The Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates
is recorded in the historical sources about Cyprus as one of the
most important Sanctuaries on the island. Strabo wrote about a
cap past the Kourion from where those who touched the Sacred
Altar of Apollo were flung into the sea. Many inscribed
testimonies, which have been found on the spot and in the city,
confirm the historical sources.
The finds from the
archaeological inquiry lead mainly to a Roman sanctuary and
testify that there were in the area more ancient constructions
incorporated in Roman edifices or demolished in the same period
when the Sanctuary was intensively undergoing a restoration,
southern the boundaries of the Roman temple.
The Romans revived a
flourishing cult in the area since the Archaic times indeed.
This cult is likely to
have been practised even earlier in the Bronze Age, as it is
shown by several shells belonging to the red burnished ceramic
of the Early Bronze Age, which have been found adjacent to the
circular altar but also according to the relevant legends about
its heroes and inspirers.
A cult, which is testified on an
architectural level only in the 7th or 8th
century and which does not in any case constitute properly part
of a settlement of any period.
This autonomy of the Sanctuary
in relation to the settlement cannot but be linked with the same
Sanctuary of Apollo Maleata at Epidaurus, the most ancient and
important Sanctuary of Apollon in Argolis. The finds of the
known “Temple boys” on the side of Ayia Anna show typically this
cultic coherence. The most ancient inscription, which the name
of god Apollo (5th / 4th century B.C.) is
recorded on, is retrieved at the foot of one of them.
The name Hylates given to
Apollo is recorded from the Hellenistic times and it certainly
describes the prevailing nature of the cult of Apollo, which was
performed until then, combining the primary characteristics of
its eastern origin but also its subsequent western development
in the Theology of the Hellenic twelve gods mainly as a healing
god.
