Filenews 5 January 2021 - by Dora Christodoulou
The Municipal Authority of Paphos raises the issue of the acquisition of Shelley House, which belongs to the state, by itself in order to stop its long abandonment and to move the Municipality to its promotion, maintenance and exploitation. It is one of the most charged historical buildings in the city, the existence of which most ignore precisely because of the abandonment of decades.
This intervention has already been expressed by the Mayor of Paphos, Phaedon Phaedon, who in a post pointed out that the Shelley House in Paphos belongs to the State. "It has been abandoned for years," he stressed. "We could preserve it and make use of it."
Shelley House returned to the forefront of public life in Paphos during the city's operation as European Capital of Culture in 2017. It was one of the places where the European Capital of Culture Agency carried out actions, so visitors were informed of one of the historical sites that for decades remained left in oblivion and whose existence is ignored by the younger generations of Pafia.
It is the house that many knew as the residence of the respective Police Director of Paphos, until recently, but who were unaware of its history. Its inclusion in the Programme of Events of the European Capital of Culture has revealed in recent months a story as a fairy tale behind this unknown aspect.
The house was named after Dr Horatio Shelley, a British doctor in English, who served as director of Medical Services from 1947 to 1953.
The director of the artistic program of "Paphos 2017", Georgia Decher, had stated at the time to "F" that through the minimal information in newspaper archives around his life, dr. Shelley emerges as an interesting case of fallacies in the network of colonialism.
"He travelled extensively, particularly to Africa, where he was actively involved in the study of the use of poisons and antidies in ceremonies of African magic," he stressed. "He came to Cyprus from Taganika, part of present-day Tanzania, and led the campaign against malaria that was affecting the island.
After his retirement, Horatio Shelley settled in this house in Paphos, to leave a few years later for Rhodesia, today's Zimbabwe. He never reached his destination, having left his last breath on the ship between Cyprus and Greece. A life of medical exploration and wandering in different places, found its end at sea."
Dr. Shelley's story, as a forgotten wandering story that highlights Paphos as a place of transition, Ms. Decher points out, was treated by the actions of Paphos 2017 as part of the fabric of the city.
