Today we have planned a visit to the Kition Archaeological Ruins as long as we can find the parking area. But first we start with a long breakfast while keeping an eye for the weather which seems to be quite bad today. In the end we decide to go as just looking outside it doesn’t seem to bad. As usual we have a choice, stairs or elevator, with stairs being the healthy but tiring option from the fifth floor.
Parking is really easy actually and we are the only people this early in the day. This means we have the ruins all to ourselves which is quite nice. There is a circular walk around the ruins and then a bridge that crosses over the ruins to provide an ensemble view. This area was the temple area of Kition with quite a few temples on both sides of the bridge according to the panels.
One one side there are a few blocks that we assume are quite new but when we read the panels we learn they are over 2000 years old and even have some carvings from that time. We give them a second look and now we notice the carvings but we still almost cannot believe that these blocks are that old.
We walk the perimeter to see the ruins from different angles. It is quite interesting really and worth the walk and the interpretative panels are surprisingly good.
In some areas ritual objects from the temples were found and besides those that were taken to the museums a few are still here. We especially are impressed by the bull horns object associated with the ancient Cretan religion and the minotaurs – legends that we heard in the youth but had no idea they expanded beyond Crete religion-wise.
While exploring we also find the old entrance with limited parking but quite some good interpretative panels that puts what we observe in Kition in context with the development of religion across Cyprus and the ancient world. We also discover lots of snails, they are everywhere and the path is covered in slimy trails that twinkle in the sunlight.
We take one last look at Kition before we leave, the whole temple area was close to the old cyclopic wall from which only a few stones remain. We are actually surprised that the temple area was not more central and that all temples were grouped together like an ancient religious mall where you could choose the religion you wanted.
As we return we again sit on the terrace enjoying the beautiful colors on the horizon as well as watching the ships enter the harbor.
Our reverie is interrupted by rain – there is another strong shower blast that lasts long enough to almost flood the area, or so it seems. Afterwards we go outside to explore a bit the now almost flooded streets and the park nearby.
And we also have to throw the trash. Unfortunately the only place to throw it is on the main street, we assume it is where the trash for the whole apartment building is thrown. And then nearby we also notice a congregation of cats, they are everywhere and even when counting conservatively around our apartment building there are over 15 stray cats which is a lot. They seem to be fed as a communal consensus and seem to proliferate quite succesfully. After watching them it is time to go back inside and after another evening of discussions with our relatives it is time to go to sleep as they are leaving early the next day.
