"Although this spot [Paphos] was the scene of great religious events, and was otherwise important in the island, yet neither are there more than a very few ruins existing above ground, nor have the explorations I have directed there at different times succeeded in bringing to light anything of interest. I believe that this absence of ruins can be accounted for in the following manner. Paphos was several times overthrown by earthquakes. The last time the temple was rebuilt was by Vespasian, on whose coins it is represented; but as nothing is said of the rebuilding of the city it is supposed that it was left in ruins; probably therefore during the long period that Cyprus was under the Roman and the Byzantine rule a great deal of the decorative and architectural material of Paphos was transported to the other city called Nea-Paphos, and used for its embellishment. In the Acts of the Apostles it is spoken of as the official residence of the Roman proconsul Paulus Sergius, and was therefore the capital of the island. By the time of the Lusignan kings Palaeo-Paphos had disappeared, and its ruins under their reign were extensively explored in search of statuary and other objects of art, with which to decorate the royal castle built in its vicinity. There is scarcely any ancient tomb to be found of a date previous to the Roman period which had not been opened centuries ago."
In page 207 General di Cesnola gives an illustration of "stone feet with a Cypriote inscription, from the temple of Paphos," which would suggest from their appearance that gout was not uncommon even within the temple of Venus. In continuation he writes, page 210:—
"The great temple of Venus was situated on an eminence, which at present is at a distance of about twenty-five minutes' walk from the sea. Some parts of its colossal walls are still standing, defying time and the stone-cutter, though badly chipped by the latter. One of the wall-stones measured fifteen feet ten inches in length, by seven feet eleven inches in width and two feet five inches in thickness. The stone is not from Cyprus, but being a kind of blue granite, must have been imported either from Cilicia or from Egypt.
"The temple as rebuilt by Vespasian seems to have occupied the same area as the former temple, and was surrounded by a peribolos, or outer wall. Of this a few huge blocks only are now extant. On the west side of this outer wall there was a doorway still plainly visible. Its width was seventeen feet nine inches. The two sockets for the bolts upon which the door swung are of the following dimensions: length six inches, width four and a half inches, depth three and a half inches. The south-east wall, I ascertained, by excavating its whole length, was690 feet long. The length of the west side I could only trace as far as 272 feet, its continuance being hiddenbeneath the houses of Kouklia. The length of the other two sides I was unable to ascertain for similarreasons. The walls of the temple itself, made of the kind of stone previously mentioned, but not in such huge blocks, I was able to trace correctly, bydint of patience; and though very little is seen above ground, yet, strange to say, the four corner-stonesare still standing. The north-east corner-stone iscased in a house in Kouklia, forming part of its wall; that of the north-west stands in a cross-street of the village by itself. Some European travellers have mistaken it from its present shape for the emblematic cone of Venus. The south-east corner stands also by itself in an open field, where the Christian population of Kouklia burn lamps and little wax-candles, but in honour of whom, or for what purpose, I did not inquire. The fourth corner-stone likewise forms part of a modern dwelling-house.
"The temple was oblong and of the following dimensions: the eastern and western walls measure 221 feet, and the two other sides 167 feet. I cannot vouch for the exact measurement on account of the difficulties I had to encounter, nevertheless the difference can be of some inches only. The corner-stone of the north-west side has a hole in it thirteen inches in diameter; a similar hole also exists in the south-west corner of the outer wall. As the temple at Paphos possessed an oracle, these strange holes, which go through the entire stone, may have been connected with it. This at least was the opinion of Dr. Friederichs when he came to pay me a visit at Paphos.
"From this spot, if a person stand upon this huge perforated stone, he can produce a clear and fine echo of a phrase of three or four words, pronounced in a hollow tone of voice."
It is quite possible that the tricks of acoustics may have been practised by the priests who officiated at oracular shrines, which would have awed the ignorant multitude; as in sacred groves a tree might have been made to speak by the simple contrivance of a man concealed within the hollow stem, which to outward appearance would have been considered solid. The devices of priestcraft to bring grist to their mill are not yet obsolete, as will be seen in many of the monasteries of Cyprus.
All the grandeur of ancient days was now represented by the heaps of stones and the rock caverns which mark the site of Paphos. What became of Venus after her appearance upon this shore may be left to the imagination; why she is represented by the exceedingly plain women of modern Cyprus surpasses the imagination. Perhaps the immorality connected with the ancient worship of the goddess of beauty and of love invoked a curse upon the descendants in the shape of "baggy trousers, high boots, and ugliness:" to which dirt has been a painful addition.