A natural harbour in southwest Cyprus was the place where the new Paphos was found by the last King of Palaepaphos, Nicocles, in 306 BC. Construction of the harbour to this natural anchorage was first started by King Nicocles himself. Paphos harbour gained its greater importance in 312BC.
Construction of the harbour by King Nicocles was then continued by Ptolemy during the Ptolemies period. There was not much improvement done to the Paphos port during the Hellenistic period. However, it was the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, due to the sea roads to Rome and other coasts, who showed a huge interest in the Paphos port and it was during the Roman Period when the partially clogged harbour was improved and corrected.
According to historical sources, during the Roman period the internal basin of the harbour was divided into 3 main anchorages: one to serve foreign trade, a second for local trade, and a third one to accommodate warships that visited Paphos harbour. The Romans were responsible for building the impressive walls, temples, buildings, mosaics, floors and odeons.
A large storage area with 3 divisions was constructed in Paphos harbour. In 1974 the first division was a souvenir shop as well as a kiosk named Paphos Harbour Shop and the other two divisions were meant for storage by Turkish.
Later in 1988, the second and third storage divisions were replaced by a small restaurant named Castle Tavern which was opened to serve the sailors, traders, fishermen, and local people.
There was no extensive menu Castle served some fasoulia (beans), along with coffee and amazing local wines, but the place was filled with joy and happiness.
In 2012 the first division was converted into Delicious Cafe and with the vision to expand the Delicious cafe and Castle tavern were combined and in recognition of the sails of all the boats that have passed into the harbour over hundreds of years, combined with the historical Castle that was built to protect the harbour Sail at Castle Restaurant was born in 2015.
Even after modernization Paphos harbour and Sail at Castle both still reflect the history having maintained all the original architecture at its core.
Due to its archaeological and historical significance, Paphos lists itself as a World Cultural Heritage site since 1980.
