I have an
urge to go someplace. But thanks to the
coronavirus Covid-19 epidemic, I can’t go far.
My travelling is in fact restricted to my university campus; on
nationally mandated lockdown weekends, such as these past few days (15-19 May),
I can’t even leave my own apartment.
It’s a good opportunity to revisit past trips. Let me start with the third and final part of
a trip to Cyprus four years ago in late May, 2016 (for
parts 1 and 2, see posts on this Blog, July 8 and August 9, 2016).
Limassol. We got up early in order to meet
archaeologist Alison South, who had kindly agreed to show us the Late Bronze
Age site of Kalavasos-Agios Dhimitrios,
located east of Limassol, where she had directed excavations. Like all the Cypriot sites we visited,
the remains of this large mansion lay
just below the surface. After a detailed
tour, much appreciated, and a coffee together with Ian Todd, her archaeologist
husband, Alison took us to see Maroni,
another Late Bronze Age site, not far off but closer to the seashore. The key to the gate didn’t work so we peered
in through the fencing. We had lunch in Zygi, at a fish restaurant run by a man who had been a
refugee in 1974 from Lapithos, a town on the island’s north coast (recalled on
the placemats). It was clearly a day for
archaeologists: we were joined at lunch by Kevin and Sheri Fisher from
Vancouver, also specialists in the prehistory of this region. After lunch, we visited Kalavasos-Tenta, a Neolithic site that Ian had excavated
in the 1970s-80s.
Kalavasos-Tenta (photo: Elizabeth Lehman)
This hilltop site is now
sheltered under a large modern wigwam-shaped roofing, which makes a striking
impression as one drives along the main east-west highway just below it. Houses are round, as at Khirokitia (visited
the day before).
Kalavasos-Tenta (photo: www.kiprinform.com)
Tenta is a smaller site
than Khirokitia, but the signage was clearer and more informative. We finished the day with a drive up into the
hills, to see Alassa, another Late Bronze
Age site with a large building in which nicely cut ashlar blocks were
used. This settlement seems very remote,
but may well have had something to do with copper
mining activities in the region.
Back to Limassol for a
second night, and another dinner at the local taverna. This evening, Saturday, the taverna was
patronized by young men (in their late 20s or 30s) with well-dressed women. The
evening before, families predominated.
For the dinner, we insisted on a less copious meal, having learned our
lesson about the giant portions typically served.
The next day
we headed west. First we drove through
downtown Limassol, very quiet that Sunday morning. The regional museum, our first destination,
was closed on Saturday and Sunday – odd, we thought: when are locals able to
visit it? We drove through the city to
the seashore, where an attractive promenade had recently been installed. There is a medieval castle somewhere by the
shore, or a part of one, but we missed it.
We continued on to Kourion,
for our major Hellenistic-Roman ruins of this trip. The museum, in the nearby town of Episkopi, in a house that belonged to or had been
rented by George McFadden, an American archaeologists active in the 1930s and
1940s, was also closed on Saturdays and Sundays – another museum that had to be
skipped.
Kourion and part of Episkopi lie on British territory: on the
Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri, one of two
military bases kept by Britain, the colonial occupier, after the independence
of Cyprus in 1960. For the casual
tourist like us, this relic of British imperialism had no effect.
Kourion: an
Early Christian basilica (5th c.)
Kourion is
well organized for visitors, with excellent signage throughout; big, solid
roofs over certain buildings; and shaded shelters and view points (Kourion is
located on a bluff with great sea views).
View of the seacoast, from Kourion
Kourion has two other
sectors to the west, with separate access: a stadium and the sanctuary of
Apollo Hylattes. We stopped at
both. Few visitors here, even though the
Temple of Apollo, in particular, is very
striking.
Temple of Apollo Hylattes, Kourion
Late lunch just off the main highway leading westward toward
Paphos. I had an excellent tuna
salad. When people ask, as did the
proprietor of this restaurant, I say I’m American and that I live in Turkey.
This last fact has not caused any reaction, either positive or negative.
Not far beyond, we left the highway again for Petra tou Romaiou, striking rock formations by the
seashore associated with the birth of Aphrodite. This spot, with a small pebbled beach, was
crammed with tourists. Water was
expensive in the market/store, but the WC was clean (as they have been
everywhere).
Petra tou Romaiou
Clearly, a stop on day
excursions – for Russians from Limassol?
On the sign in the window of one bus, the tour program also listed Kykkos, a famous monastery high in the Troodos
Mountains. Archbishop Makarios III, the
first president of Cyprus, began his religious training there. This comprehensive combination of beach/Aphrodite and mountains/Orthodox
monastery/Virgin Mary sounded distinctly appealing.
On to Kouklia/Palaiopaphos, in the modern, upscale town
of Kouklia. A major sanctuary of
Aphrodite is here, but visible in ground plan only, typical for Cyprus –
although there are some massive stone blocks/orthostats/ashlars from Late
Bronze Age construction.
Kouklia/Palaeopaphos: Late Bronze Age
construction
Also here is a medieval
“manor house”, originally from the Lusignan period, with later Ottoman
refurbishing. In the later Middle Ages,
Kouklia was active in the lucrative cane sugar industry. One hall has beautiful Gothic rib vaults. A
chamber music concert was to take place there that evening.
Gothic hall: Lusignan period
Other rooms contained a
collection of antiquities, including a surprising painted stone (or
terracotta?) sarcophagus of Persian-period date.
At the end of the
afternoon we drove on to Paphos – to upper
Paphos, the town proper. Kato Paphos, the lower
town on the seacoast, has been developed for mass tourism and is wall-to-wall
bars and restaurants designed to appeal in particular to British tourists.
Our hotel, the Axiothea, was beautifully sited on a bluff.
Our room had a panoramic view of the seacoast, almost 180°.
The next morning we drove
down to Kato Paphos to visit the extensive archaeological area. The main
attraction: Roman houses with mosaic floors.
Two are preserved under permanent shelters,
the House of Aion and the very large House of Dionysos.
A Polish team from Warsaw began excavating here in 1965. A few days earlier we had seen a fine exhibit
on their results in the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia.
The
site is enormous. Because we had much
more on our day’s program, we skipped the other sectors, such as the odeion and
the agora.
Back
to the car (our rental Toyota, with right hand drive), for a short drive to the
“Tombs of the Kings,” a necropolis featuring
rock-cut tombs, especially multiple groups in the style of Alexandrian hypogea.
One of the underground “Tombs of the Kings” – Paphos
Next stop: Lemba, a Chalcolithic settlement with round houses
of various sizes, with some reconstructions.
The biggest one had red painted decoration on the outside and inside,
now faded since the initial reconstruction. We were the only visitors here.
Lemba: a reconstructed house
After this, we headed northwest to see Maa-Palaikastro, a short-lived 12th c. BC
settlement of Mycenaean refugees. This
site occupies a peninsula flanked by beaches with attractive hotels and houses.
The fortification wall is built of large
blocks. The houses are preserved only in ground plan, but the area is littered
with potsherds.
Maa – Palaikastro
At the far end is the small Museum of Mycenaean Colonization of Cyprus, a
round building that looks like a space ship sunken in the ground.
The exhibit, about the 13th-12th c. BC, was
quite general, and unfortunately had little about the site itself.
After
this, we drove back to Nicosia without a
stop. It took only two hours. Thanks to
precise directions received a few days before from a helpful man at the Larnaca
Tourism Information Office, we found our parking lot by the Venetian walls
without any difficulty.
The
next day we returned our rental car in the outlying district of Strovolos,
paying a whopping penalty for a tiny nick in the paint; took a taxi back to the
city center; toured Nicosia in the later morning; then, after lunch, took our
bags and walked up Ledra Street to the
crossing point into the northern sector. After a visit to the Selimiye Mosque, originally built in the 13th century
as the St. Sophia church, a large, majestic Catholic church in the Gothic
style, and an admiring look at the Gothic façade of the adjacent Bedesten, we took a taxi to the Ercan airport and a
flight (Pegasus airlines) back to Ankara.
Looking forward to a return!
Bedesten (adjacent to the Selimiye Mosque), Nicosia
