Kourion

Kourion was an Iron Age city-kingdom and an ancient city west of Limassol. Today this is a major archaeological site. "Legally" it is not located in Cyprus, but within the British Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri.

The city was probably founded in the 13th century BC. According to Strabo, Kourion was a colony founded by the Argives. The first documented mention of Kourion dates from 673/672 BC on the Kition Stele. The oldest inscription mentioning the god Apollo, who is regarded as the city’s principal deity, comes from Kourion. It dates from the 5th century BC. In this context, a local god, who appears only as ‘teo’, was identified with Apollo.

Under the Romans, Kourion had an administration that was under the supervision of the provincial proconsul. It is believed that Kourion flourished and that the quality of life improved due to thriving trade with the rest of the Roman Empire.

The site of Kourion was identified in the 1820s. Extensive excavations have been undertaken since the 1870s, primarily aimed at recovering valuable objects. These were later largely sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Several unauthorized private excavations were carried out in the 1880s before being prohibited. Since then, there have been intermittent excavation periods, often conducted by US universities in collaboration with Cypriot researchers.

The majority of the archaeological remains within the Kourion Archaeological Area date to the Roman and Late Roman/Early Byzantine periods.