Filenews 28 December 2020 - by Dora Christodoulou
Since 2011 the archaeological hoe has been working to bring to light one of the most important periods in the long history of the city of Paphos: its Hellenistic and Roman phase, with its "flagship" the ancient market of the city. And if the dramatic hours of the world today due to a pandemic have temporarily halted this effort, a book already presented months ago in Paphos comes to give the full dimensions and importance of the project.
It is the book that analyzes the long work of the Polish archaeological and academic mission in Paphos. The curator of the publication and in charge of the largest research project of the University of Krakow and one of the few archaeological projects in Poland in the field of Classical Archaeology, Dr. Evdoxia Papoutsis-Wledyka, pointed out by presenting this book to the authorities and the public of Paphos, that the excavations are part of a significant investment in a site listed on the World Heritage List. , in the capital of Cyprus during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
An area with an area of about 110 hectares is enclosed by the walls of the ancient city, according to the project manager, which was designed according to the hippodamean urban planning system, on the basis of which a grid of vertical and rectangular roads defined the residential units, leaving large open spaces for public buildings and temples.
"Paphos acquired a port, the oldest theatre on the island, temples and possibly a palace on the hill of the acropolis, which would be in Fanari, on the hill of Faros," he explains. "To the east of the acropolis, under the hill, protected from the strong westerly winds was the Agora along with the Conservatory, which would also serve as an MP for the assemblies of the Municipality. Archaeological research by warsaw university and the Department of Antiquities has yet to reveal areas in the west of the city with Roman-era residences, while other buildings are known from inscriptions and ancient texts, such as the Gymnasium, but none of them have yet been identified.
Nea Paphos owed its reputation to its port, to easy access to the rich regions, mainly to forests and copper mines and to its strategic position on the commercial roads of the eastern Mediterranean that were to experience great growth after the conquest by Alexander the Great".
Paphos, stresses the head of the excavations, developed into an important "Emporio", a key freight station on the sea roads between the Aegean Sea and Alexandria, Egypt. Important findings from the excavations in Paphos, such as commercial amphorae from many regions, but also the great influence of Alexandria on the architecture of the city, visible particularly in the necropolis of the Tombs of the Kings, are indicative of the economic and cultural ties of the city with the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean but also that the port of Paphos was a place of commercial facilities, he says.
In the heart of every Greek city, the Agora
The Greeks in antiquity considered that a city cannot be called Polis if it does not have a Market and Theatre
The site of the "Acas", which is at the archaeological epicentre of interest, stresses Mrs Papoutsis, is particularly important for the ancient city of Paphos.
It is well known, he explains, that the Greeks in antiquity considered that a city cannot be called Polis, in the ancient sense, if it does not have a Market and Theatre. The Agora was the main square in every ancient city.
"Thus, the Agora is located in the heart of every Greek city, of which it is a political, social, religious and economic centre of the community. It also functioned as the city's sports, artistic and spiritual centre.
The research project for the Paphos Market began in 2011, but the market was discovered earlier, in the 1970s, when Kyriakos Nikolaou from the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus had excavated the Roman market. At the time, they believed that the Market had sides about 100 meters long and was enclosed by sub-camps. The dating of the Market was according to the data at the time from the 2nd to the 4th century AD.
Our university's research project for the Paphos Market is developed in two phases: the first from 2011 to 2014 and the second, the current phase, from 2015 to 2020, both phases are funded by the Polish Science Centre and the Jagiellonian University of Krakow."
Initially, stresses its head, the research project for the Paphos Market set out to verify the findings of Kyriakos Nikolaos, to determine whether there was a Hellenistic period market under the Roman period, to determine the dating and form of this public space, and to analyze the architectural evolution of the market.
"In the second phase of the project, which began in 2015, the scope of our investigations was expanded," he stresses. "The market investigation continued, but we expanded our investigations throughout the city, using non-invasive and geo-archaeological techniques to document the architectural remnants of infrastructure of an economic nature and economic activities."
Great revelations
The Paphos Market was surrounded by large artees, says Evdoxia Papoutsis-Wledyka in the book, noting that it is one of the great successes of the finding that the Eastern and Southern Markets were erected at the end of the 2nd century BC, when the market authorities have now moved some 300 years earlier than previously had been suspected.
"It is also very important to mention that research has so far not revealed architectural remains dating back to the earthquake of the 2nd century AD, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. This means that the Market probably ceased to function as such, and it is not excluded that the activities of the market were transferred to other buildings, such as the House of Theseus. But this is a working hypothesis and needs to be studied more."
It also reveals that the case of the existence of a second port, near the beach of Faros, is being investigated.
"According to geoarchological research, a simulation by the team of geoarcheologists shows that the sea coast in antiquity was 2.5 meters higher than today. The moat near the western wall of the city, east of the beach of Faros, could not have been the basin of the port, but could serve as a refuge for pulling ships ashore."
