The Municipality of Paphos is officially moving forward with the construction of a €10 million building, which will serve as the Historical Documentation Center of Paphos, situated in the area of the former Police Station on Kennedy Square.
In a ceremony held at the site, the contract for the project was signed with the successful bidder, marking a historic day for Paphos and its journey through time.
The forthcoming building will house and showcase the history of the city, with its roots tracing back to the era of British colonialism when these premises served as the cells and the administrative center for the province.
The official commencement of the project was celebrated with the signing of contracts between the Municipality of Paphos and the successful contractor in a symbolic ceremony held at the location where the Center will be erected.
The project is set to last for 15 months and will include the redevelopment of the external areas covering 18,000 square meters and the maintenance and conversion of the preserved building of the former Central Police Station, covering an area of 950 square meters.
A specialized museological study was conducted by a team of experts for this purpose.
Mayor of Paphos, Phaedonas Phaedonos, emphasized that the project’s design aims to connect the urban environment with the city’s history through a walking route starting from the northern part of the developing area near the Armenian Genocide Park.
The route will include elevated and ground-level passages through areas rich in vegetation.
The visitor will arrive at the urban square north of the building, incorporating urban amenities, sitting areas, and hygiene facilities. From there, they will enter the museum area through a modern building, learning about Paphos’ history from 332 BC to the present day.
The tour will feature both existing exhibits and digital exploration.
According to Mayor Phaedonos, the project’s design focuses on the continuity of the natural landscape within the built environment, creating visual perspectives and stimuli for visitors and pedestrians.
The interesting history of the buildings and the space that will soon house the Historical Documentation Center is analyzed by Dr. Katerina Papazacharia, Professor of Modern History at Neapolis University Paphos, in an interview with Phileleftheros.
In May 1879, the High Commissioner of Cyprus, with the consent of the Legislative Council, designated specific areas in each city as prison locations.
For Paphos, the KonakKtyme was selected. The completion of the Central Police Station, housing the provincial Police Directorate of Paphos, occurred in November 1884, just six years after Cyprus was annexed to Great Britain.
In the same year, the construction of the cells for prisoners and the police dormitories was also completed. According to records from 1884, 16 convicts were transferred from the Limassol Prison to serve their sentences at the new Police Station and the Paphos Prison.
The initial construction of the building included the western and southern sides in a ‘G’ shape, featuring two equally sized rooms on two floors.
The Police Director’s office, which included a fireplace, was an exception. The southeast corner of the Station housed the guards’ office, while the eastern part contained the special cells for prisoners, separated into areas for men and women, and convicts, secured by iron doors from the rest of the building.
Convicts, wearing short blue cotton jackets and trousers with a cap without a visor, worked from sunrise to sunset on forced labor projects (stone breaking) and the transportation of the Station’s waste using carts to a location outside the city, as well as in gardening.
According to Dr. Papazacharia, who is also a member of the committee of experts that studied the new project, the Central Police Station had an execution area for convicts by hanging.
The external area of the Station included stables and latrines. The Station also had cars and motorcycles in subsequent years.
The Paphos Police Station continued to function in this location from Independence in 1960 until 2019, when it relocated to new premises.
The wider area, extending to the old Police Station, served as a cemetery during the Hellenistic period, continuing its use during the Roman era.
