ExcavationDepartment of Antiquities

Kato Paphos: Department excavations of the early Christian basilicas (Papageorghiou)

Name: Kato Paphos: Department excavations of the early Christian basilicas (Papageorghiou)
Start: 1964
End: 1987

1964–1987 · Nea Paphos

Also known as Chrysopolitissa (Ayia Kyriaki) basilica excavation; Limeniotissa basilica 1967–68; Gothic church near St Paul's Pillar

Athanasios Papageorghiou's Department of Antiquities excavations at Kato Paphos from 1964 to 1987: the Limeniotissa basilica, the Gothic church near Saint Paul's Pillar and the five-aisled Chrysopolitissa basilica.

Map of Cyprus

Where the work took place

Ground above 200, 500, 1,000 m

Site

1Nea Paphos

Modern coastline (OpenStreetMap) and relief (Copernicus DEM).

The project

A five-aisled basilica at least 40 m wide, with patterned mosaic pavements, was exposed at Chrysopolitissa in Kato Paphos by the Department of Antiquities¹. Athanasios Papageorghiou, Curator of Ancient Monuments, directed the campaigns at Nea Paphos in 1964, 1967 to 1969, 1971 to 1984 and 1986 to 1987^2,3. The 1964 test area of about 250 m² lay west of the planned road and was placed to find the building to which two granite columns belonged; medieval buildings overlay a Roman building with tiled and mosaic floors, and Hellenistic layers lay below².

In 1967 and 1968 the Department excavated the Panayia Limeniotissa basilica near the harbour: a three-aisled basilica with mosaic pavements, destroyed around the middle of the seventh century, a smaller successor basilica and a later chapel⁴. The 1968 report gives the destruction as 653 and records houses, ironworking installations and six Arabic inscriptions⁵. In 1969 and 1971 the work was at the Gothic church east of Saint Paul's Pillar, a three-aisled church with apses and a northern chapel with two vaulted underground chambers. Finds included four headless angel statues, and a sondage indicated that the Column of Saint Paul was a reused column fragment set in place when the church was built^6,7.

From 1972 the work concentrated on the Ayia Kyriaki or Chrysopolitissa basilica. The report proposes a fifth-century construction date and use until the Arab invasion of 653¹. In 1973 the central apse measured 9 m across⁸. In 1975 a second apse was found in the nave, and in 1976 it was shown to be a later alteration over the original geometric mosaic, which includes a Chi-Rho and Alpha-Omega^9,10. The 1975 report records an Ottoman hoard of 1,000 silver and 8 gold coins⁹. The 1977 excavation of the southwest part was read as a seven-aisled plan, later reduced¹¹. From 1978 to 1986 the work cleared the atrium porticoes and the south annexe, where a hoard of 98 copper coins came to light in 1983 and a fourteenth-century house was dated by a coin of Hugh IV^12,13,14. The last documented season, 1987, cleared the west half of the annexe, a semi-sunken basement with arches that the report tentatively identifies as a bishop's residence³.

Directors and team

Directed by

Athanasios PapageorghiouCurator of Ancient Monuments1964–1987

Institutions

Department of Antiquities of CyprusSponsor

Seasons

20 seasons

1964
Test area of about 250 sq m west of the new road: poor medieval buildings over a fine Roman building with large ashlar west wall, tiled floors and one mosaic, Hellenistic layers, an Archaic terracotta head, a paved street over a rock-cut drain.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[3]
1967
Systematic excavation of a three-aisled basilica: mosaic floor, Arab-war destruction mid-7th c. with Arabic graffiti on columns, a smaller second basilica destroyed by the 1159 earthquake, then a chapel.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[5]
19681968
West atrium of the basilica uncovered, correcting the 1967 reading of an 'exonarthex' as a later structure; atrium divided into three aisles; after the basilica's destruction in AD 653 the atrium was rebuilt with houses, ironworking hearths, a bread oven; a room north of the basilica with polychrome marble floor and Arabic inscription; six Arabic inscriptions in all; an Arab coin.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[7]
1969
Western part and parvis of a large three-aisled Gothic Latin church (c. 1300, Contarini repairs) cleared; north chapel with two vaulted crypts yielding four headless Renaissance angel statues and fragments of a sarcophagus, plus a lintel and capitals.
Directed by A. Papageorgiou[8]
1971
Continued excavation: three apses cleared; medieval tombs east of the church; below them a Byzantine layer (10th-11th c.) with sherds and a lead seal, then an early Christian mosaic; an underground chamber with tomb slabs bearing French inscriptions; sondage showed the 'St Paul column' is a reused piece placed by the Crusaders.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[10]
1972
East, south-east and north of Ayia Kyriaki church: a floral and geometric mosaic from the north outer aisle of a five-aisled basilica (over 40 m wide), three granite columns shown in situ, later smaller churches including a frescoed Byzantine one, a cemetery court; earlier structures under the mosaic found for next season.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[12]
1973
Central apse (9 m diameter) and an inner north-aisle apse found; 48 m of the north wall exposed with geometric mosaic paving, and a mosaic room to the east of the north corridor.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[13]
197418 August - 20 September 1974
East part of the central nave and both south aisles cleared: column bases and a fallen granite column, geometric mosaic floors with ancient repairs, the bema mosaic largely destroyed by later burials; part of the basilica was converted to a cruciform church.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[14]
1975
Summer campaign on the central and two south aisles: basilica 38 m wide, an unexpected second apse 12 m west of the main apse in the nave (unique in Cyprus), granite columns, two phases of mosaic floor (inscription naming bishop Sergios?), Arab-period occupation after 653, Gothic building 14th-15th c., hoard of 1,000 silver and 8 gold Ottoman coins, lead seals of Innocent III and IV.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[1]
1976summer 1976
Resumed summer excavation in the nave and west limits: showed the inner apse is a later 6th c. alteration over the original mosaic; original geometric mosaic with Chi-Rho and alpha-omega survives between the two apses; 6th c. opus sectile and an earlier mosaic with a deer at a stream (Psalm 42 verses) and a vine panel (John 15:1); west wall and narthex traced; plan trapezoidal (N wall 48 m, S wall 53 m).
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[2]
1977
South-west part of the early Christian basilica: narthex, south annexe and a west room with 200 m2 of mosaic floors; evidence for a seven-aisled plan later reduced, galleries and a west atrium.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[16]
1978
South annexe and basilica atrium investigated: marble columns and bases of the south portico (turned into a Frankish wine press), fragments of mosaic floor in the east portico, an inscription fragment, later use of narthex as a stable; finds include medieval vases and a relief marble post.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[17]
1979
E and N porticoes of the basilica atrium and a corridor from the narthex to a south annex cleared, with column bases, marble columns and capitals, coins.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[18]
1980
Continued clearing of the basilica's atrium: east portico completed, north portico begun, part of the open court dug; a further marble column of the south portico and other columns found.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[19]
1981
North-west atrium and south narthex corridor excavated: the colonnade proved to belong to the north portico of the atrium; underground rooms east of the narthex perhaps the bishop's residence; marble capitals, column bases and coins.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[20]
1982
Continued excavation of the early Byzantine basilica: NW atrium (40 m2) with medieval buildings; S annex (30 m2) with four marble columns, two 6th-c. Corinthian capitals, lead-set bases; coins and medieval pottery.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[21]
1983
Atrium SW part and the south annex of the early Christian basilica: south and part of west portico, a medieval house (14th c., coin of Hugh IV) over the atrium stylobates, marble columns and an Ionic capital, mosaic floor fragments, a hoard of 98 copper coins in the south annex, a steatite relief plaque.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[22]
1984
South-west corner of the basilica atrium excavated: west part of the south portico, south part of the west portico and part of the basilica's west wall; a 2 m thick abutting wall unresolved; marble columns, bases, a capital, a gold ring, a lead flask with saints and coins.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[23]
1986
North-west part of the atrium explored; west portico cleared with part of north portico; entrances blocked; mosaic pavements deliberately destroyed and three columns buried; Arab gold coin and fine 12th-14th c. medieval pottery.
Directed by A. Papageorghiou[24]
1987
West half of the annex south of the basilica, probably the bishop's residence, cleared: semi-sunken basement with arches, ground floor and upper storey collapsed, mosaic floor fragments, marble columns with 6th-century capitals, plaster cornices, painted walls; basement used as a store with olive stones; repaired in the Lusignan period.
Directed by A. Papageorgiou[25]

What was found

Periods

Hellenistic
Roman
Late Antique
Medieval
Ottoman

Features and finds

Roman building; street; rock-cut drain; atrium; ironworking hearths; Arabic inscriptions; Latin church; north chapel; crypts; angel statues; Gothic church; apses; underground chamber; 'Column of St Paul'; five-aisled basilica; mosaic; granite columns; central apse; mosaic paving; central nave; south aisles; mosaic floors; basilica; second apse; church of Ayia Kyriaki; Ottoman coin hoard; central nave mosaic; narthex; atrium porticoes; east portico; north portico; west portico; bishop's residence annex.

Publications

20 items

Chronique des fouilles (Bulletin de correspondance hellénique)

Other fieldwork at Nea Paphos · 24

12 more

References

1.V. Karageorghis, 1973, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1972, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 97.
2.V. Karageorghis, 1965, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1964, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 89.
3.V. Karageorghis, 1988, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1987, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 112.
4.V. Karageorghis, 1968, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1967, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 92.
5.V. Karageorghis, 1969, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1968, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 93.
6.V. Karageorghis, 1970, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1969, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 94.
7.V. Karageorghis, 1972, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1971, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 96.
8.V. Karageorghis, 1974, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1973, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 98.
9.V. Karageorghis, 1976, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1975, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 100.
10.V. Karageorghis, 1977, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1976, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 101.
11.V. Karageorghis, 1978, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1977, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 102.
12.V. Karageorghis, 1979, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1978, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 103.
13.V. Karageorghis, 1984, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1983, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 108.
14.V. Karageorghis, 1987, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1986, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 111.

Sources

1.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1975, p. 899; pp. 62–63.
2.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1976, p. 776; pp. 71–74.
3.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1964, p. 297; p. 298; p. 56.
4.Paphos: History and Archaeology, p. 22.
5.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1967, p. 92.
6.Archaeology in Cyprus, 1966–69, p. 54.
7.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1968, pp. 136–138; p. 564.
8.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1969, pp. 98–100.
9.Medieval Cyprus: Studies in Art, Architecture, and History in Memory of Doula Mouriki, p. 200.
10.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1971, pp. 78–79; p. 1081.
11.Archaeology in Cyprus, 1969–76.
12.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1972, pp. 80–81.
13.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1973, p. 76; p. 895.
14.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1974, p. 45.
15.Archaeology in Cyprus, 1976–80, p. 72.
16.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1977, p. 59.
17.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1978, p. 53.
18.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1979, p. 42.
19.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1980, p. 42.
20.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1981, p. 54.
21.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1982, p. 42.
22.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1983, pp. 68–69.
23.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1984, pp. 62–64.
24.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1986, p. 30.
25.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1987, p. 50.
26.Archaeological News from Cyprus, 1977–1978, p. 73.
27.Chronique d'archéologie chypriote, p. 50.