• Principal Investigator: Prof. Ewdoksia Papuci-Władyka

    Contact:

    • e.papuci-wladyka@uj.edu.pl
    • e.papuci-wlady@uw.edu.pl

    Project consortium:

    Jagiellonian University, Institute of Archaeology (leader), University of Warsaw, Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology and Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography.

    Project term:

    July 2020 to July 2022 (extended to July 2023)

    Budget:

    PLN 2 180 042

    Funding:

    National Science Centre in Poland, OPUS 18, 2019/35/B/HS3/02296

    Financing institution logo

  • MA-P Maloutena and Agora in the layout of Paphos: modelling the cityscape of the Hellenistic and Roman capital of Cyprus

    Keywords: Paphos, Cyprus, Hellenistic period, Roman period, urban landscape, procedural modelling

    The aim of the project is to recreate the layout of the ancient city of Nea Paphos, located on the south-western coast of Cyprus, entered on the UNESCO heritage list since 1980. The city was founded at the turn of the 4th/3rd century BC. and served in antiquity as the main center (capital) of the island. As one of the most important urban centers in Cyprus, it has become the subject of interest of many modern researchers from different countries. An important role in the history of Paphos research was also played by archaeologists from Poland, discovering since 1965 the remains of a rich residential district called Maloutena, and since 2011 a representative square in the city center – Agora. In 1990, J. Młynarczyk, a professor at the University of Warsaw, published research results that were very important from the point of view of archeology and urban planning of the city, in which, based on the discovered remains of buildings and streets and many other data, she proposed a reconstruction of the plan of the ancient city of Nea Paphos modeled on on the so-called hippodaean (from Hippodamos Greek town planner from Miletus). After more than 30 years after the publication of this study, it is necessary to verify previous findings based on new discoveries and precision imaging technologies at the disposal of today’s archaeology.

    The MA-P project is carried out by an interdisciplinary research team composed of representatives of such fields as archeology (including ceramology and numismatics), geophysics, architecture and specialists in remote sensing research, procedural modeling and spatial analysis. This team, based on the existing information collected on the basis of a source query and new data obtained during the project, undertook to reconstruct the layout of streets and buildings functioning in ancient Paphos in various historical periods, with particular emphasis on the area of ​​the residential district (Malutena) and the heart of the ancient city – Agora. In addition, a team of archaeologists with the participation of specialists in the analysis of archaeological artefacts, primarily pottery and coins, which allow archaeological remains to be dated, conducts verification studies of the layers examined so far and performs new surveys in selected key places. The purpose of the latter is to provide the missing information necessary to reconstruct the original layout of the city and to determine the moment of possible changes and shifts in the layout of streets and building quarters caused by reconstructions or damage (mainly due to numerous earthquakes).

    The result of the integrated research results will be the reconstruction of the city landscape and buildings in the form of 3D models. The obtained 3D reconstructions will then be subjected to spatial analyzes in order to determine the relationship between the layout of buildings and streets and the functioning of the city in terms of visibility, population flow, potential number of inhabitants, etc. The MA-P project implements an innovative methodology for Cyprus, but successfully used at other archaeological sites in the Mediterranean Basin (eg Pompeii or Carnuntum). Reconstruction of the ancient buildings of the city of Nea Paphos and reconstruction of the original plan of the city will be an important supplement to the existing research, allowing to look at the city from a completely new perspective, revealing its actual size and functioning, giving an even better idea of the life of the ancients.

    Project collaborators
    Associated events
    Lectures and conference presentations
    Project bibliography

    Links

    About research in Nea Paphos
    Polish Archaeology in Cyprus – web page
    Polish Archaeology in Cyprus – Facebook
    Warsaw University of Technology – Facebook
    Jagiellonian University in Kraków – Facebook
    Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw – Facebook

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