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.The theater was used mostly for gladiator competitions and is still in use today (but not for gladiators).

These are the ruins of an Early Christian BasilicaThis is the ruins of the baptismal font -- I always think it is cool to see fonts in early Christian churches. A mosaic of Glaiators from the Gladiators House 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.       Then 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 Kourion