The Agia Solomoni catacomb in Kato Paphos

Agia Solomoni is one of the oddest corners of Paphos, a chapel inside ancient tombs, with water underground and a tree full of rags on top. Here’s what’s there and the stories behind it. For the rest of the lower town, see Kato Paphos.

What is the Agia Solomoni catacomb?

The Pafos tourism board places it on Apostolou Pavlou Avenue, about 1 km from the harbour. It’s a small underground chapel cut into the limestone, reached down several stone steps. Below there’s a very damp grotto and five rock-cut chambers around a small open courtyard.

The chapel isn’t a separate church but one of those cave rooms, closed off with a gate. Traces of 12th-century frescoes survive there. In another chamber, a few steps further down, lies the holiest spot, a small underground lake, and in a third the faithful light candles before many icons and a large image of the saint.

From Hellenistic tomb to pilgrimage site

Archaeologists believe the complex was a small group of five Hellenistic chamber tombs. In the Middle Ages it became a famous pilgrimage site, known as the Church of the Seven Children or of the Seven Maccabees.

Tradition makes Solomoni the mother of the seven Maccabean brothers, killed for refusing to break their fast, who then threw herself into the flames. Another account says she hid in the cave to escape Roman persecution, the entrance was walled up, and when it was opened two hundred years later, the saint came out alive. Her feast day is 1 August. The tourism board adds that local tradition places her life and death on the Karpas peninsula, in the north of the island, where a small 8th-century vaulted church dedicated to her stands east of the village of Koma tou Gialou.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Pafos for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

The rag tree

On top of the rock grows a centuries-old tree hung with coloured rags, handkerchiefs and scraps of clothing. People leave them as offerings in the hope of being cured of an illness, a Cypriot ritual that’s still very much alive. For me, that’s what makes the visit stick in the memory.

What’s nearby

The tourism board notes that the ancient theatre of Paphos, on the slope of Fabrica Hill, and the Agios Agapitikos cave are close by. The theatre was built by the Ptolemies of Alexandria around 300 BC, inside the walled city, and stayed in use until the late 4th century AD, going through five major phases of building and repair after earthquakes. Head down the avenue towards the harbour and you reach St Paul’s Pillar in Paphos, in the grounds of Agia Kyriaki, and the Paphos Archaeological Park. I couldn’t find official opening hours published for the catacomb, so I don’t give any.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Agia Solomoni Catacomb on GetYourGuide.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Paphos: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Pafos for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.