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Cyprus Limassol & Paphos October 1, 2010 – October 9, 2010

YOUR ITINERARY AT A GLANCE

Day 1/Oct. 1 Depart from your home city for Larnaca, Cyprus.

Day 2/Oct. 2 Arrive at Larnaca airport where you will meet your host and transfer to hotel in Limassol.

 Days 3-4/Oct. 3-5 Breakfast at hotel. These days are at leisure. Optional excursions are available.

Day 5/Oct. 6 Breakfast at hotel. Transfer to Paphos and hotel here.

Day 6/Oct. 7 Breakfast at hotel. Full day Guided tour of Paphos.

Day 7/Oct. 8 Breakfast at hotel. Today is at leisure for optional excursions.

 Day 8/Oct. 9 Breakfast at hotel and return transfer to Larnara airport for departure flight.

 HOTEL INFORMATION

 OCT 2-6 LIMASSOL ATLANTICA MIRAMARE BEACH HOTEL-4* or similar

OCT 6-9 PAPHOS ALEXANDER THE GREAT BEACH HOTEL-4* or similar

TOUR FEATURES

* Round-trip airfare from Atlanta ( call Libby for a quote for air from your city) to Larnaca via KLM scheduled service. 

* 7 nights accommodations at indicated hotels or similar with private bath or shower

 * Buffet breakfast daily (depending upon hotel’s service)

* Full day guided city tour of Paphos with private coach (mini-bus) 

* Hotel taxes and service charges

 Total price for land and air package from Atlanta $2395.00 per person based on double occupancy. Single Supplement $499.00 Deposit requirement will be $500.00 per person to reserve space. Final payment due on July 1, 2010.

CALL LIBBY AT 800-469-0091 In the Atlanta area call 678-574-4006

 

Step back in time with a visit to Choirokoitia, one of the best preserved sites of a prehistoric settlement found in the Eastern Mediterranean, with its reconstructed round dwellings giving a vivid representation of what life was like at the dawn of civilisation. .

Admire the exquisite floor mosaics of the Roman villas depicting scenes from mythology, arguably the best in the eastern Mediterranean and the impressive underground Tombs of the Kings nearby, carved out of solid rock and decorated with Doric pillars. Or enjoy an ancient Greek play performed in a Roman theatre with the most spectacular view on a cliff overlooking the sea.

Many fine examples of Byzantine art have survived on the island, which you can see for yourself in Cyprus’ painted churches with their colourful frescoes, ten of which have been put on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Marvel at the sumptuous pageantry of Greek Orthodox religious festivals whose origins go back thousands of years.

In addition to the wealth of outdoor sites, tour the priceless collection of artefacts displayed in the various Archaeological Museum where you can see objects spanning the island’s history, including pottery, coins, jewellery, tombstones and statues.

Tombs of the Kings

The “Tombs of the Kings” are situated close to the sea in the north western necropolis of Pafos (Paphos). They owe their name to their size and splendour – some probably belonged to the Pafian aristocracy, and not because royalty was buried there. They are rock cut and date to the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. Some of them imitate the houses of the living, with the rooms (here the burial chambers) opening onto a peristyle atrium. They are similar to tombs found in Alexandria, demonstrating the close relations between the two cities during the Hellenistic period.

 

Maa – Palaeokastro Settlement

Maa-Palaeokastro, a settlement on the western coast of the island close to Coral Bay, is important for the understanding of the end of the Late Bronze Age in Cyprus. Maa is located a good distance from the nearest main urban centre of the antiquity Palaepafos, some 25 kilometres to the southeast, and 10 kilometres northwest of the modern town of Pafos (Paphos). Its imposing defensive walls were always exposed and gave the site its name of “Palaeokastro” (‘the old castle’). This area was settled by the first Mycenaean Greeks who arrived on the island around 1200 BC, after the fall of the Mycenaean kingdoms in mainland Greece. It is therefore one of the nuclei from which began the Hellenization of Cyprus. Strategic advantages, like the superb natural harbours provided by the sheltered bays and the uninterrupted view of the land and sea approaches, appear to have been dominant in the choice of site.

 

Archbishop’s Palace

A religious, national and political monument, the Old Archbishop’s Palace is an 18th century two – storey building in the heart of Lefkosia (Nicosia) that is closely associated with modern Cypriot history. Next to it is the new Archbishop’s Palace, a two – storey stone building in Neo – Byzantine style housing the offices of the archdiocese and the residence of the archbishop. It was built by Archbishop Makarios III between 1956 and 1960 and also houses the Byzantine Museum and the Library of the Archbishopric. Since the completion of the new Archbishopric, the Old Archbishop’s Palace has housed the Folk Art Museum and the National Struggle Museum.

 

The site is well known for its fortification walls, reminiscent of Mycenaean Cyclopean architecture. These large ashlar blocks and the steep rugged cliffs on the other sides of the site offered protection to the inhabitants of Maa and it is believed that the site had a specific defensive function. Despite its strong protective character, the site’s life span was short and came to an end c.1200 BC.

The fortifications of the settlement consist of two separate walls. The first wall protected the settlement from the land, as it blocked the whole width of the narrowest part of the peninsula. The second offered protection from the sea, as it is located on the edge of the peninsula, just next to the sea. Both these fortifications were built in the same way, strongly reminiscent of the ‘Cyclopean’ style of Mycenaean walls. The walls which faced towards the land have a total length of 70 metres and a width of 3.5 metres. They have a gate 4 metres wide. The lower part of the walls has two parallel rows of boulders, the gap between them filled with smaller stones. The upper part seems to have been built of mud-brick. The sea-front wall was built in the same way, but the boulders of the lower part were of a smaller size.

Many archaeologists associate the destruction of Maa and other Late Bronze Age sites, with the appearance of the ‘Sea People’, blamed by scholars for causing wide spread disorder and destruction throughout the Eastern Mediterranean towards the end of the Bronze Age.

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