Thursday, January 27, 2011

Cyprus: Kourion and Temple of Apollo

Probably the most picturesque place we visited was the ancient city of Kourion and the nearby Temple of Apollo Hylates.  This ancient city actually lies within the boundaries of the British sovereign base.IMG_6548IMG_6561The theater was used mostly for gladiator competitions and is still in use today (but not for gladiators). IMG_6528

IMG_6537These are the ruins of an Early Christian BasilicaIMG_6560IMG_6557This is the ruins of the baptismal font -- I always think it is cool to see fonts in early Christian churches. IMG_6564A mosaic of Glaiators from the Gladiators HouseIMG_6577 We were lucky to be able to visit the Temple of Apollo because it was closed when we got there.  I think the park ranger there let us in because he was touched when my dad spoke to him in Greek.  The Cypriots are used to speaking in English with tourists who make no attempt at Greek.  Their English is so good that my dad complains he can’t find people willing to let him practice.  This guy really warmed up to us after my dad spoke with him and ended up giving us a tour.       IMG_6585Then after hearing about my dad’s interest in the mosaics around the ruins he took us into his office where he showed us several mosaic reproductions he was working on.  One of them was a perfect copy of this mosaic which we saw in KourionIMG_6518

2 comments:

Kari said...

Now I'm even more jealous. (: And don't worry, I know that the holidays are crazy!

MLE Whatz said...

Those mosaics were awesome, I'm glad Dad got to practice Greek with someone who appreciated it.