Tombs of the Kings

Listen first. Under the wind off the sea, there is a low hush across this ground. It is the sound of open land, dry grass and pale rock. Underfoot the stone is warm, gritty and the colour of old bone. Ahead of you the earth simply drops away into square pits and dark doorways. You are standing on the roof of a city of the dead, and most of it is below your feet.

This is the necropolis known as the Tombs of the Kings, on the northern edge of Paphos, close to the coast. A necropolis is a cemetery, from the Greek for city of the dead. The tombs here were not built from stone blocks. They were cut down into the solid rock, chamber by chamber, with hand tools. Every column and doorway you will see was carved out of the bedrock itself.

Now for the first surprise. No kings were buried here. Cyprus had no kings during most of the time these tombs were in use. The name comes from local tradition, because the tombs looked so grand that people assumed only royalty could rest in them. The people buried here were most likely high officials and wealthy families of the city, members of its ruling class.

The tombs date mainly from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Hellenistic means the centuries after Alexander the Great, when Greek culture spread across the eastern Mediterranean. In that era Cyprus was ruled by the Ptolemies, the Greek dynasty that governed Egypt from Alexandria. Paphos became the island's capital under their rule. That link to Egypt matters, as you will see when you go underground.

Walk to one of the larger tombs and look down. Many of them follow the same plan. A flight of rock-cut steps leads down into an open courtyard. Around that courtyard stand columns, and behind the columns are doorways into burial rooms. A courtyard ringed with columns like this is called a peristyle. It was the plan of a fine Greek house.

That is the key idea of this place. These tombs were made to look like homes for the living. The families who paid for them wanted their dead to stay in a house of stone, with a courtyard open to the sky. Scholars link this style to tombs in Alexandria, which used the same house-like plan. Here in Paphos, the fashion of the Egyptian capital was copied in local rock.

Look closely at the columns. Many are in the Doric style, the simplest of the Greek orders. Doric columns have no base at the bottom and a plain, cushion-shaped top. Some still show their shallow vertical grooves, called fluting. Remember that they hold nothing up in the way a built column does. They are part of the same rock as the ceiling above them. The carvers cut away everything that was not a column.

Inside the burial rooms you will find rows of long niches cut into the walls. These are called loculi. Each one was shaped to hold a body, and it was then sealed with a slab. Some niches are still edged with simple carved frames. In a few places you can see where plaster once covered the rock. Traces of painted decoration have also been recorded in some tombs, though weather and time have taken much of it.

Here is the second surprise. These tombs were used for a very long time, and not only for burial. Robbers emptied them of almost everything valuable in ancient times. Later, people lived in some of the chambers, and the rock carries marks of that reuse. Local tradition also says that early Christians hid here during times of persecution. That story is popular, but it is better understood as legend than as proven history.

Over the centuries, sand and earth filled many of the courtyards. Farmers grew crops above them and quarrymen took stone. Serious archaeological excavation came only in the twentieth century, and work continued for decades. Today the necropolis is part of the Paphos archaeological area on the UNESCO World Heritage List. That listing also covers the Roman villas and their mosaics near the harbour, a short drive south of here.

As you move between the tombs, notice how the site changes with the light. In the middle of the day the sun falls straight into the open courtyards and the stone glows almost white. The chambers behind the columns stay cool and dark. Early or late in the day, long shadows run down the steps, and the edges of each carving show clearly. The site is open and exposed, with very little shade between the tombs.

Take care as you go down. The steps were cut for ancient feet, and they are uneven and worn smooth in places. Some edges have no railing, and the drops into the courtyards are real. Sturdy shoes help, and so does a slow pace. Inside the chambers, let your eyes adjust for a moment before you step further. You will see much more detail once they do.

Stand for a minute at ground level between two of the large tombs. To one side, beyond the low scrub, is the sea. Behind you is the modern town, with its hotels and roads. The people buried here once looked at a similar coastline, and heard the same wind. The city above them has changed many times. The rock below has barely moved.

Before you leave, look back across the field of openings in the ground. From up here they look like simple holes. Now you know what each one hides: a staircase, a courtyard, a ring of columns and a house built for the dead. As you walk back to the road, feel the warm rock under your shoes once more. Somewhere under that surface, another quiet room may still be waiting.