Alassa

Alassa
Άλασσα
Alassa
Location in Cyprus
Coordinates: 34°45′51″N 32°55′39″E / 34.76417°N 32.92750°E / 34.76417; 32.92750Coordinates: 34°45′51″N 32°55′39″E / 34.76417°N 32.92750°E / 34.76417; 32.92750
Country  Cyprus
District Limassol District
Population (2001)[1]
 • Total 201
Time zone UTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+3 (EEST)

Alassa (Greek: Άλασσα) is a village in the Limassol District of Cyprus, north of the Kouris Dam, on the main road from Limassol to Kakopetria.

Excavations at Alassa by Cypriot archaeologists in the early 1980s unearthed the ruins of a Bronze Age city. Among other findings were the remains of a palace, suggesting that the site once had a much greater importance as a local trading center.[2] Whether Alassa was the capital of the ancient kingdom known as Alashiya remains a question of debate. The archaeologist Claude Schaeffer has made certain claims in this regard.[3]

Roman villas have also been found here, a mosaic floor depicting Aphrodite and Eros from one of which is in the Limassol museum.[4]

Alassa has been developed in modern times as a park-like tourist centre.

References

  1. ↑ Census 2001
  2. ↑ S. Hadjisavvas: Alassa. A New Late Cypriot Site. In: Report of the Department of Antiquities Cyprus 1986. pp. 62–76
  3. ↑ C. F. A. Schaeffer: Enkomi-Alasia. Nouvelles missions en Chypre, 1946–1950. Paris 1952.
  4. ↑ http://www.hellenicaworld.com/Cyprus/Geo/Limassol/en/Limassol0173.html
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