Even General di Cesnola excavated in vain upon the site of ancient
Paphos, which from its great antiquity promised an abundant harvest.
There were two fine monoliths, the bases of which, resting upon a
foundation of squared stones, appeared as though they had formed the
entrance to a temple; these were pillars of grey granite (foreign to
Cyprus) about twenty-seven feet high and three feet two inches in
diameter.
There were stony mounds in many directions, and fallen pillars and
columns of granite and of coarse grey and whitish marble; but beyond
these ordinary vestiges there was nothing of peculiar interest. As there
is no authority equal to General di Cesnola upon the antiquities of
Cyprus, I trust he will excuse me for inserting the following
interesting extract from his work, upon The Great Centre of the Worship
of Venus:--
"Although this spot [Paphos] was the scene of great
religious events, and was otherwise important in the
island, yet neither are there more than a very few
ruins existing above ground, nor have the explorations
I have directed there at different times succeeded in
bringing to light anything of interest. I believe that
this absence of ruins can be accounted for in the
following manner. Paphos was several times overthrown
by earthquakes. The last time the temple was rebuilt
was by Vespasian, on whose coins it is represented; but
as nothing is said of the rebuilding of the city it is
supposed that it was left in ruins; probably therefore
during the long period that Cyprus was under the Roman
and the Byzantine rule a great deal of the decorative
and architectural material of Paphos was transported to
the other city called Nea-Paphos, and used for its
embellishment.
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