Limassol is the liveliest, most cosmopolitan city in Cyprus: a bustling port, a modern seafront promenade that runs for kilometres, vibrant nightlife and, at the heart of the old town, a medieval castle where, according to tradition, Richard the Lionheart was married. Around it lies the best of the island's south: two ancient city-kingdoms (Amathus and Kourion), the Knights' castle at Kolossi, and the slopes of Troodos with their wine villages, heirs to a winemaking tradition thousands of years old.
It's a city of contrasts: high-rises and luxury marinas next to old-town lanes with traditional tavernas; city beaches next to spectacular Greco-Roman sites. Limassol has grown enormously in recent decades to become the island's economic engine, with a very diverse international community, but it keeps a charming historic centre around the castle, the old fishing harbour and the market.
This guide covers Limassol and its surroundings with a practical, friendly eye: the castle and the old town, the seafront, the sites of Kourion and Amathus, Kolossi Castle, the wineries and wine villages, plus how to get around, when to go and where to stay and eat. It's the best base for discovering the south of Cyprus, between history, sea and good wine.
The Limassol area has been inhabited since antiquity, between the two city-kingdoms of Amathus (to the east) and Kourion (to the west), but the present-day city grew mainly from the Middle Ages onwards. It rose to prominence in 1191, when Richard the Lionheart conquered Cyprus and, according to tradition, married Berengaria of Navarre here. Under the Lusignans and later the Knights of St John and the Templars, it was a port and the centre of Commandaria wine production at nearby Kolossi. It declined in the Ottoman period and revived strongly under British rule and, above all, after 1974, when population displacement and the loss of the port of Famagusta turned Limassol into the great port and economic engine of the south. The full story is on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The southern coast, birthplace of Stoic philosophy in ancient Kition, scene of Richard the Lionheart's wedding in Limassol and home of the world's oldest wine, with the mythical setting of Aphrodite's birth.
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Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Unlike other Cypriot cities, Limassol doesn't trace its roots to a great city-kingdom of Antiquity. Instead, it was born and grew up in the space between two of them: Amathus to the east and Kourion to the west. Both rank among the oldest and most important kingdoms of Cyprus. Amathus, inhabited from the 11th century BC, was a thriving port and a famous centre of worship for Aphrodite and a local god; its remains survive today by the coast, east of central Limassol. Kourion, on its clifftop to the west, was also a Greek city-kingdom of great standing.
Between the two, in Greco-Roman and Byzantine times, there was a smaller settlement known as Neapolis ("new city"), the seed of the future Limassol. For centuries it lived in the shadow of its powerful neighbours. The decline of Amathus and Kourion, hit by earthquakes, economic change and the Arab raids of the 7th and 8th centuries, was, paradoxically, the opportunity that this modest settlement in between needed.
As the great ancient cities emptied, people and importance gradually shifted towards that settlement, which sat on a good stretch of the south coast with a natural harbour. And so, on the ruins of two kingdoms thousands of years old, the city that is now the second largest in Cyprus slowly began to grow.
The episode that put Limassol on the map of European history happened in 1191, during the Third Crusade. King Richard I of England, known as the Lionheart, was sailing to the Holy Land when a storm scattered his fleet. Several of his ships, including the one carrying his bride-to-be, Berengaria of Navarre, and his sister Joan, ended up on the shores of Cyprus, near Limassol.
The island's ruler at the time was Isaac Komnenos, a Byzantine despot who had proclaimed himself emperor of Cyprus and treated the shipwrecked party with hostility. Furious, Richard landed, defeated Isaac and conquered the whole island in a few weeks. According to tradition, it was in Limassol that Richard married Berengaria of Navarre in May 1191, and where she was crowned queen of England: the only English queen ever crowned outside England.
Richard had no wish to keep Cyprus; he wanted to get on with the crusade. He sold the island to the Knights Templar, and shortly afterwards it passed to Guy de Lusignan, giving rise to the Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus, which would rule for almost three centuries. That royal wedding and that lightning conquest marked the start of the Latin medieval period in Cyprus and have been tied to Limassol ever since, even though the castle that recalls them today was built much later.
In the Middle Ages, under the Lusignans, Limassol was a busy port and trading centre, closely linked to the military orders. The Knights Templar and, above all, the Knights Hospitaller of St John held important properties here. At nearby Kolossi, the Hospitallers set up their Grande Commanderie, the commandery that ran vast tracts of farmland. That name, Commanderie, gave its name to the famous sweet wine of Cyprus, Commandaria, made from grapes sun-dried on the slopes of Troodos and exported all over Europe. It is considered one of the oldest named wines in the world still in production.
Besides wine, the region prospered by growing sugar cane, and the remains of a medieval sugar factory survive next to Kolossi Castle. Limassol was the port these goods left from for European markets, which brought it wealth and importance.
But the city also suffered. Through the 14th and 15th centuries it endured attacks, raids (including Genoese and Mamluk incursions) and earthquakes that badly damaged it. In 1373-1374, during the war between Genoa and the Lusignans, the area was hit hard. By the time Venice took control of Cyprus in 1489, Limassol was a city in decline, overshadowed by Famagusta and Nicosia, although it kept its port and its role in the wine trade.
With the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571, Limassol entered a long period of decline. For much of the Ottoman era it was little more than a large, impoverished village with a modest port, battered by earthquakes and plague as well. Much of the present castle dates from this early Ottoman period, built on top of the earlier medieval fortifications. The city was a far cry from its medieval splendour.
The revival came with British rule, which began in 1878. The British saw the potential of Limassol's port and developed it, improving the harbour facilities and communications. The city began to grow and industrialise again, especially around wine and other farm produce. The first large modern wineries in Cyprus appeared, some of them still in business, and Limassol became the centre of the island's wine industry, building on the age-old tradition of the Troodos vineyards.
Throughout the 20th century, under British administration and then in the independent Republic (1960), Limassol kept expanding as a commercial port and as a city. Its population was mixed, with Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots living in different neighbourhoods, as in the rest of the island.
The event that changed Limassol for good was the crisis of 1974. That year, a coup by Greek Cypriot factions in favour of union with Greece triggered the Turkish military invasion, which occupied the northern third of the island. The war caused a mass displacement of people: thousands of Greek Cypriots fleeing the north settled in the south, and many of them came to Limassol. At the same time, the city's Turkish Cypriot community moved to the north.
The division had a decisive economic effect. Cyprus lost the port of Famagusta, until then the island's main port, which ended up in the occupied area. It also lost Nicosia airport and much of its tourism infrastructure in the north (Kyrenia, Famagusta). As a result, the port of Limassol became the main port of the Republic of Cyprus, and the city took on the role of the south's great economic, commercial and tourism hub.
Since then, Limassol has grown at a fast pace. It became a major centre for financial, shipping and business services, with a large international community, including a notable Russian presence and people from many other countries, drawn by its open economy. The city filled up with new neighbourhoods, hotels, marinas and, in recent decades, seafront skyscrapers. Today it is the second city of Cyprus and its economic engine.
Today's Limassol is the most dynamic and cosmopolitan city in Cyprus. Its seafront has been transformed by Limassol Marina, a luxury development with yachts, restaurants and apartments, and by a row of high-rise towers that have changed its skyline. Meanwhile, the old town around the castle has come back to life with tavernas, wine bars, design shops and cultural spaces, while keeping its historic charm.
The city is a major business centre, with an economy built on financial services, shipping, tourism and trade. Its population is strikingly international, with communities from dozens of countries, and that shows in its daily life, its food and its atmosphere. Limassol is also known for its nightlife and for hosting one of the liveliest carnivals on the island, plus a wine festival in September rooted in the area's ancient winemaking tradition.
As a base for exploring, Limassol is hard to beat: on one side are the Greco-Roman sites of Kourion and Amathus and Kolossi Castle; on the other, the slopes of Troodos with their wine villages and Byzantine churches; and in between, beaches, good food and a city that never stops growing. It is the beating heart of southern Cyprus.
