A little west of the ancient city of Kourion (now Episkopi) there lay the ruins of an important sanctuary. This sanctuary was the center of Apollo worship on Cyprus from around the 8th century BC until the 4th century AD. The worship of this sanctuary was more specifically for Apollo Hylates, and epithet likely meaning “of the Woodlands.” Apollo Hylates was considered the protector of Kourion. Unfortunately on our trip to Kourion we were not able to visit this specific sanctuary, but I would love to tell you about it!

What’s most interesting about this site is that Hylates may have originally been the name of an indigenous Cypriot deity. Hylates is theorized to derive form “barking” or “forest” meaning that this deity was likely a god of woodlands, trees, and was maybe even associated with dogs. Eventually Hylates was fully synchronized with Apollo. However, Hylates was worshipped between the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD.

Now, the actual sanctuary. In it’s original rendition it most likely consisted of a temple, a circular monument, and an archaic altar. It was remodeled in the 1st century AD and mostly everything that can be seen of the sanctuary now come from those additions. Also important to note is that their was a votive pit. A votive pit is, well, a pit where one would lay votive offerings. Some votive offerings found in this pit include terracotta figurines and pottery. One of the new additions is a palaistra. A place where athletes would exercise and play games. The constant worship at this temple and the addition of the palaistra suggests that this was an important site, which is obvious from all this other information.

Although I wish I could’ve seen this monument, it was wonderful just to learn about it (and of it’s existence haha).

Thanks for tuning in B-)

Hunter Powell