Saint Neophytos Monastery & Nea Pafos Archeological Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cyprus

 


We travelled to the monastery mainly to see the cats and take in some history.  In 2010 when we were last at the Monastery, there were cats everywhere and we stopped counting at 200.  We spent a lot of time playing with them and feeding them.  There were beautiful Persians, Calicos, Siamese and other more usual short-haired cats.  I wanted to re-live this experience but to no avail.  We tried to find the cats and asked several people for directions to see the cats.  They used to just hang out in the parking lot.  We took several trails and got a lot of exercise but we still could not find the cats.  It turns out that it is now called Tala Cat Sanctuary and it is just off the property which we could not find.  There are no signs up anywhere.




There were a few cats on site, that were hungry for love, warmth and affection.  The grounds of the Monastery were very nice.  This cat posed for me in front of an old Olive tree.




The views of the Mediterranean Sea are very pretty when you are high up on the mountain visiting the Monastery.



Darren with a cat that wanted some love and warmth.




Ancient marble columns are the norm in Cyprus.  These were part of the grounds at the Monastery.




Tiny door to leave the cave of Saint Neophytos.




The Monastery was built into the rocks.





The monastery is interesting and dates back to 1159.  Saint Neophytos started to build his hermitage, small chapel and eventual tomb into a cave.    You are not allowed to take pictures inside the cave.  The paintings in the cave are still extremely vivid and colourful.  The monastery today is still active and has expanded.  There is a small museum with many interesting artifacts as well as the Saint's coffin.




In the museum, there is a collection of pottery urns that date back to 750 BC and they are in amazing shape.



This is the Saint's coffin to the right.





We stopped for a coffee and dessert at the little outdoor cafe.  I had a piece of Baklava which was decent and this is a common dessert in Cyprus.

The Archeological Park was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.  In 1962 a farmer was ploughing his field and discovered the first Roman mosaic tiled floor.  We were last here in 2010 and there was not a lot of excavation done yet but now there is much more to see.  This Roman site dates back to the 2nd century.




The Roman Mosaic Tile Floors are amazing and have been covered up for over 1700 years.




Looking down at the floors.  There are two buildings that house several mosaic floors but most are still being exposed to the elements.



This was my favourite mosaic floor due to its intricacy in the design.










The excavated theater is interesting to sit in but the castle was the most interesting for all of us.  Darren is never interested in castles so he hung out with Krista who also does not have a great interest in history.  Cory, Kent, Corinne and I hung out in the castle ruins for quite some time trying to figure out what everything was.  There was an earthquake in the 1200s that destroyed the castle.




The craftsmanship on the broken marble column is amazing.




Down inside the Castle ruins




We could not figure out what this was to the right.




Kent, Corinne and Corey trying to figure out what the purpose of the long object would be in the ancient castle.




A doorway down into the depths of the castle.


There are large black granite columns that belonged to the Castle but they are now strewn around the archeological site.  The Saranta Kolones Castle  (40 columns) was built in the 600s to defend the port. 


 We wandered around in the tomb area for a bit and then headed back to the entrance.




Krista is sitting at the top of the hill just outside the tomb area.


The tombs to the left.




We were all hungry and checked out the restaurants along the Mediterranean Sea.  I ordered a Seafood Risotto and a nice glass of White Cypriot wine.







Paphos has a very pretty harbour, especially at sunset.

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