Larnaka
Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Map of Cyprus
Larnaca, or Larnaka, is a city on the
southeast coast of Cyprus.
The major international airport of Cyprus
is located in this city.
In ancient times, Larnaka was known as Kition,
or (in Latin) Citium. The biblical name Kittim,
though derived from Citium, was in fact used
quite generally for Cyprus as a whole, and
occasionally by the Hebrews
for the Greeks and Romans.
Originally the principal Phoenician colony
in Cyprus, it later became a part of the
Hellenistic world.
The ancient site is at the north
end of modern Larnaca.
The earliest remains go back to the Mycenean
age (ca 1400-1100 BC) and seem to mark an
Aegean colony, but in historic times Citium
was the chief center of
Phoenician influence in Cyprus.
That this was still a recent settlement in the
7th century BC is suggested by an allusion in a
list of the allies of Assurbanipal of Assyria
in 668 BC to a King Damusu (Damasos) of
Karti-hadasti (Phoenician "new city"),
where Citium would be expected.
(The same ten kings appear in an earlier
list of Asarhaddon's 673/672 BC, which might
simply have been copied by Assurbanipal's scribes.)
A Phoenician dedication to Baal, dated also
to the 7th century BC, suggests that Citium
may have belonged to Tyre.
The discovery here of an official monument of
Sargon II suggests that Citium was the
administrative center of Cyprus during
the Assyrian protectorate (709 - 668 BC).
During the Ionian Greek revolts of the 4th
century BC Citium led the side that was
loyal to Persia and was besieged
by an Athenian force in 449 BC.
The famous stoic philosopher Zeno of
Citium hailed from the city.
It is said he began his stoic teaching
aftter losing everything
he had in a shipwreck.
A famous Athenian general, Kimon died at
sea defending the city of Citium in a major
battle with the Persians of Xerxes.
He told his officers to keep the news
of his death secret.
The quote "Even in death I was victorious"
was attributed to Kimon.
A statue of 'Kimon the Athenian' stands
proudly on the sea front
promenade of modern Larnaca.
Like other cities of Cyprus, it has suffered
repeatedly from earthquakes, and in medieval
times when its harbour silted up (a sign that
the island was deforested and overgrazed)
the population moved to Larnaca, on the
open seafront farther south.
The harbour and citadel have now disappeared.
Traces remain of the circuit wall, and of a
sanctuary with copious terra-cotta offerings;
the large cemetery has yielded constant
loot to illicit excavation
for more than a century.
External links
Travel
guide to Larnaca from
Wikitravel
Towns in Cyprus
This page was retrieved and condensed from
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larnaca) August 2005
All text is available under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License (see
Copyrights for details).
You can click on these photos for an enlargement.
2005
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