Today for the first time in Cyprus we started our day off heading west of Limassol.  Our first stop was the Kolossi Crusader Castle located in the British territory of Cyprus.  Kolossi Castle was originally built in the early 13^th century by the Frankish military, however, was later reconstructed in the 15^th century.  The inside of the castle had high ceilings to allow for a second floor of wooden planks supported by large beams underneath.  We were told this was most likely where the soldiers would sleep in the castle. After a little time to explore the massive structure, we were taken to the ancient city of Kourion.  Here we were exposed to an ancient Roman city built 2000 years earlier on the hillside right outside of the town, Episkopi.  Most of the ancient Roman mosaics within the city were still in good condition and well-preserved.  We were also told about Roman’s way of heating their floors which consisted of them building tunnels underneath the floor which could all be heated due to a singular fire that would heat the air.  Next to the ancient city was an old amphitheater that had been partially restored.  At the time of the civilization, the amphitheater held around 3,500 people and was later downsized and currently can hold about 1,000 at any given time. 

Our last stop took us back to the city of Limassol and roughly 5 minutes from our hotel.   Limassol Castle was constructed in 1193 before it was taken over and turned into a prison by the Ottomans.  After the castle was recaptured by the governor of Cyprus it was demolished to avoid it falling into the control of anyone else.  However, after the Ottomans regained control in 1576, they constructed a new Ottoman fort using previous parts of the fort and transformed the first floor into prison cells.  After learning about the history from our tour guide, we were given time to explore the castle.  On the first floor, considered the prison, there were many engraved pieces of stone with many different designs.  Traveling throughout the other floors, we were exposed to many more different engravings and also some tombstones.