Kourion Complex (Apollo) post 1945 (1 of 2)

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of an earlier building which was destroyed, almost certainly, by earthquake. The only recorded earthquake in the period immediately preceeding the completion of the South Building is that of 76-77 A.D., which was probably the occasion for the rebuilding program which followed and which terminataed in 114 A.D., when, according to a valuable inscription found in the portico, that part of the pavement leading to the Paphos Gate was constructed. This, undoubtedly, refers to the paved square north of the South Building which leads to the Paphos Gate (fig. 1).

The purpose of the South Building in unknown. If the word prytaneium, or senate house, which occurs on the fragment of a stone inscription from one of the rooms, refers to this building, it would have been an administrative building. It is also possible, and probably much more likely, that the five exedrae served as hostels for important delegations to the sanctuary, and perhaps each one of the principal Cypriote cities had its own exedra for this purpose. Whether originally constructed, however, as offices or hostels, it is very likely that these rooms housed some of the more important dedications to Apollo and served various purposes as occasion might demand.

West Propylon or Gateway.

The paved square north of the South Building was completed, as we have seen, in 114 A.D. It led, our inscription tells us (see above), to the Paphos Gate (fig. 1). Presumeably the Paphos road was not far from the gate. Only pedestrians were admitted. One entered from the west through a roofed porch, carried on two Doric columns, and then passed through a doorway to an unroofed court. This gateway has at least two periods. We can see the early plinths for the two columns below the later ones. A new floor was laid over … continues