Kourion Complex Palace (Stadium) 1947 (photos and drawings)

-2-

Stadium, cont.

cleared the inner portion of the seating-area wherever the euthynteria course was known to be preserved. Enough was found - some of it almost miraculously preserved - to allow a reconstruction which will be certain in its major details.

This [handwritten: Autumn] we have also greatly improved the appearance of the Stadium. All dumps within its limits have been removed, the track-area has been levelled, and, through the good offices of the Director of Antiquities and the District Commissioner, the trees and scrub within the building have been removed[handwritten: (see fig. )]

The Stadium is of Roman date, as its plan alone would indicate; meager finds from undisturbed good fill point to a date in the second century A.D. Two coins of Antoninus Pius came from strata which must be close to the time of building. What evidence we have (the finish-line is uncertain) indicate a course of 186+ meters, a fair [handwritten: "]stadium italicum[handwritten: "]. The entire building measures 230¼ m. x 35¾ m.

Its life was not long, as ancient buildings go. The vast extent of built stone, once its use as a stadium was over, made it a splendid quarry, and its use as such appears to have begun in early Byzantine times and stopped only in the twentieth century. Nevertheless, as it is now cleared, its lines are plain. To give the visitor some idea of the superstructure, we concluded our work by rebuilding a small section of the podium and samples of the first two rows of seats above. [handwritten: (see fig. )] A few more seat-blocks will be placed in approximately their ancient positions next [handwritten: Spring], and as we close this excavation, the expedition may feel proud to have given Cyprus her most impressive ancient monument yet cleared.

- J. H. Young [handwritten: signature] Kourion Excavations [handwritten: ] December 31, 1947 [handwritten: ]