THE NEOLITHIC FOLKS WHO BUILT CHOIROKOITIA DIDN’T have an Arthur Evans to dream up a sexy name for their civilization like he did with the Minoans. What they did have was the first human settlement on Cyprus, complete with a hillside village of circular stone houses and ritualistic burials way back around 7000 BC. As Stone Age archeological sites go, Choirokoita doesn’t have the charm of Stonehenge but the mere fact that it exists is reason enough to visit.
Built by Angels Mosaic of Virgin Mary
We left Larnaka yesterday in our rented KIA Picanto. It is minuscule, underpowered but is the same color blue as my honey’s eyes. Our first stop was Agia Napa on the east end of the island. We had no intention of staying in Cyprus’s beach party town, just wanted to be able to say we saw it. Then we retraced our route past Larnaka to Kiti and the 11th Century Panagia Angeloktisti, the church “built by angels,” to see the famous Mosaic of the Virgin Mary.
Lemessos, aka Limassol
After our visit to Choirokoitia we continued on to Lemessos, our base for the next three days. Lemessos was put on the map when Richard the Lionheart washed up here on his way to the Crusades in 1191. But today it is more like little Odessa with Cyrillic and Greek in equal measures.
