 Ancient
Cemetery of Parikia: The cemetery located in the ancient
city of Paros was continuously used from the Eight Century
B.C. until the Second Century A.D. and covered a lot of
land. The Archaic period graves—pithos burials and cist
graves—were organized in spaces separated by horizontal
and vertical walls. During the Fifth Century B.C., burials
were instead done in huge, marble urns or in monuments with
funerary stelae and pedestals. In contrast, marble sarcophagi
with pedestals were used during the Hellenistic and Roman
periods.
The excavation for this ancient gravesite began during 1983, in the middle of the formation of the Municipal Cultural Center of Paros near its harbor. It went on up until 1985, when the archeological finds proved that this was one of the most important historical cemeteries of the Cyclades. In addition, the excavation itself was carried out under very difficult circumstances because the area had long become a dense swamp with substantial amounts of plant life due to the presence of underground water and being situation at high sea level. The place had to be drained using pipes and water pumps in 1989. Fortunately, the grave monuments with sarcophagi and funerary stelae have been restored.
The excavation site was then further developed into an
archeological park that was visible from all sides. Representations
of the burials and photographs of the excavation are displayed
in an old, restored building outside the site to give
visitors a better idea of what had been there before many
centuries past.
 Ancient
Pottery Workshop of Tholos: This establishment is
an extensive restoration of an ancient pottery workshop
that dates way back to the Third Century B.C. It has two
spacious kilns that have a diameter of two meters, auxiliary
rooms, two cisterns, and four smaller kilns—the construction
of which used archaic pithoi and imprinted decorations
to form either a Geometric grave or a wall of a large
archaic building that was uncovered in the deeper strata.
The excavation began in 1986 in private land. The area
was eventually extended in 1990. At present, the monument
is preserved in the basement of a more modern structure.
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