After 24+ hours of travel, we have arrived in Limassol, Cyprus! The city is bustling, and the beach is absolutely beautiful with bright blue water. This morning, we ventured 15 km west from Limassol to the Old City of Kourion, which was one of the 10 major kingdoms of the millennium BC. In those days, it housed between 25 to 30 thousand people. Though it was destroyed by the Arabs, its monuments have been excavated to allow tourists to see its artifacts. It is home to an ancient theatre as well as a bath house, which was built by a wealthy Cypriot as a means of comforting other Cypriots after an earthquake destroyed their homes and devastated the community. Interestingly, the theatre that is in Kourion still hosts festivals in the summertime. The picture I have used for this post shows the incredible scenery.

After visiting Kourion, we travelled to the medieval Kolossi Castle. It was once home to the Crusaders, who ruled over Cyprus. The Crusaders struck wealth in Cyprus in the wine industry as well as the sugar industry. The castle was destroyed and rebuilt in the 15th century. It is made entirely of stone, and there are three levels. The basement was used to store ammunition, food, and other necessities. The first level housed some of the Crusaders and had long tables for business meetings. The second level housed the rest of the Crusaders and had more room for meetings. There is a top floor, which is the roof. There were several measures that the Crusaders took for defense. First, there was a bridge at the entrance, which could be lifted to prevent intruders. The roof was also a key method of defense. The Crusaders could pour hot oil on anyone trying to attack the castle.

One of the most interesting parts of our travels today was our tour guide’s discussion of Cyprus weather. At this time of year, Cyprus is usually sunny and warm with no rain. Today, there was sporadic rain. Our tour guide discussed the impact of climate change in Cyprus. Being that it is a hub for tourism, the irregular weather could influence people’s interest in coming to the nation and subsequently, local businesses may see a decline in sales. Our tour guide told us that years ago, she would have been able to predict sunny skies for our entire trip but now has no idea what the next day will bring.