The site (Necropolis of Nea Pafos) is located 4km from our hotel.
The tombs cover an area of 1.2 m2 at the North part of the city. Their name comes from the magnificent burial monuments, some of which are of the Doric order.
The Kings' Tombs were the burial site of important politicians and magistrates who lived in the capital of Cyprus during the Ptolemaic period.
The cemetery was used during the Hellenistic and the Roman period (2nd century BC - 2nd century AD).
The cemetery was also used by the early Christians.
The excavations in the city started around 1915-1916 until 1951, while in 1977 started the systematic excavation of the necropolis which lasted until 1990. In the cemetery there are different types of tombs varying from simple pit tombs to the more complex shaft tombs, which consist of a corridor and one or two burial chambers. Finally, there are tombs with peristyle atriums. These are the most spectacular, and they consist of an underground rectangular atrium, carved in the bed rock. The corridors that surround the atrium are supported by doric pillars. The burial chambers and niches are carved on the sides of the corridors.
There is evidence that these tombs had frescos, like the ones in Macedonia, the origin place of the Ptolemies.
These architectural characteristics, are common and can be seen in any Hellenic residence of the era, while other characteristics point towards the famous Macedonian tombs found in Vergina
