Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For dining, grab a table at the
Old Stables
(
%
2593 5568; mains €10;
h
6-11pm Mon-Sat)
. The
kleftiko
is tender and juicy, and the mezes are excellent. Takeaway is also available. It's
out on the Lemesos-Pafos road opposite the Eko petrol station and looks like the kind of
place that was established many generations before there were roads here, with a small
and shady front terrace that deserves a better view than this.
Ancient Kourion
Ancient Kourion
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
(admission €4.50;
h
8.30am-7.30pm Apr-Oct, to 5pm Nov-Mar)
Defiantly perched on a hillside with a sweeping view of the surrounding patchwork of
fields and the sea, Ancient Kourion is a spectacular site. Most likely founded in neolithic
times because of its strategic position high on a bluff, it became a permanent settlement in
about the 13th century BC, when Mycenaean colonisers established themselves here.
There's a small visitor's centre where you can see a scale model of the whole site,
which will help orientate your visit.
The settlement prospered under the Ptolemies and Romans, and a pre-Christian cult of
Apollo was active among the inhabitants of Kourion in Roman times, as evidenced by the
nearby Sanctuary of Apollon Ylatis. Christianity eventually supplanted Apollo and, des-
pite the disastrous earthquakes in the region, an early Christian basilica was built in the
5th century, testifying to the ongoing influence of Christianity on Kourion by this time.
Pirate raids 200 years later severely compromised the viability of the Christian bishop-
ric; the Bishop of Kourion was obliged to move his base to a new settlement at nearby
Episkopi (meaning 'bishopric' in Greek). Kourion declined as a settlement from that point
on and was not rediscovered until tentative excavations at the site began in 1876.
The ticket office is at the entry gate half way up the hill. From there the road continues
to the hilltop to the visitor's centre and ruins.
Roman Theatre
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
More interesting for its lovely coastal views than the actual structure, Kourion's Roman
Theatre is a reconstruction of a smaller theatre that existed on the same spectacular site,
high on the hill overlooking the sea, but which was destroyed by earthquakes in the 4th
century. Nevertheless, it gives a good idea of how it would have been at its peak. Today
it's often used for cultural events by Cypriot and visiting Greek singers and bands.
House of Eustolius
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
