Wednesday, April 24th, Limassol, Cyprus

Greetings!

On the second day in Limassol, we drove west to the Kourion Archeological Site (Ancient Kourion), and to the Sanctuary of Apollo (a little farther west).  We keep thinking that every place we se is the biggest, most well-preserved and presented set of ruins we've seen.  It's the same with museums.  The next one tops the previous in size or quality.  

And we're very impressed with how the country has protected the sites, and the signage.  It's like what we saw in Australia.  If you don't spend government funds on war, you can spend it on infrastructure.  

The Amphitheater here is particularly well-preserved, and acoustically designed.  From a single spot on the stage floor, the actors can be heard in all of the seats.  The site sits on the top of a hill overlooking the coast, making sure the city leaders could spot ships approaching from the west.

And just so you'll appreciate the importance of Kourion and its surrounding area, all that we saw was built after 325 BC (when Alexander the Great defeated the Persians empire,  A series of earthquakes over the next 300 years destroyed most of what he found, and the Romans subsequently re-built what we see now, only to have it also destroyed by subsequent invaders.

The really important value of Kourion is that it was founded a thousand years earlier by the Mycenaeans, who eventually gave us the Greek language (Linear B).

After we get back from our drive west, we're going to the Limassol Archeological Museum to see what was found here.  It may take a while to upload the photos, so do come back to see what was photographed inside the museum.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Wednesday, April 13th, Limassol, Cyprus.