THATS HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN
It's an amazingly photogenic place, with turquoise seas and endless blue skies, lush vegetation and an abundance of wildlife. The Cypriots have a very relaxed and easy going culture and nothing happens very fast. Change is arriving to the island, the most notable difference being the adoption of the Euro in 2008, which saw prices escalate rapidly. Tourism has boomed over the last ten years too and the area around Paphos has seen some radical redevelopment to accomodate this.
Even the market in the Old town has been given a facelift, which for me has changed the character of the place dramatically, as having been visiting the area for around ten years, I feel that the rustic charm and authenticity of the place is now being gradually eroded. However, a short step away from the glamour and shine of the newer buildings, the original homes and shops can still be found. although the hand of modernity is clearly reaching out beyond the centre.
One of the things I fell in love with was the original architecture, which, whilst not especially ancient, was classically arranged, with the Mediterranean climate in mind, with small windows and shuttered doors. Each time I visited, I would go wandering the back streets, photographing the buildings and doorways, many of which dated from the 1800s and were very ornate and wonderfully weathered, with some of the older shops seeming to have not changed for decades. It was this curiosity and desire to see the real Pafos that led me to the Wishing Tree and the shrine of St Solomoni and in turn, for me to discover one of the most exciting areas of the region - Fabrika Hill.
Fabrika Hill sits just outside of the new town on the way to the harbour and is overlooked by the huge new shopping mall. In recent years a long elevated walkway has appeared, which until I visited the area closely, I had assumed was just another way to cross the busy roads. The actual intention is to give a panoramic view of an area of immense archaeological interest, which unfortunately is not really made very apparent. North West of the town is the Tomb of the Kings, which is a huge UNESCO heritage site dating from the 3rd century. Despite its name, it was not the resting place of royalty, but held the internments of the great and the good from the city. It is clearly signposted and requires an entrance fee to visit and is well worth the trip - but the Fabrika Hill site, although much less grand and imposing, is ignominious by comparison and has almost no signage or explanation. The site includes the remains of roman villas, a massive amphitheatre, a beautiful Hellenic mosaic, enormous catacombs and the wonderful ancient shrine I have mentioned before. Even with the extended walkway in place, without a guide, it is difficult to appreciate what you are actually seeing. That said, it lends itself tremendously well to exploration, as almost everything is open and freely accessible. The obvious downside of this is that there are some very difficult areas which are not properly cordoned off and parts of the hill are very remote, which with the risk of falls and exposure to very high heat can be quite treacherous to the casual tourist. Cyprus also has its fair share of venomous snakes and spiders too!
When I first visited the site, I saw evidence of someone sleeping rough in the cave above and some of the other areas are heavily covered with cacti and vegetation, hiding voids and slopes in the ground, making parts of the area a little dangerous.
My first visit in 2022 was a revelation, as I had not expected to find any more than a couple of small caves in the wall when I came upon the two small entrances visible from the road.
Being so readily accessible, they are full of litter and graffitti and can appear quite daunting at first, especially going from the bright sunlight into the gloom. The little available information online suggests they are the result of quarrying in the 3rd century and would have subsequently been used as animal shelters and internments.
Despite the arid conditions, vegetation grows in variegated abundance, with Oak, Olive, Cactus and huge Agave plants clinging to the rock and springing up in cracks and crevices. Its easy to imagine a nut or seed falling into a gap centuries ago as a resident passed by laden with goods and the tiny plant taking root.
It’s past the threshold of the stone wall that the subtle magic really happens, though. Next to the smaller openings is a metal ramp that leads into the catacombs by way of a large arch, partially obscured by the rock. Inside the space opens out dramatically, into a vaulted space about the size of a small house. Various passages lead off it and it is illuminated by shafts and holes in the roof overhead, lending an almost cathedral like air to the space.
The main area has various recesses, pits and passages, which must have served some purpose, possibly cisterns or grain stores in the distant past. Leading upwards from the central area is a rough hewn stairway, which leads to another room and then on to the surface.
I was initially a little concerned that I might not be able to get any good shots in the dim light, but as the midday sun was high overhead, skylights and gaps in the ceiling admitted lambent shafts of light, which warmed the golden stone giving it a soft glow.
The first time I visited the area, I used my phone camera predominantly and took photographs with various apps which applied a graphic effect, such as Hipstamatic. On this more recent occasion, I used the compact camera and a 16mm pancake lens, to try and capture as much of the field as possible.
The 16mm lens lent itself extremely well to the bigger caverns and a low ISO and an F8 aperture ensured a good depth of field.
The most difficult part of the visit was trying not to inadvertently replicate the same shots from two years ago, due to the restricted viewpoints in some of the caves. However it did give me a chance to see how some of the spaces have changed over time, when I find I have duplicated a shot.
Unlike the shrine next door, which was comparatively easy to map out, the catacombs are sprawling and labyrinthine and ducking in and out of the caves and finding more and more steps and entrances as I went from room to room made it very hard to get a definite idea of the actual layout.
Some of the spaces were extremely distinctive, whilst others were simple square rooms, which looked very much like one another. There were many small exits to some of the rooms, which led on to other areas, which I found unable to access, as it was difficult to manoeuvre with a camera in one hand.
Perhaps during a future visit I will engage a guide and get a better idea of the actual history and purpose of the site, but for now, I am pleased to have been able to spend time exploring.
It was very enjoyable to be able to wander about unhindered and all the time I was in the catacombs, I never came across another soul - except a languorous resident in the main cave, who did not seem at all concerned by my presence!
