So many new members, , and great reviews to read...This is going to be a full-time challenge.LOL......
So many new members, , and great reviews to read...This is going to be a full-time challenge.LOL...elinor.
Member since:06.05.2005
Reviews:40
Members who trust:22
CURIUM ( or as it is sometimes known ). KOURIAN. (modern version)
The town of Curium lies in the southern most point of Cyprus. Just west of Akritiri where the United Nations Forces are based. We have visited here twice, and will definately been visiting again. Why you might ask? Well the experience is nothing like anything else I have seen before. The emotional stirrings rising from within, indicated the enormity of the history of our planet. This is a place to visit at least once in a lifetime.
HOW TO GET THERE.
We often holiday in Paphos, as this is one of our favourite places on the island. From Paphos you must head south towards Paphos airport, travelling along the coastal road. The scenery is much nicer, and more interesting than the motorway, that has just opened.
After passing through the town of Gerieskipou one of the first places you will come to is Pissouri, a gorgeous little town built in the hills just up from the sea. With winding little lanes, reminding me of St Ives in Cornwall near where we live. No wonder the British seem to settle here. There are quiet beaches, and just up from the beach
they have opened a Municipal garden, where lovely sub tropical plants are growing in a dried up river bed.. Now is the time to add this to the places you would like to visit, it is worth it. But not today!.
So keep driving, because the next stop for refreshments on your way, is Aphrodities Rock a huge monolith is surrounded by sea, just off the beach. and several other rocks places strategicly around. this is aprophodities Birthplace. They say that if you can swim around the rock. you will have eternal life. Please don't try it, it is harder than you think, especially as you have to proceed. From the beach there is an underpath where you can get refreshments, but various items in a gift shop, or just and watch the 100,s of goats grazing in the hillside.
Refreshed and on your way, the road takes a closer look at the ocean as it rises into the hills. Excuse me, not the ocean tbut the road.! Continue now as the way gets wilder with just scrubland, mostly uncultivated. Eventually you will arrive at a turning on the right, a small sign, easily missed indicating that you are aproaching Kuorion, but nothing to see yet, unless you are lucky enough to be following a coach, that has come off the mororway. You should definately stay behind him, for he will be going there too, so no chance of getting lost.
Quite soon you will find a newly built little hut just off the roadway, where you can buy a ticket for 1 CYP. yes just one pound for the day.
Did I mention that you will need the whole day to explore and investigate this wonderful archeological site?....I thought not, sorry.! I had in mind to turn it into a magical mystery tour. Oh well, never mind. Park your car in the first car park behind the entrance hall, and if you are visiting in Summer you will definately want an ice-cream. With the area being built on the top of the cliffs, overlooking a huge expanse of the mediterranean it is very hot here, and exposed to the elements. The wind can burn you here as much as the sun.
Replenished you should now be ready to survey all that is there before you. I hope that you have brought your good walking trainers, a camera and a drink, you will need them. The first port of call is the amphithetre where it has been restored enough to have performances on the stage, Opers, Cypriot dancing and singing and all sorts of entertainment. With the height of the seats compared to the small stage at the bottom, the backdrop of the radiant blue/green sea and the clear blue sky beyond, you feel as though you are being transported back in time to the Roman years, where Cleopatra and her followers enjoyed some similar spectacular shows and lived in the life of luxury.
To the left of the amphi theatre while you arre still looking out to sea, you will notice a large roof suspended over some rocks, at least that is what it looks like. You can enter in here and see the wonderfiull microscopic mosaics that they are uncovering. Many of them in perfect condition, you can see them by walking along the wooden boardwalk above and beside these great finds. I won't tell you more, because you should really see them for yourselves. I will warn you though, please don't stand still staring too long, as it easy to become transfixed, taken back in time and find yourself reliving everything that happened many centuries ago.
The rest of this wonderful site, which grows and expands, almost daily as the work constantly continues, under the heat of the sun, exposes, washrooms, saunas, under floor heating, water systems, roadways, mansions, libraries and homes with pools and baths, with entrances with huge marble pillars lining the roads to the top, where archeologists have been digging for many years to uncover the amazingly wonderful lifestyle, enjoyed by the then rich and famous.
Many of these pillars now tumbled and broken on the courtyard floors are slowly rising from the heap to be renewed and stand proud and tall once again. Take time to sit amongst the ruins and ponder on the their lifestyle. Can't you just hear the chariots wheels rattling along the stone paved roadways? I would have loved to have lived during that era, maybe I did, who knows.?
While sitting under the fig trees, where wooden benches have been strategically placed for you to shelter from the heat of the day, watch the birds and other wildlife. They still live here amongst the wild flowers and tumbled rocks, as they did back then, when Romans ruled the land. You will see the lizards running hotfoot, too hot to stand still, the crickets and if you are lucky the snakes, yes and snakes, but don't worry, they hide from humans most of the time. Look into the faces of the little wild flowers, showing off their brightness of the sun. There can be so much to learn by sitting still.
This place is in a world of its own. Far from civilisation with no sounds other than the chirping of the birds. The story it tells is mystical and magical and sometimes rather scary. The air feels different up here. Coach loads come and go, but if you have come here alone and can just wander at will, then you will feel this magic too.
I hope you will soon visit here, travel back in time a few thousand of years and stare at the space as I do and into the great beyond. Maybe. as it is now sugested you will discover the secret of Atlantis, because there are those who think it is here, right down there in the sea. Maybe we will never know. Then maybe , one day we will.
As you journey home from Curium, in your new or hired car, be careful as you come out of your hypnotic state, dreaming that your chariot and horses will carry you home safely back to the present.
Enjoy your holidays, this would be a really could place for your next one.
Elinor
Pictures of Kourion (Curium), Limassol
Kurion. Steam sauna house.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
A very good and interesting review of a place your clearly enjoyed visiting. Not made it to Cyprus yet but hope to one day and this site would be on my list. Photos are very good.
robert1 25.07.2007 13:55
Great photos !
arnoldhenryrufus 22.07.2007 04:22
the pictures are amazing and the craftsmanship that went into those pillars wow - lyn x
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