On account of the fact that Loody (a German backpacker friend of mine I met in Australia. International much?) and her mrs, Shupiwe, were over to visit and see a bit of the rock I currently call home, I decided not to spend the Sunday staring at Facebook and playing Sims Social and instead we went for a drive to the other side of Limassol to look at some broken shit which dates back to when the Greeks first rocked up. I do like my broken shit, I find it fascinating and would probably have paid more attention in history if it focused on the interesting stuff as opposed to crop rotation in the 17th century.
Actually this is a lie and we all know it, my teenage brain would have still been focused on Smirnoff Ice and girls regardless of how awesome the teachings were.
But anyway, off we went along the coast as much as possible, stopping for a picnic on the beach in Limassol before ending up at the gates of Ancient Kourion where we paid a whopping €1.70 each to get in. Bless ya, Cyprus. €1 for a quick, cold shower at Nissi beach and less than half that for entrance to one of your most important historical sites. You know which side your bread is buttered. *pats head*
So, Ancient Kourion, so called on account of it being, like, ancient. And uh, because it's called Kourion. See what they did there? I don't think there's a modern Kourion for anyone to get it mixed up with but it leaves no room for confusion when you're trying to get the tourists to tear themselves away from the sand for the day! Y'know, "Come and look at our stuff! Old Kourion! Come and see it. No no, Really Old Kourion. Wait wait wait! Ancient Kourion, that's what it is. Ancient" I don't know exactly how old something has to be before it constitutes ancient but I'd say 1200 BC would just about do it. No bloody wonder it's broken.
You can spend quite a bit of time mincing around these ruins (mincing isn't compulsory; meandering, wandering and strolling are also acceptable), there's quite a bit to see. You start off at the House of Eustolios who I assume is the dude that built it where there are heaps of Christian mosaics dating back ridiculous amounts of centuries. Oh yeah, this place was still around when the Romans relieved the Greeks of their rule and they built the amphitheatre, then when the Christians rocked up they left their stamp on the place in the form of a basilica, ousting the cult of Apollo. Poor old Apollo, there he was, minding his own business, enjoying the odd sacrifice here and there then suddenly, boom, basilica. It wasn't easy being a Greek god at the start of the 1st century ay, being made redundant in favour of a shiny new god that could pretty much do everything from wrath to... more wrath... That's what you get for specialising in one area of godlinness.
I digress. Haven't done that for a while.
The amphitheatre was destroyed around 200 AD in an earthquake, what you see today is a reconstruction built on the foundations of the original and they use it for cultural events and things. I think the Romans built the baths an all, I'm not too sure because the only leaflets they had were in Greek but that makes sense. Romans did baths well. There are little stacks of brick type things that Shups and Loody said had something to do with, like, central heating of the day. I have no idea how it works but apparently they have the same thing in Bath. I've never been to Bath. *makes mental note to go to Bath*
There are other places we missed out like the House of the Gladiators but shit it was hot. That's something Cyprus knows how to do. Hot. And there's not much shelter so we made our way back to the car which had clearly heated up to a temperature you could cook pizza in and drove further up the coast towards Petra tou Romiou (Rock of the Greeks), better known as to English speakers with no Greek pronunciation skills as Aphrodite's Rock.
Holy fuck, it's stunning!
Just the drive there is astonishing, we stopped at a view point for ice cream and I couldn't take my eyes off it, it's like the island's answer to the Great Ocean Road's Shipwreck Coast but, dare I say it, even more beautiful. Score one for Cyprus, it really is a remarkable country when it comes to aesthetics.
Actually the ice cream alone is worth the stop off, you might want to promise your first born to Satan to afford it and it melts quicker than you can eat it under the blazing Cypriot sunshine, but it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that banana was put on this earth specifically to complement chocolate.
Ok so there's a myth surrounding this here rock which is why tourists flock to it, because it sure as hell isn't for the beach. Once you get down to sea level, as gorgeous as it is to look at, the beach itself is all pebbles. Think Brighton. I can only handle Brighton beach if I'm pissed or hungover and even then you find yourself having to move rocks around so they're not sticking into your spine. It's pretty much like that. The ocean is a little cooler than my end of the island an all but that suited me after sweating my tits off at Kourion... sorry, Ancient Kourion. But this myth. Righto. So it's meant to be the birthplace of Aphrodite herself, the patron goddess of the island, the goddess of love. And by love, I mean lust, Aphrodite was a horny little minx. Legend has it that she emerged from the ocean at this point and more than likely promptly went off to get laid.
Oh... yeah... but the Greek name has nothing to do with her; the Rock of the Greeks, apparently the one over to the west, was thrown there by a dude called Digenis Akritas who was a Greek hero with a penchant for chucking rocks at folks he didn't like. He'd go down well in London for the next riots. There's another myth someone told me about; if you swim around Aphrodite's Rock three times you'll meet the love of your life. Yet another one says if you do the same thing you'll be blessed with eternal beauty. I totally must have swam round this rock in a previous life. *flicks hair*
Loody and Shups asked a guy which one the rock was, I'm not sure if he was right but I gave it a go anyways. I'm not looking for a life love thing but hey, once I get her to buy me dinner and take me shopping I figure I'll just block her on Facebook and leave the country.
It's a really lovely day out to be honest. There are other ruins around Kourion you can check out but we'd gotten ridiculously pissed the night before at my local so had got off to a late start, and that coupled with the searing heat had sent us to the water sooner rather than later. Shups drove us home along the freeway as I drooled into my upholstery and we finished up with a few beers and a shit load of dead stuff on the BBQ with my Parental Unit. But in conclusion, good onya, Cyprus. You're not as boring as I thought you were.
It's Not Just Old, It's Ancient
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Ancient Kourion, Limassol, Cyprus
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Comments

2025-02-17
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Michael Monaghan
2011-10-12
Claire, very informative. Would love to visit Cyprus sometime. I was in the US Air Force and stationed in England for four years and got to see Bath - it was fascinating.
Love all your pictures. Really puts one there with you. Can feel the heat.
Keith Louttit
2011-10-12
Your 'Just like old friends' pic reminds me of my cousin Eddy... he had MS... he used to pose like that when he needed to go potty... but I love your writing style and the way you love everything you do...
travelnshit
2011-10-13
Michael, I lived a short train ride away from Bath for years and it never even occurred to me to go, yet I'll fly halfway around the world to look at rocks and trees and shit. I'm back in the UK next month, Bath is on the now epic list of Shit To Do In The UK.
Keith, that is also my "want to go potty" pose. The camera was on a tripod and Shups was off digging me a hole.
chrispreece1
2011-10-17
There's me twittering on to you about archaeology and you're already doing it in person! Looks like a great day out (if a bit hot) xx