In the Acts of the Apostles it is spoken
of as the official residence of the Roman proconsul
Paulus Sergius, and was therefore the capital of the
island. By the time of the Lusignan kings Palaeo-Paphos
had disappeared, and its ruins under their reign were
extensively explored in search of statuary and other
objects of art, with which to decorate the royal castle
built in its vicinity. There is scarcely any ancient
tomb to be found of a date previous to the Roman period
which had not been opened centuries ago."
In page 207 General di Cesnola gives an illustration of "stone feet with
a Cypriote inscription, from the temple of Paphos," which would suggest
from their appearance that gout was not uncommon even within the temple
of Venus. In continuation he writes, page 210:--
"The great temple of Venus was situated on an
eminence, which at present is at a distance of about
twenty-five minutes' walk from the sea. Some parts
of its colossal walls are still standing, defying time and
the stone-cutter, though badly chipped by the latter.
One of the wall-stones measured fifteen feet ten
inches in length, by seven feet eleven inches in width
and two feet five inches in thickness. The stone is
not from Cyprus, but being a kind of blue granite,
must have been imported either from Cilicia or from
Egypt.
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