Tombs of the Kings
Hellenistic and Roman rock-cut tombs with peristyle courtyards, on the coast north of Kato Paphos.
The Tombs of the Kings occupy a low coastal plateau about two kilometres north of the harbour at Kato Paphos. The underground chambers were cut into the soft limestone from the fourth century BC and remained in use through the Hellenistic and Roman periods. No kings were buried here: the name reflects the scale and decoration of the tombs, which served senior officials and members of leading Paphian families. The site forms part of the Paphos World Heritage property inscribed by UNESCO in 1980.
Several of the larger tombs are built as open courts surrounded by Doric colonnades cut from the living rock, reproducing the plan of a peristyle house for the use of the dead. Burial niches open off the courtyards, some retaining traces of plaster and painting. Steps lead down into each complex, and a marked path links the main groups across open ground above the sea. Excavation has continued at intervals since the 1970s.
Highlights
- Rock-cut peristyle courtyards ringed by Doric columns
- Underground burial chambers reached by cut stairways
- Part of the UNESCO World Heritage property of Paphos
- Coastal setting on the limestone plateau above the sea
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