LIMASSOL

MSC cruise liners arriving at the port of Limassol for a vacation in Cyprus, cast anchor not only in the Mediterranean but also in a port that boasts 4000 years of history. In Limassol we also find traces of the Knight Templars, pro tempore masters of the island. And it is from the remnants of war in Limassol that it is worth starting from.

On landing, one can admire the centre and the medieval castle, part of a constellation of nine forts guarding the whole island, which now hosts a museum with exhibits dating from the 5th to the 19th century.

Along the seafront, pines, cypresses, eucalyptuses brim over the public gardens in which there is also a small zoo.

An MSC excursion will allow you to follow the traces of the Templars leading to Kolossi, 13 kilometers west of Limassol, which one reaches after crossing vineyards and old villages exuding atmospheres of bygone times. Kolossi became the seat of the fighting religious order after the fall of Acri in 1291 and still today one can admire the regular shape of its castle. Only 40 km away from Kolossi one finds the Millomeri Falls nature site; the road penetrates into the Cyprus mountains until it reaches a fairytale Mediterranean setting, from a 15 meter fall the water opens the way towards the Mediterranean amidst rocks and roots.

In Limassol, MSC Cruises also proposes an excursion to the ancient town of Paphos with its artistic jewels (frescos and mosaics). Devoted in the classical period to the goddess of love, it appears that it was on Aphrodite’s Rock, the solitary white stack rising on a nearby beach, that Venus was born.