Kourion in the context of "Cypro-Minoan"

Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city along the southern coast of Cyprus, on the Mediterranean Sea. Limassol is the most populated municipality in Cyprus, with a population of 108,105 and is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus, after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139. It is the capital of the Limassol District with a population of 262,238.

Limassol was built between two ancient Greek cities, Amathus and Kourion. Its historical centre is located around the medieval Limassol Castle and the Old Port. The city spreads along the Mediterranean coast and has extended much farther than the castle and port, with its suburbs stretching along the coast to Amathus. To the west of the city is Akrotiri, one of the two British Overseas Territories of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island.

Episkopi (Greek: Επισκοπή, Turkish: Piskobu) is a village and a municipal district of the Kourion Municipality lying partly in the Limassol district of Cyprus and partly in the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Its current Deputy Mayor is Lefkios Prodromou. It is approximately 14 km (9 mi) west of Limassol and 40 km (25 mi) east of Paphos. Episkopi is built on the hill of ancient Kourion, close to the western bank of the Kouris River.

Episkopi Bay (Greek: Κόλπος Επισκοπής; Turkish: Piskobu Körfezi) is a bay west of the Akrotiri Peninsula on the south-western shore of Cyprus, between Paphos and Akrotiri. On the other side of the Akrotiri Peninsula is Akrotiri Bay. It is famous for its beaches and fish restaurants. Despite the Turkish invasion and ensuing ethnic division of Cyprus in 1974, a number of Turkish Cypriots chose to remain in the area.

Episkopi Bay is a nesting ground for green and loggerhead turtles, both of which are on the IUCN list of endangered species. Episkopi Turtle Watch is a local volunteer group dedicated to the conservation of the turtles and their nesting beaches.

Roman Cyprus was a small senatorial province of the Roman Empire. It possessed several well known religious sanctuaries and figured prominently in Eastern Mediterranean trade, particularly the production and trade of Cypriot copper. The island of Cyprus was situated at a strategically important position along Eastern Mediterranean trade routes, and had been controlled by various imperial powers throughout the first millennium BC, including the Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, and Macedonians. Cyprus was annexed by the Romans in 58 BC, but turbulence and civil war in Roman politics did not establish firm rule in Cyprus until 31 BC when Roman political struggles were ended by the Battle of Actium. Cyprus was assigned the status of a senatorial province in 22 BC. From then until the 7th century AD, Cyprus was controlled by the Romans. Cyprus officially became part of the Eastern Roman Empire in 293 AD.

Under Roman rule, Cyprus was divided into four main districts, Salamis, Paphos, Amathus, and Lapethos. Paphos was the capital of the island throughout the Roman period until Salamis was re-founded as Constantia in 346 AD. The geographer Ptolemy recorded the following Roman cities: Paphos, Salamis, Amathus, Lapethos, Kition, Kourion, Arsinoe, Kyrenia, Chytri, Karpasia, Soli, and Tamassos, as well as some smaller cities scattered throughout the island.

Kouris River (Greek Κούρης; Turkish Kuris) is a waterway in Cyprus. Measuring 38 kilometres (24 mi) in length, it originates on the south part of the Troodos Mountains, traverses Limassol District, and reaches the sea at Kourion. Not much of the river exists in the lower reaches of its course after the building of the Kouris Dam in the 1980s. This had to effect of enlarging the river's northern basin. Erimi is situated on the river's eastern side, while Kantou is on the western portion. Episkopi, built atop Kourion, is situated near the river's western bank. Luigi Palma di Cesnola explored the area around the river's mouth and reported on it the 1870s.

Akrotiri (Greek: Ακρωτήρι, literally Cape, Turkish: Ağrotur) is a village within the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area, which forms part of the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. It is the only village in the Western SBA with a significant non-military population.

The village contains two small churches dedicated to St. Cross and St. George. To the south is a site called Kourion (Greek: Κούριον) containing the ruins of an ancient settlement. Of the place Stefano Lusignan in his Description de toute l'isle de Cypre (Paris, 1580) says: "Cury est une ville antique, située au milieu du Promontoire des chats." ("Kouria is an ancient town situated in the middle of the Headland of Cats.")