Places to Visit
Kourion (Curium)
The ruins of Kourion, near the modern town of Episkopi, is located on one of the
most fertile spots in the island, with extensive ruins and including well-preserved mosaics. Also
of interest are the public baths, the Nymphaeum, the necropolis, the Fountain House, House of Gladiators
and House of Achilles. The most spectacular site at Kourion is the Greco-Roman theatre, or forum, that has been completely restored
(with the Mediterranean as a backdrop) and is used today for open air musical and theatrical performances. It is one of the venues for
the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama.
Many artifacts were removed from Kourion by the notorious treasure hunter, Luigi Palma di Cesnola, in the late 19th century who served as Consul to Cyprus for the United States. These were transported to the U.S. where they formed the bulk of the first exhibition of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Some are still on exhibition today. Thousands of other pieces however were sold to Stanford University and were destroyed by an earthquake that hit California in 1906. A third portion of this collection ended up at the Semitic Museum at Harvard University.
Excavations were also conducted by several other expeditions. The British Museum enriched its Cypriot artifact collection through excavations conducted during the British occupation of the island between 1893 and 1899. The excavations on the theatre were carried out by the University Museum of Philadelphia. Works began in 1934 and were completed in 1949.
Kolossi Castle
Kolossi Castle is a crusader stronghold a few kilometers outside the city of
Limassol. It held great strategic importance and contained production of sugar, one of Cyprus' main exports in the Middle Ages.
The original castle was possibly built in 1210 by Frankish military when the land of Kolossi was given by King Hugh III to the Knights of the Order
of St John of Jerusalem (Hospitallers), and
the present castle was built in 1454 by the Hospitallers. Dwellers in the castle include the Templars and
the already mentioned Hospitallers.
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