Emba Paphou

Emba Paphou, one of the largest settlements in the homonymous province in Cyprus, is located about 5 kilometers north of the old town of Paphos, 60 kilometers northeast of Limassol and 153 kilometers southwest of Nicosia.

An area developed along the main road that crosses it and built at 135 meters above sea level, Emba Paphou with its approximately 6,000 inhabitants, is a developed tourist destination with schools for local students, shops, taverns, restaurants, hotels and rooms for tourists but also several traditional cafes. The proximity of the settlement to Chloraka, Lemba, Kissonerga, Tala, Tremithousa and Mesogi, make Emba Paphou an ideal base for excursions to the wider area, a breath away from the very important cultural monuments of the city of Paphos.

The community has existed since the Byzantine period and during Frankish rule its present name prevailed, probably due to the location where the village is built, on the outskirts of Paphos (in the emba of the city, meaning at the “entrance”) from where the passers-by passed when coming from the north, northwest and west or because it is close to the coast from where they left or arrived to Cyprus by sea. A second version for the origins of the name of the place refers to a gate with guards at the entrance of the village and for a stranger to pass the gate, his guards shouted “emba”, meaning “come inside”.

According to the historian Leontios Machairas, Emba Paphou was from where King Peter I departed for Europe in 1362 AD, while in 1468 AD. Emba Paphou belonged to the administration of the town of Chrysochous, under the authority of the local representative (bailliage).

Sightseeing for those who arrive in the area is mostly of religious interest, most notably Panagia (Virgin Mary) Chryseleousa of Emba Paphou of the 12th century, while there is also the newly built Saint Charalampos, the central and modern church of Apostle Andrew of 1996 (on the day of his celebration a festival takes place in the village), as well as the chapels of Agios Georgios, Agios Prodromos, as well as the cave of the latter in Petridia.

Also in Petridia there is the cave of Agios Lambrianos with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites millions of years old, known to the locals as “Spilia tou Ai Limbrou”, from which flows holy water with beneficial properties in healing skin diseases and headaches. During the period of the Arab raids and the Ottoman domination, the inhabitants of Emba Paphou found shelter in this cave. Until today, many Christians take hair from their heads and stick them to the icon of the Saint to cure them from their headaches. Saint Lambrianos is considered one of the three hundred Alaman ascetics who arrived in Cyprus from Palestine and were isolated in various parts of the island. His catacomb is located in Kato Paphos and, according to sources, was his first residence before moving to the cave of the area.

Eminent personalities that come from Emba Paphou, a place that flourished during the Frankish occupation as a large feud where sugar cane was cultivated, is Bishop Anthimos (18th century), Nikolas Solomonidis, a scholar, poet and secretary of the Dragoman of Cyprus Hatzigeorgakis Kornesios, as well as his brother, Andreas Solomonidis, who contributed to the preservation of the churches of the country during the Ottoman domination.