The level of detail is exceptional

Mosaic in the Villa of Theseus: This was built in the second half of the second Century AD on the ruins of older houses from the Greek and Roman periods

Mosaic in the House of Dionysus: This mosaic showed a big hunting scene

Mosaic in the House of Dionysus: The knew about Lions which still occurred in the Levant and Egypt in those days

Mosaic in the House of Dionysus: They would have known about Tigers since the days of Alexander the Great

These pillars give a sense of scale to some of the buildings

This stone container was several feet across in size

Raised walkways ensured visitors didn't damaging the ruins

Heading towards the Paphos Lighthouse

Some of the buildings had deep basements

These are presumably underground storage rooms

There are large parts of the site which look like they haven't been excavated

The Paphos Lighthouse: This was built when Cyprus was under British administration in 1888

Lexie with her ORCA parents: Some of the passengers through Karen & Terry were Lexie's parents, which became a running joke during the trip

Back on the waterfront

Another tender run from the shore

It had been a really enjoyable visit to Paphos. Overnight we sailed for Antalya in Turkey.

31 Jan 25 - ORCA Saga Eastern Med Cruise Day 12 - Historical Birding In Cyprus

Our fourth landing on the Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise was Paphos in Cyprus. It was a very different location to the previous day in Limassol, despite being only an hours' drive along the coast. Limassol was an uninspiring industrial port, with its most interesting point being it was within walking distance of the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri. Paphos was a smaller town with a population of around thirty-five thousand, which is under a quarter of the population of Limassol. Secondly, Paphos doesn't have a large harbour complex. Consequently, we were ferried ashore by some of the ship's tenders, which double up as lifeboats. Going ashore by tender is extra hassle for the ship's crew and therefore, my initial reaction was the destination must be interesting enough to warrant the extra effort. I was not wrong.

Paphos Castle: The quayside Paphos Castle greeted our arrival. It was originally a Byzantine fortress built to protect the port, until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1222. It was later restored by the Ottomans in 1592

This ancient harbour is used by small boats

A nice quayside statue

There is a two square kilometre Paphos Archaeological Park behind the harbour. This is part of a World Historical Site which protects the important ancient Greek and Roman city. The Greek city dates back to about 400 BC. It is still being excavated, but so far, four large and elaborate Roman villas: the House of Dionysos, the Villa of Aion, the House of Theseus and the House of Orpheus, all with superb preserved mosaic floors have been discovered. The site is fenced off with a good walkway around the coastal edge of the site. We decided to walk this area first.

The path along the edge of the Paphos Archaeological Park: This proved to be a worthwhile place for Birding

Stonehenge-on-sea

The shoreline looks like it will attract Waders during their migration season

Crested Lark: There were several Crested Larks along the path

Crested Lark

Crested Lark

I was pleased when Terry spotted this Red-throated Pipit feeding just inside the fence.

Red-throated Pipit: This monotypic species breeds in the tundra of the North Palearctic & Alaska. They winter from Africa to Indonesia

Red-throated Pipit: A good view of the whitish tramlines on the mantle

Red-throated Pipit: A species I would love to find at St Aldhelms, albeit it won't look as smart in the Autumn

Red-throated Pipit: This individual is clearly moulting right to left on its throat

Red-throated Pipit

Red-throated Pipit

Clouded Yellow: There were a few Butterflies along the pathway, but only species that occur in the UK

Small White

Zitting Cisticola: This is the neuroticus subspecies which occurs in Cyprus, the Levant, Iraq & West Iran

House Sparrow: This is the biblicus subspecies which occurs in Cyprus, North Israel & North West Jordan to West Syria, South East Turkey to North West Iran

House Sparrow

Laughing Dove: This is the senegalensis subspecies which is spreading West from Turkey to neighbouring islands and Greece

Laughing Dove: The subspecies also occurs in West Arabia, Socotra & Sub-Saharan Africa

The Paphos Lighthouse lies within the Archelogical Park

The MV Demetrios II which ran aground in 1988: It's looks too fragile to remove it now, even if there was the will

Woolly Mammoth: I didn't expect to see this at Paphos. Apparently, there is a Hairy Rhinoceros in the adjacent shopping centre

I will cover the rest of the visit to Paphos in the next Blog Post.