Sanctuary of Apollo the hidden treasure of Anoyira
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2019 1:43 pm
One of by biggest hobby is Cypriot Archaeology BC (before Christ) It was actually the reason I was falling in love with Cyprus when in 69/70 I was reading in a magazine that where ever you look around you will find ancient remains of the past. So my first visit in 1970 was more or less visiting excavation sites like Engomi, Salamis, Kourion, Kouklia etc. and I was overwhelmed what I have seen then...At the end Cyprus became my new home and country.
Recently I found some information that North of Anoyira is an relatively new excavation site from which I never heard before and it suppose to be an rural sanctuary of Apollo (4th century BC - 4th century AD)
It was one of these very hot dry days and my car thermometer showed 38c when I finally found the excavation site after driving more than two hours round and round to find it and it was really hidden away..
The excavation site is more than 600 m2 big and consists of two service rooms and a main cult room and courtyard on the central axis of construction
It has a two-level surface with a pavement made of cracked limestone slabs at the top part and the natural rock, which was leveled with clay in the lower part.
Here a general view...
The place was also used as a Hellenistic workshop for the production of olive oil to a later time.
One can see the huge horizontal stone belonging to the oil press and a stone weight on the side
Very interesting the sarcophagus which was later in secondary use as a water reservoir, collecting rainwater below the level of the pavement, with an overflow on the right hand side and an large cutting to collect the water
on this photo one can see the lower level of the sarcophagus better as well as the pavement
here a huge limestone slap, with radial-shaped breakages as a result of the large quake which destroyed also Kourium. Used for processing of grain
One of the highlights this huge vertical stone belonging to the oil press
before it get's too boring here my last photo, showing the activities of this years excavations outside the fenced area.
The most interesting result was obtained in the southern sector, where investigations identified a large pottery center with evidence of ceramic kilns, pits with ceramic refuse and pits that would have been used for mixing the clay. This pottery center would probably have been connected with the Late Hellenistic olive oil production workshop that was identified during previous excavations. (Dept. of Antiquities)
So here we are. I hope it was interesting for some of you which share the same interest in Archaeology as I have...
Max
Recently I found some information that North of Anoyira is an relatively new excavation site from which I never heard before and it suppose to be an rural sanctuary of Apollo (4th century BC - 4th century AD)
It was one of these very hot dry days and my car thermometer showed 38c when I finally found the excavation site after driving more than two hours round and round to find it and it was really hidden away..
The excavation site is more than 600 m2 big and consists of two service rooms and a main cult room and courtyard on the central axis of construction
It has a two-level surface with a pavement made of cracked limestone slabs at the top part and the natural rock, which was leveled with clay in the lower part.
Here a general view...
The place was also used as a Hellenistic workshop for the production of olive oil to a later time.
One can see the huge horizontal stone belonging to the oil press and a stone weight on the side
Very interesting the sarcophagus which was later in secondary use as a water reservoir, collecting rainwater below the level of the pavement, with an overflow on the right hand side and an large cutting to collect the water
on this photo one can see the lower level of the sarcophagus better as well as the pavement
here a huge limestone slap, with radial-shaped breakages as a result of the large quake which destroyed also Kourium. Used for processing of grain
One of the highlights this huge vertical stone belonging to the oil press
before it get's too boring here my last photo, showing the activities of this years excavations outside the fenced area.
The most interesting result was obtained in the southern sector, where investigations identified a large pottery center with evidence of ceramic kilns, pits with ceramic refuse and pits that would have been used for mixing the clay. This pottery center would probably have been connected with the Late Hellenistic olive oil production workshop that was identified during previous excavations. (Dept. of Antiquities)
So here we are. I hope it was interesting for some of you which share the same interest in Archaeology as I have...
Max