Cyprus 2025 - Kolossi Castle & Ancient Kourion

 

This time last week I was sunning myself by the pool beer in hand, wondering if this heat would ever end???

This was my first trip to Cyprus and I'd love to go again. We were at an all-inclusive hotel just outside of Limassol. We ventured out on a day trip to a few historical sites, so I thought I'd share a few pics.

The first few are of Kolossi Castle

Kolossi Castle is a former Crusader stronghold on the south-west edge of Kolossi village 14 kilometres (9 mi) west of the city of Limassol on the island of Cyprus.It held great strategic importance in the Middle Ages, and contained large facilities for the production of sugar from the local sugarcane, one of Cyprus's main exports in the period. The original castle was possibly built in 1210 by the Frankish military, when the land of Kolossi was given by King Hugh I to the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem or the Hospitallers 

The present castle was built in 1454 by the Hospitallers under the Commander of Kolossi, Louis de Magnac, whose coat-of-arms can be seen carved into the castle's walls.[3]

Owing to rivalry among the factions in the Crusader Kingdom of Cyprus, the castle was taken by the Knights Templar in 1306, but returned to the Hospitallers in 1313 following the abolition of the Templars.

The castle today consists of a single three-storey square keep, 21m high and with dimensions 17x17m. It has an attached rectangular enclosure or bailey about 30 by 40 metres (98 by 131 ft).

As well as for its sugar, the area is also known for its sweet wine, Commandaria. At the wedding banquet after King Richard the Lionheart's marriage to Berengaria of Navarre at nearby Limassol, he allegedly declared it to be the "wine of kings and the king of wines." It has been produced in the region for millennia, and is thought to be the oldest continually-produced and named wine in the world, known for centuries as "Commandaria" after the Templars' Grand Commandery there

The other site we visited were the ruins of Ancient K

Kourion  was an important ancient Greek city-state on the southwestern coast of the island of Cyprus. In the twelfth century BCE, after the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces, Greek settlers from Argos arrived on this site.
In the fourth century, Kourion suffered from five heavy earthquakes, but the city was mostly rebuilt. The Acropolis of Kourion, located 1.3 km southwest of Episkopi and 13 km west of Limassol, is located atop a limestone promontory nearly 100 metres high along the coast of Episkopi Bay.

The Kourion archaeological area lies within the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia and is managed by the Cyprus Department of Antiquity.

In 58 BCE, the Roman Council of the Plebs (Consilium Plebis) passed the Lex Clodia de Cyprus, fully annexing Cyprus to the province of Cilicia. Between 47 and 31 BC, Cyprus returned briefly to Ptolemaic rule under Marc Antony and Cleopatra VII, reverting to Roman rule after the defeat of Antony. In 22 BC, Cyprus was separated from the province of Cilicia, being established an independent senatorial province under a proconsul.

Under the Romans, Kourion possessed a civic government functioning under the oversight of the provincial proconsul. Inscriptions from Kourion attest elected offices that including: Archon of the City, the council, clerk of the council and people, the clerk of the market, the various priesthoods including priests and priestesses of Apollo Hylates, and priesthoods of Rome. It is thought that Kourion flourished and quality of life increased due to good trade with the rest of the Roman Empire.

This building is thought to be a Spa.

The theatre of Kourion was excavated by the University Museum Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania between 1935 and 1950. The theatre was initially constructed on a smaller scale in the late-second century BCE on the northern slope of the defile ascending from the Amathus Gate. This arrangement thus utilized the slope of the hill to partially support the weight of the seating in the cavea. This architectural arrangement is typical of Hellenistic theatres throughout the Eastern Mediterranean with a circular orchestra and a cavea exceeding 180 degrees.

The theatre was repaired in the late-first century BCE, likely following the earthquake of 15 BCE. The theatre's scene building was seemingly reconstructed in 64/65 CE by Quintus Iulius Cordus, the proconsul, and it was likely at this time the ends of the cavea were removed, reducing it to a Roman plan of 180 degrees. The orchestra was likewise shortened to a semi-circular form. The theatre received an extensive renovation and enlargement under Trajan between ca. 98–111 CE, bringing the theatre to its present size and seating arrangement. The scene building, now preserved only in its foundations, was rebuilt, bringing it to the height of the cavea. This structure would have originally obscured the view of the Mediterranean to the south.

Between 214 and 217 CE, the theatre was modified to accommodate gladiatorial games and venationes but it was restored to its original form as a theatre after 250 CE. The theatre was abandoned in the later-fourth century CE, likely the result of successive seismic events, the earthquake of 365/70 perhaps resulting in its abandonment. The enlarged cavea of the Roman phases could have accommodated an audience of as many as 3,500. The present remains of the theatre have been restored extensively.