Archaeological Park Kourion / Ancient Kourion

What to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting

Kourion Archaeological Park is perhaps the main place to visit during your holiday in Limassol. Once on the site of the current excavations and ruins of the Archaeological Park there was the ancient city of Kourion (Kourion), founded in the XII century BC.E. The Aegean civilization, which occupied the islands of the Aegean Sea, Crete, mainland Greece and Asia Minor in the Bronze Age. It was one of the most developed and largest cities, numbering up to 20 thousand inhabitants at the peak of its glory. It was repeatedly destroyed as a result of wars and earthquakes, until in the Middle Ages it was finally abandoned and forgotten. The remains of the city were discovered by modern civilization only in 1873 during illegal excavations.

Today it is one of the most important archaeological sites of Cyprus, and people come to see it not only from Limassol, but also from other resorts of the island. On the territory of the Archaeological Park-Museum you can see the remains of ancient buildings restored from the ruins, temples, mosaics, columns, baths, amphitheater and other architectural objects belonging to the Greek, Roman, Byzantine periods, and the early Middle Ages. Here, among other things, are such important attractions as the ancient amphitheater Kourion (Kourion Ancient Amphitheater), the House of Eustolios (House of Eustolios), early Christian basilica (Early Christian basilica), ancient Roman Baths. On some sites in the guidebooks you can find descriptions that these are independent attractions, but this is not the case. They are part of the architectural park and are visited only at the entrance by ticket.

The park museum is well equipped for visiting, there are information stands in English, signs along the paths, a map with objects marked on it is issued at the entrance. The visit should be allocated at least 2 hours. You can move around the territory only on foot, and you will have to walk a lot, so wear a headdress for sun protection, comfortable shoes, take drinking water. To make it more interesting, you can find on the internet and download to your smartphone a free or paid audio guide in Russian.

After visiting the Archaeological Park of Kourion, it is recommended to visit the Archaeological Museum of Kourion in the village of Bishopi. There are exhibited the most valuable artifacts found during the archaeological excavations of the ancient city. Nearby is also a beautiful sandy and Pebble Beach Episcopi, aka Kourion Beach (Kourion Beach), where you can go on vacation after exploring the park.

You can also see possible options for other excursions in Limassol, which can be booked online:

• 📷 search for excursions in Limassol on Tripster.ru
• 📷 search for excursions in Limassol on Sputnik8.com