Limasol is the second largest city of the island and is located on the
southern part of Cyprus. It emerged from the two most important ancient city
kingdoms, Amathus on the east and Kourion on the west, both are being excavated.
The fertile foothills of the Troodos Mountains behind the city provide the
majority of the grapes grown in the country.
In the Middle Ages when the Crusaders had Cyprus under King Richard the
Lionheart, Limasol was known to traders for its wine and sugar cane. The
Crusaders made their headquarters in the Square Keep, west of the city, known as
the Kolossi Medieval Castle, where they fostered the making of wines,
particularly the sweet dessert wine of 'Commandaria', the oldest named wine in
the world.
Limasol of today has about 155,000 inhabitants with a ten-mile coastline; a
busy shopping centre, countless tavernas, restaurants, nightlife and an
important seaport and registry port centre. The city was also the major
exporting centre of Amiantus ore, transferred from Troodos Mountains via a
24-kilometre aerial cableway to the shore, where it was loaded onto to cargo
ships for export.
Limasol Castle houses The Cyprus Medieval Museum, the District Archaeological
Museum, the Folk Art Museum, the Limasol Municipal Art Gallery and the Municipal
Gardens. The Yermasogia Dam is frequented by anglers and the Salt Lake at
Akrotiri is home to thousands of migrating birds in winter as well as a stopover
point for millions more as they migrate in spring and autumn.