Paphos · CY

Poseidonas and Amphitrite Mosaic

Set along Paphos's coastal broadwalk within the UNESCO World Heritage Archaeological Park of Kato Paphos, the Poseidonas and Amphitrite Mosaic is a Roman floor panel showing the sea god Poseidon and his queen Amphitrite on their ocean voyage. Housed in a small room of the great Villa of Theseus, it belongs to a collection the world heritage body calls among the most beautiful mosaics anywhere, an illuminated album of ancient Greek myth laid out beneath your feet. Though the central scene has suffered damage over the centuries, the composition still reads clearly: the couple cradled together on a sea creature, Poseidon gripping his trident with a halo of divine light above his brow, Amphitrite stroking his beard, and winged Cupids bearing a banner billowing in the sea wind. For anyone drawn to how the Roman elite told their stories in stone and glass tesserae, it is a quietly memorable stop on a Paphos visit.