- Address: Choirokoitia, Cyprus
- Phone: +357 22 865888
- Website: mcw.gov.cy
- Opening: 1930 (Porfirios Dikayos)
Chirokotiya - an ancient settlement in Cyprus , existed in the VII-IV millennium BC. This unique place was discovered in the 1930s, and in 1998 it was listed as a UNESCO heritage site. All this tourists tell the sign, located in front of the entrance to the territory of the settlement.
Time travel
The settlement was built in the Neolithic period. The appearance of people who created it, and about their disappearance is still unknown. They did not become the forerunners of later cultures and did not continue the earlier ones. For a thousand years they lived in a developed settlement on a hill, and then simply disappeared.
The very same settlement is very unusual. This is a real protogorod, representing a single ensemble of buildings, including economic, residential buildings, a powerful wall separating the settlement from the rest of the world, and a stone road stretching from the foot of the hill to its summit. The wreckage of the wall surrounding the settlement indicates that its width was 2.5 meters, there is no data on its exact height. The highest part of the wall, preserved to this day, is 3 meters.
Archaeologists managed to unearth 48 buildings. And this is only a small part of the settlement. There is an assumption that it included about a thousand buildings.
As soon as you find yourself in the territory of Hirokite, you will be met at home, created like those that were found by archaeologists.
Particular interest for tourists, fond of history and archeology, can represent the construction of buildings. Round structures were built of limestone, inside the buildings thick walls were covered with clay, with a layer of clay periodically updated. Inside the room there were two tiers or rooms. And next to each large house there was a smaller premise, most likely, of an economic purpose.
Many tourists who find themselves in Hirokite are surprised by the size of the buildings, they seem rather small. And this is really so, because the average growth of people living in them was much less than ours.
How to get there?
To get to Hirokitia, you need to go along the A1 road towards Larnaka . On the turn to the settlement will indicate the sign. It is located about half a kilometer from the main road.
Working hours:
- in the winter from 8.00 to 17.00;
- in the summer from 8.30 to 19.30;
- spring and autumn from 8.00 to 18.00.
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