Cyprus has three UNESCO World heritage sites, a number that seems modest for an island with 10,000 years of human history (the oldest evidence of human habitation, the water well at Kissonerga-Mylouthkia, dates to 9,000–10,000 years before the present), but the sites themselves are extraordinary: a Neolithic village preserved with astonishing completeness, a collection of Byzantine churches painted with some of the finest medieval frescoes in the Eastern Mediterranean, and an entire city, Paphos, whose archaeological remains span the Hellenistic, Roman, and early Christian eras. Here is a guide to the UNESCO World heritage sites of Cyprus.

Quick Facts: UNESCO Cyprus

• 1. Paphos Archaeological Park, the most complete ancient city on the island: The entire ancient city of Nea Paphos, the capital of Cyprus from the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD, is a UNESCO site, and the mosaics of the Roman villas (the Houses of Dionysos, Theseus, Aion, and Orpheus) are the finest in the Eastern Mediterranean. The House of Dionysos, the god of wine, the mosaics depicting his triumph, his birth, and his gift of wine to mankind, is the most spectacular: 556 m² of mosaic floors, the colours (the reds, the blues, the golds) still vivid after 1,800 years. The Tombs of the Kings (2 km north of the main site, a necropolis of underground tombs carved into the rock, dating from the 4th century BC. The tombs were for the Paphian aristocracy, not literal kings, but the scale, the Doric columns, the courtyards, the sense of a city of the dead, is magnificent. Free with the main Paphos ticket). Entry: ~€4.50 (the combined Paphos ticket, excellent value). Allow 3–4 hours for the full site. More Cyprus →
• 2. The Painted Churches of the Troodos Region, ten small Byzantine churches, some of the finest medieval frescoes in the world: hidden in the villages of the Troodos Mountains, ten small, stone-built churches, dating from the 11th to the 16th centuries, contain frescoes that span the entire history of Byzantine painting, from the austere, hieratic style of the 11th century to the more naturalistic, human-focused style of the post-Byzantine period. The essential churches: Panagia tou Araka (Lagoudera, 1192, the finest of the Troodos churches: the frescoes of the Angel Gabriel, the Virgin Mary, and Christ Pantocrator, the all-powerful, in the dome are among the most beautiful Byzantine paintings in existence); Panagia Phorbiotissa (Asinou, 1105, the oldest of the group: the fresco of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, frozen in the ice of the Armenian lake, is one of the most powerful images in Byzantine art); and Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis (Kakopetria, the “St. Nicholas of the Roof,” named for the steep-pitched wooden roof built over the original Byzantine dome. Frescoes from the 11th to the 17th centuries, a palimpsest of Byzantine painting). The churches are small, dark, and require a car to reach (the Troodos roads are narrow and winding, allow a full day for 3–4 churches). The key is kept by the village priest or a designated custodian, you may need to ask in the village; the telephone number is usually posted on the church door. Entry: free; donations appreciated. Dress: modestly, shoulders and knees covered
• 3. Choirokoitia, the oldest settlement on Cyprus: A Neolithic village, occupied from the 7th to the 4th millennium BC, one of the most important prehistoric sites in the Eastern Mediterranean. The settlement, a hillside of circular stone huts, rebuilt from the original foundations, surrounded by a defensive wall, is 9,000 years old, and the sense of walking through the streets of the earliest Cypriots, the huts clustered together, the dead buried beneath the floors (the custom of burying family members under the house, the living and the dead side by side), is extraordinary. Choirokoitia is small (the site can be explored in 1–2 hours) and deeply atmospheric, the silence, the stones, and the sense of deep time are powerful. Entry: ~€2.50. Getting there: ~20 min from Larnaca by car