After a day full of ships today we had a day full of castles! We got to sleep in a bit before breakfast and before heading out to the Crusader castle. The castle was multiple stories high and you could see so much from the top. Demetra explained where we could see old columns and rubble in and around the castle which we got to explore. I have found it so interesting to see how these old buildings were structured well enough to have lasted this long. Compared to today it’s crazy to think that they had so much less technology than we do now yet more substantial than any buildings in the modern world. This applied to many more of the places we visited as well especially since these were all the oldest buildings I’d ever seen.
After this castle, we headed over to the Kourion ancient city featuring many mosaics and many different rooms of the once city of buildings. We walked all through to see all of the different water systems and ways that the buildings within the city could work in harmony. This also housed a Greek amphitheater. It was so interesting as again it has all been carved out of one rock and previously was large enough to fit 3000 people for different events such as plays and orchestra performances. What’s also incredible is that the amphitheater is still used today. While we were there they were actually setting up for a performance that night. The amphitheater overlooked to the ocean where you could hear the waves and look at the beautiful cliffs which would be an incredible spectacle to experience.
Now it was time for lunch and we got to go down to a beachfront restaurant for a delicious meal. Again we got to overlook the beach and then go and explore it but every beach we have been to has been very different than the one of the last. The beach we had gone to on Tuesday had been more beachy in terms of restaurants and chairs but this beach was more secluded and rocky with lots of ocean wind coming off of the cliffs.
After our exploring we headed back to Limassol to check out the Limassol Castle. It again featured Gothic Architecture and had been converted into a museum of what had been found in the area. Whenever famous figures would come to visit they would be housed here. After that it would get turned into a prison. We even got to go up onto the roof to see a great view of the old town. Once we finished up here we got to head to the beach for the end of our day! A great start to the weekend for sure.
