International Sites & Monuments Day - where did you visit?

[juliesewell]

Today is UNESCO International Sites & Monuments Day, often referred to as World Heritage Day. A selection of archaeological sites are offering free entry in Cyprus for today only (18 April).

So, where on our sunny island did you visit?

A small selection of photos from our site goggle. Number 4 on the list of free attractions: Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, Episkopi. http://in-cyprus.com/free-entry-to-arch ... cal-sites/

















I think this one will take some considerable time to be completed:


And a bit of wildlife, for good measure:

[geoffreys2]

Your pictures are always such high quality. What camera are you using?
Geoffrey.

[juliesewell]

Thanks Geoffrey,
I use a Nikon D3100 with standard kit lens 18-55mm (since Dec 2013), previous to that I was using a compact Canon IXUS 95IS.

Still getting to grips with the Nikon - hence my heading over to Paphos in a few weeks time to attend a photography course

[cactuslil]

Lovely photos. It looks an interesting site & one we've missed. Is it easy to find from Episkopi?

[juliesewell]

If you know where the entrance to Curium Beach is and the turning to Kourion ancient site/ampitheatre - the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylatio is on your right hand side as you go up the hill along the old road in the direction of Episkopi garrison / Paphos direction from Limassol. It's on a fairly flattish part of the road and it's well signed (brown signs).
Entrance fee is €2.50pp

Link to Google map: http://www.google.com/maps/@34.6729314,32.8596761,15z

[juliesewell]

The remaining photos from our visit to the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylatio can be found here on my Flickr photography page: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk9Dno9n

[cactuslil]

It's amazing what is so close to us that we miss. After holidaying here & living permanently for 13 yrs we still are surprised at what we've got to explore. Thanks Jules, we'll certainly take a trip that way in the near future.

[smallblueplanet]

Also worth seeing there is: The Stadium - the ruins of the ancient stadium are preserved to the east of the sanctuary of Apollo. The stadium has a U-shaped plan and has seven rows of seats which would have accommodated around 6000 spectators. It was built in the 2nd century A.D. and was used until the end of the 5th century.

[juliesewell]

The last time we saw the stadium (a couple of years ago) it had deteriorated from what we remembered it quite some years before. Has anything been done to it more recently?

That one is a free attraction all year round and also very close to the Sanctuary of Apollo so very easy to do the two together.

[smallblueplanet]

Was about 2006 when we visited the Stadium, it did need some tlc even then tbh.

[juliesewell]

That would explain it then. In 2006 it wasn't looking so bad as we visited the stadium with family and friends who were out on holiday.

But me and hubby stopped off there in the last couple of years and I didn't even bother taking my camera out of the bag

[juliesewell]

It's amazing what is so close to us that we miss. After holidaying here & living permanently for 13 yrs we still are surprised at what we've got to explore. Thanks Jules, we'll certainly take a trip that way in the near future.

If you decide to go, I would suggest picking up one of the site guide books from the pay desk as a lot of the signs explaining the purpose of the buildings are pretty faded and hard to read.