Kourion Archaeological Site

The walk from the car park curves you up to the lip of a 70-metre limestone cliff, and the Greco-Roman theatre of Kourion opens at your feet with the Mediterranean filling the half-circle of seats. Kourion is, by common consent, the most spectacularly sited archaeological park on Cyprus and one of the great theatre views in the Mediterranean.

The city was founded by Mycenaean Greeks in the 12th century BC, peaked in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and was destroyed by the great earthquake of 365 AD. The theatre — built around 200 BC, expanded to seat about 3,500 under the Romans, partly reconstructed in the 1960s — is still used for summer performances of Greek tragedy and Shakespeare. Above and behind it sits the Eustolios complex, an early Christian villa of the 5th century AD with floor mosaics inscribed in Greek with the words 'in Christ' and a famously beautiful Ktisis personification holding a measuring rod.

The site spans across the headland — agora, nymphaeum, public bath, House of the Gladiators with its named-fighter mosaic, House of Achilles, and the early Christian basilica with its baptistry. Allow 90 minutes to two hours; longer if you take the rough path down to the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates 3 km west.

Insider tips. Go either side of the heat — opening at 08:15 in summer, or after 16:30. There is virtually no shade on the agora and the limestone reflects the sun. The Eustolios mosaics are protected under a roofed shelter — start there if you arrive at midday and work outward as the sun drops. The theatre is freely accessible (you can sit in it); the most photogenic seat is third row from the bottom on the eastern flank, where the cliff and sea fill the frame.

Combinations. Combine with the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates (10 minutes), Kourion Beach for an afternoon swim directly below the cliff, and Kolossi Castle (10 minutes east) for a Crusader counterpoint. This is the core of any south-coast archaeological day.

Bring. Hat, 1.5L water, sunglasses, sturdy shoes — the paths are uneven and stony. When. April-May for wildflowers carpeting the agora; September for mild clear light; a summer evening if you can catch a play in the theatre — sitting where Cypriots have sat for 22 centuries, listening to Antigone in the dusk, is a thing you do not forget.