"Limassol" a Limassol Travel Page by bwk_michael

Limassol (Greek: Lemesos; Turkish: Limasol, alt. Leymosun) is the second-largest city of Cyprus, with a population of 176,900 (2005), the largest city in geographical size, and the biggest municipality of the island. The city is located on Akrotiri Bay, on the island's southern coast and it is the capital of Limassol District.

It is the biggest port in the Mediterranean transit trade. Limassol has since then become one of the most important tourism, trade and service-providing centre in the area. Limassol is renowned for its long cultural tradition. A wide spectrum of activities and a great number of museums and archaeological sites are available to the interested visitor.

Limassol was built between two ancient cities, Amathus and Kourion, so during Byzantine rule it was known as Neapolis (new town). Limassol's tourist strip now runs east along the coast as far as Amathus. To the west of the city is the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area of the United Kingdom.

Limassol also attracts a wide range of tourists mostly during the summer season to be accommodated in its several luxurious hotels and apartments. Limassol is also home to the Cyprus University of Technology.

In addition to the existing sights and attractions, a world class marina is currently being built, that will offer a wide range of services and attractions unsurpassed anywhere in Cyprus. The project will be called Limassol Marina and will consist of 1000 berths for small and larger yachts and the whole operation will be managed and operated by high-quality, experienced operators.

The medieval castle is one of the nine castles of Cyprus (the others are at Kolossi, Larnaca and Paphos now in the Republic of Cyprus controlled area, and Famagusta, Kantara, Buffavento, St. Hilarion and Kyrenia now within the de facto but internationally unrecognised state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). It was built by the Byzantines around 1000 AD. Around the same period, a chapel was also built there. Richard the Lionheart is supposed to have married his fiancée Princess Berengaria of Navarre on this site after her ship was grounded nearby in 1191 as she accompanied him to the Third Crusade, on his way to Holy Land. The Castle was used as a prison, between 1790-1940.

The medieval castle of Limassol now serves as a medieval museum. The collection that the museum provides covers the era of 400 - 1870 A.D. A visitor can see numerous exhibits: cannons, wood carvings of the 17th and 18th century, paintings and tombstones, statues, suits of armor, coins, terracotta, metalware and pottery, glass and marble articrafts.
The Archaeological Museum provides a very interesting collection of antiquities found in the district of Limassol, dating from the Neolithic Age to the Roman period. Some of the archaeological discoveries are:
Stone axes of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic period, potteries and objects of the ancient cities of Curium and Amathus, as well as Roman terra cottas, gold jewellery, coins, sculptures, columns, vases, earrings, rings, necklaces, marble statues etc.

The Folk Art Museum is beautifully preserved old house which provides a very interesting collection of Cypriot Folk Art of the last two centuries. Some of the most fascinating objects of the collection are: national costumes, tapestry, embroidery, wooden chests, waistcoats, men’s jackets, necklaces, a variety of light clothes, town costumes, country tools etc.

The museum was established in 1985. More than 500 exhibits are housed in its six rooms. The museum was awarded the Europa Nostra prize in 1989. Here, the visitor can study Cypriot culture through the hand-made exhibits.

Public Garden is situated on the coastal road. It provides a great variety of vegetation: eucalyptus trees, pine trees and cypresses. In this beautiful environment the citizens of Limassol and many visitors can walk around and enjoy themselves. Inside the garden, there is a small zoo. There, the visitor can see deer, moufflons, ostriches, pheasants, tigers, lions, monkeys, vultures, pelicans and other animals and different kinds of birds.Not far from the zoo there is the small natural history museum and the garden theatre that is reconstructed to host famous international groups.

A series of public sculptures commissioned by the Limassol Municipality, can be found on the reclamation (now Twin Cities park), spanning one mile (1.6 km) of Seafront reclaimed land. The sculptues were created by Costas Dikefalos, Thodoros Papayiannis, Yiorgos Tsaras, Vassilis Vassili, Christos Riganas, Kyriakos Rokos, Manolis Tsombanakis and Yiorgos Houliaras from Greece, Kyriakos Kallis, Nikos Kouroussis, Helene Black and Maria Kyprianou from Cyprus, Saadia Bahat from Israel, Victor Bonato from Germany and Ahmet El-Stoahy from Egypt

The Limassol Marina project will soon be under construction and it will create a world class marina, which will be environmentally friendly, with a wide range of services and attractions unsurpassed anywhere in Cyprus. These will include quality waterside residential and commercial developments, lifestyle attributes such as recreation centers, restaurants, clubs, entertainment, sports, bicycle and walking paths and even a traditional church. Over 1000 berths will be available for small and larger yachts and the whole operation will be managed and operated by quality and experienced operators

the food is great all over cyprus...but after 3 weeks i could not see another fish dish ..lol