The Tombs of the Kings is a large necropolis (or city of the dead) about 2km north-west of Paphos. The tombs have been explored for centuries, but the first systematic excavation occurred in the 1970/1980s under the direction of Dr Sophocles Hadjisavvas, now Director of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus. Although there was never any royalty buried at the site, it does reflect the wealth of Nea Papfos in its heyday.

The site consists of eight complexes, featuring Doric pillars, carved out of solid rock and remarkable fresco-ed walls. The catacombs were used by early Christians who settled there; one of the tombs was turned into a chapel. In the Middle Ages, some tombs were used as makeshift dwellings or as workplace where pottery was made.

Some tombs are reached via stairs that lead into sunken rectangular courts. Originally the tombs were covered with stucco and the walls were decorated with frescoes. One tomb has a large rectangular stone block in the centre of the atrium and loculi ornamented around the sides.

Archaeologists have excavated a number of undisturbed burials from the Hellenistic period, two of them contained an ointment container, a myrtle wreath of gold and fine Rhodian amphorae and in a third a child had been buried in a terracotta pipe.