Paphos archaeological museum

The archaeological museum of Paphos covers about 12500 years of history. Exhibits date back from the Epipalaeolithic period, starting 10500 years BC, until 1700 AD.

The collection of Paphos Archaeological Museum consists of findings from the whole area of Paphos district. The exhibits are divided into five exhibition rooms. The classification is according to their age (period they come from) and from where in Paphos district they were excavated.

Museum opening hours and entrance fee

Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 - 17:30
Opening hours: Saturdays and Sundays 10:00 - 17:00
On Mondays, the museum remains closed
- Open all year round
- Closed on Public Holidays

Entrance fee: FREE
The entrance to all 18 State owned and run museums all over Cyprus is free.

The museum is wheelchair accessible and there is a wheelchair-accessible bathroom.

Address: Paphos District Archaeological Museum
Griva Digeni Avenue 43, Paphos, Cyprus
Telephone number: +357 26 95 58 01

Time to see the museum: 30 minutes just to look around, up to 2-3 hours to see everything.

How to go to the Paphos museum by car or bus

The museum is in the old town of Paphos, or Upper Paphos. To visit the museum by car, the easiest way to go is to follow the bypass connecting Kato Paphos with Paphos. At the roundabout at the entrance of Paphos, take the road going towards Paphos Old Town Center. The museum is on this road, about one km from the roundabout, you will see it on your right-hand side as you go. There are parking places both outside the museum and in the museum's yard.
Another way to visit the museum, and actually the easiest one, is by bus. The buses start from Kato Paphos and stop almost outside the museum. There is also a bus station outside the museum to return to Kato Paphos.

Exhibitions of Paphos district archaeological museum

The findings in the first exhibition hall come from the Chalcolithic period. They were discovered in the excavation sites in Kissonerga village and Lemba village. The two villages are next to each other and the excavations revealed many, very interesting findings. The oldest of these artifacts dates back to 8300 BC.

In this exhibition room, there are also ceramic artifacts covering all the phases of the Bronze Age. This period is about 1250 years long, dating from 2300 BC until 1050 BC. There is also a small collection of jewellery from this period in this hall. These are the oldest exhibits in the museum.

The exhibits in the second room represent the Archaic and Classical periods. Chronologically, this means that the findings come from the period 750 BC to 325 BC. Most of the exhibits come from the three main archaeological sites of Paphos area.
These sites are:
- Palaepaphos which means the Old Paphos. Today located at the village of Kouklia
- Marion, an ancient kingdom, today located at Polis Chrysochous area and
- Nea Paphos. Nea Paphos means New Paphos and it was also an ancient kingdom. It was at the area of today’s Kato Paphos. There are also exhibits from other, smaller archaeological sites of Paphos.

In this second exhibition room of the museum, you can see an interesting collection of pottery imported from Athens Greece. They are on display next to locally crafted pottery. The imported pottery from Athens shows how important was the trading relations between Athens and Paphos.
A second interesting collection in this room is a collection of ancient coins. The coins belong to the ancient kingdoms of Paphos and Marion. There are also coins coming from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

The exhibits in exhibition room III come from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. On the diary, this is a period of about 650 years, from 325 BC until 330 AC. Interesting findings in this room include a rare marble bust of Aphrodite and a marble statue of Asklepios (Asclepius). Asklepios was the ancient Greek god of Medicine. Another interesting collection from this period is that of stone sarcophagi, from the Hellenistic period. Finally, there is an exhibition of special interest. It is a unique collection of clay vessels, found in Nea Paphos. They were used for therapeutic purposes. These vessels were filled with hot or cold water and put onto the different parts of the human body.

The exhibits in the fourth room of the Museum of Paphos district come from Kato Paphos archaeological park. Specifically, these are objects that were discovered in excavations from the House of Dionysos. They include mural paintings and Roman pottery from houses and tombs in the archaeological park. There are also on display findings from the early Christian period of Cyprus and the period of the Arab raids. The exhibits from the House of Dionysos come from the late second until the fourth century AD. House of Dionysos findings are from the late second to the fourth century AD.

The early Christian period of Cyprus started in 45 AD, when Apostles Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas, and Saint Mark came to the island and created the first Christian church in the world. This period lasts until the end of the fifth century, 500 AD.

The period of Arab raids in Cyprus lasted from 650 AD until 1000 AD.

Room V houses a collection of medieval antiquities. They come from the excavations in Kato Paphos, from the archaeological sites of Panagia Chrysopolitissa and Saranta Kolones. The findings include decorated glazed pottery and other items like glass vessels. There are also on display stone sculptures and mural paintings covering the Frankish and Venetian periods. The exhibits in Room Five cover approximately a period of 700 years, from 1000 to 1700 AD.

Paphos Museum photo gallery

Paphos museum map

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