Agia Kyriaki Chrysopolitissa and St Paul's Pillar

Agia Kyriaki Chrysopolitissa is a church and archaeological site in Kato Paphos, close to the main archaeological park on the south-west coast of Cyprus. Its remains belong to a large early Christian basilica built in the 4th century CE, among the biggest of its kind on the island, with several aisles and a floor of coloured mosaics. The basilica was damaged by Arab raids in the 7th century and was rebuilt several times before being replaced in the 13th century by the present small church, which was built within the ruins of the older building. Tradition connects the site to the visit of the apostle Paul and Barnabas to Paphos around 45 CE, when Paul is said to have been flogged and tied to a pillar before converting the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus. The pillar, known as St Paul's Pillar, stands in the grounds at the edge of the basilica ruins, and scholars treat the story as tradition rather than as an established fact. The church was used by the Latin and Maronite communities and later by the Greek Orthodox congregation, and in the 19th century it was also used by Anglicans, so it carries a mixed ecumenical history. Excavation of the basilica was carried out in the 20th century, and the floor mosaics, column bases and marble fragments are now visible around the church. The site is displayed in the open air, without a museum, with the ruins, pillar and church offering a loose chronological sense of change from the early Christian era to the Ottoman and British periods. Conservation has been carried out by the Department of Antiquities, though some of the stone surfaces show wear. The church interior is small, with icons and a modest iconostasis, and services are still held on feast days.