The story of Kourion

High on a limestone promontory, nearly 100 metres above Episkopi Bay, stood the acropolis of Kourion. Greek settlers from Argos arrived on this site in the twelfth century BCE, after the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces, and Kourion grew into an important city-state. Its kings appear in dramatic episodes: Stasanor betrayed Onesilos of Salamis in battle against the Persians, while King Pasikrates aided Alexander the Great at the siege of Tyre in 332 BCE.

Under Roman rule the city had its own council and elected officials, and priests and priestesses served Apollo Hylates, whose sanctuary lay west of the acropolis. Then came disaster: between 365 and 370, five strong earthquakes struck, and the city was presumably almost completely destroyed. It was rebuilt in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, including a church precinct on the western side of the acropolis.

In 648–649 Arab raids destroyed the acropolis, and life moved to Episkopi, 2 km to the northeast.