Chrysopolitissa, Church in Kato Paphos, Cyprus

Chrysopolitissa is a church complex in Kato Paphos built on the remains of a large Early Christian basilica from the 4th century. The site features elevated walkways over excavations where you can see original mosaic floors and walls from different construction periods.

The original basilica was built in the 4th century and was one of the island's largest churches with seven aisles. In the 6th century it was rebuilt and reduced to five aisles, with a medieval church later added to the site.

The name Chrysopolitissa means "All-Holy One of the Golden City". Since 1987 the Paphos Catholic parish of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has held services here, joined from 1988 by Anglican, Lutheran and Maronite communities. Orthodox liturgy returns on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul and for the memory of Paul and Barnabas.

The site is freely accessible year-round with no entrance fee. The pathways around the excavations are easy to walk, and the place is simple to reach when visiting old Paphos.

The column in the churchyard is linked by tradition to the flogging of the Apostle Paul with a forty-lashed whip, before he converted the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus, the first Roman official recorded as becoming Christian. The site also holds the tomb of Eric I of Denmark, who died in Paphos in 1103 while on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.