On October 15, 2020 in Paphos, we celebrated the 55th anniversary of Polish archaeological research in Cyprus. Our small Krakow-Warsaw team hosted on the site the representatives of the Cypriot authorities and the Polish embassy in Nicosia.
On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the Polish Archaeological Research in Cyprus, a meeting was held in the Kato Paphos Archaeological Park. It was attended by the Minister of Transposition, Communication and Public Works, Mr. Yannis Karousos, director of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, Dr. Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou and Irena Lichnerowicz-Augustyn, the Polish ambassador in Nicosia. Guests were guided by prof. Ewdoksia Papuci-Władyka around the archaeological excavations conducted by polish archaeologists in the Maloutena district and in the Agora.
Until recently, two Polish archaeological teams were working in Nea Paphos. The Warsaw Mission in Kato Paphos is present in Paphos since th mid-1960s. For many years prof. Papuci-Władyka was a member of its scientific crew for many years. In 2011, she initiated a separate research program, The Paphos Agora Project, carried out by archaeologists from the Jagiellonian University.
The decision to combine the Krakow and Warsaw teams was made last fall. New project is combinig scientist from Jagiellonian University, Polish Centre of Mediteranean Archaeology University of Warsaw and Warsaw University of Technology. The research was started thanks to the first grant in Opus 18 program of the National Science Center, Poland. At the beginning of October this year despite the difficulties caused by the epidemiological situation new excavations started.
-Our new MA-P Maloutena and Agora project in the Paphos city grid: modeling the urban landscape of the Hellenistic and Roman capital of Cyprus aims to recreate the 1990 city plan of Nea Paphos focusing on new excavation discoveries and precise imaging technologies. The project is still focused on excavating the Agora and the adjacent areas as well as the so-called Malutena - the area of Warsaw excavations. We plan to recreate the urban landscape of the city and determine the position and importance of residential buildings in Malutena and the development of Agora's public space. In addition to archaeological and geophysical research, we will also use procedural modeling - explain prof. Ewdoksia Papuci-Władyka.
In previous years, both Krakow and Warsaw archaeologist discovered many places where the layout of the city was differed from the one proposed earlier, and they also found new streets. Therefore, particular emphasis will be placed on the verification of the street grid and the adjacent compact development.
