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Premium · Walking Tour

Kourion — the City on the Cliff and the Sanctuary of Apollothe City on the Cliff and the Sanctuary of Apollo

A self-guided audio tour of the ancient city of Kourion on its cliff above Episkopi Bay, about twenty kilometres west of Limassol. It starts at the theatre built into a gully at the plateau's edge, turned into an arena for animal hunts in the early 3rd century AD, then the House of Eustolios, whose mosaic says the house is protected by the signs of Christ, and the Earthquake House, where excavators found the household as the earthquake of around 365 left it. It continues through the Episcopal Basilica, usually attributed to Bishop Zeno, the Roman Agora, the Nymphaeum and the public baths with their hypocausts, to the House of the Gladiators and the House of Achilles with their figured mosaics. A short drive west leads to the 2nd-century stadium for about 6,000 spectators and the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, god of the woodlands, with its partly rebuilt temple of the first century AD.

Hear a sample narration
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12 narrations, yours to keep — no subscription, no expiry. Works offline once downloaded, and if it isn’t for you we’ll refund it.

Going somewhere with no signal? Put the guide on your home screen first, then download it from that icon while you are on wi-fi — that way you download once, and it works in airplane mode with no roaming charges. Show me the order →

12 narration points ~1–2 hours the Kourion Theatre, the House of Eustolios, the Earthquake House, the Episcopal Basilica, the Roman Agora, the Nymphaeum and public baths, the Houses of the Gladiators and Achilles, the Stadium and the Sanctuary and Temple of Apollo Hylates
Verified Sources

Where the facts come from

Every claim in this tour traces back to a named source — excavation records, the heritage authority for the site, and the primary texts themselves. Nothing is copied from other guidebooks, and anything we can't source doesn't make the recording.

  1. 1

    Built from the record

    Each stop is built from OpenStreetMap · 14 features in this old town (the field-surveyed mapping database behind Apple Maps), Wikidata · 6 cross-referenced entries (peer-reviewed structured records), the heritage authority below, and the primary historical texts where they exist.

  2. 2

    Checked against the authority

    Cross-referenced against Modern excavation publications · academic peer-review.

  3. 3

    Anything unsupported is cut

    Every sentence is checked against those sources before it is recorded. If a claim can't be traced, it doesn't make the audio.

  4. 4

    A person signs it off

    Every tour is reviewed by a person before it goes on sale. Stop selection, the route and anything ambiguous come back to the editor for a decision, and those questions routinely send a stop back for another accuracy pass. Nothing publishes on a machine’s say-so.

Spot anything inaccurate? Email [email protected] — fixed in the next pass.

The Tour

Explore Kourion — the City on the Cliff and the Sanctuary of Apollo

📍
The Theatre and the Earthquake House

Kourion Theatre, House of Eustolios, Earthquake House.

3 narration points
🏛️
The Basilica, Agora and Baths

Kourion Episcopal Basilica, Roman Agora, Nymphaeum, Roman Public Baths, House of the Gladiators.

5 narration points
🏘️
The House of Achilles and the Sanctuary of Apollo

House of Achilles, Kourion Stadium, Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, Temple of Apollo Hylates.

4 narration points
Highlights

Sites that define Kourion — the City on the Cliff and the Sanctuary of Apollo

Kourion Theatre

The theatre cut into the cliff-top bedrock, its orchestra altered for wild-animal hunts and gladiators in the early 3rd century AD.

House of Eustolios

A villa rebuilt after the earthquakes as a public bath complex, its mosaics naming Eustolios and showing Ktisis, the figure of Creation.

Earthquake House

A modest house that collapsed in the earthquake of around 365, where excavators restored thousands of pot fragments to their places.

Kourion Episcopal Basilica

The cathedral of the bishops of Kourion, usually attributed to Bishop Zeno and built with stone reused from Roman buildings.

House of the Gladiators

A house whose mosaics show gladiators training and fighting, two of them named in Greek as Margarites and Hellenikos.

Temple of Apollo Hylates

The partly re-erected first-century temple of Apollo of the woodlands, at the end of the sanctuary's long street, with the sea beyond.

How It Works

Walk. Listen. See what they saw.

1
Open the tour

Tap "Start Walking Tour" and allow location access. The map shows all 12 narration points.

2
Walk at your pace

Follow the suggested route or explore freely. GPS tracks your position. Reach a site and the narration plays automatically.

3
Hear the stories

Each site has its own narration. 12 narration points.

What You Get

A companion through Kourion — the City on the Cliff and the Sanctuary of Apollo

📍
GPS-Triggered

Narrations play when you reach each site. No buttons, no track numbers. Walk naturally — the stories find you.

🎤
Studio-Quality Voice

Premium narration that sounds like a documentary. Warm and knowledgeable, not a textbook reading.

📚
Fact-Checked Twice

Every narration is drafted, cross-checked against primary sources, then passed through a second editorial pass that strips unsupported claims. Dates, names, and citations verified.

🗺
Interactive Map

See all narration points on the map. Tap any point to hear it early or replay it later.

🏛
12 Sites

Every narrated point in Kourion — the City on the Cliff and the Sanctuary of Apollo, each with its own narration.

⏱
Your Own Pace

Spend an hour or a full day. Skip sites, revisit favourites, take breaks. The tour adapts to you.

Common Questions

How it works

What does the Kourion — the City on the Cliff and the Sanctuary of Apollo audio tour cover?

12 narration points, including Roman Agora, Kourion Stadium, Kourion Theatre, House of Eustolios and Earthquake House. That is about 18 minutes of narration in all, and you walk between the stops at your own pace.

Is the Kourion — the City on the Cliff and the Sanctuary of Apollo tour self-guided?

Yes. It plays in your phone’s browser as you walk: no guide, no group, no app to install and no fixed start time.

It’s not just GPS — what are the ways to trigger a narration?

Three ways, all built in:

  • GPS-triggered (default): walk near a site, the narration starts automatically.
  • Tap any marker on the map: open the map view, tap any of the 12 markers to play that narration on demand — no walking required.
  • Queue controls: pause, skip, replay any narration; the queue auto-advances as you walk.

The map-tap option means you can stand anywhere — even at home before you travel — and play any narration. GPS just makes it hands-free while you’re actually walking the site.

Do I need cell service or data while I’m there?

No. Use the “Download for offline” button before you go, and the entire tour — audio, maps, narration text — works without any data connection. Tap-to-play and the map both work fully offline. GPS itself doesn’t need data; only the download does.

How do I make it work with no signal — and open it again later?

Add the icon first, then download from the icon. On iPhone a guide downloaded in Safari cannot be seen by the home screen icon, so downloading first means downloading the whole thing twice.

  1. Tap Download for offline above. It opens the guide.
  2. Put that page on your home screen — steps below.
  3. Open the guide from the new icon and download it there, on wi-fi. Keep the screen open until it finishes.

Putting it on your home screen — iPhone or iPad (Safari):

  1. Tap the three dots at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Tap Share.
  3. Scroll down the list and tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.

On Android (Chrome): tap the three-dot menu at the top right, tap Add to Home screen (some phones say Install app), then confirm. On Android either order works.

If you opened this link from inside Instagram, Facebook or Gmail, you are in that app’s built-in browser. It cannot add anything to your home screen, and a guide downloaded there is thrown away when the app closes. Open the link in Safari or Chrome first.

What if my phone’s GPS is unreliable?

Two backstops. First, the map shows every site — just tap the marker for the place in front of you. Second, you can manually queue any narration even when GPS is off. The platform never assumes GPS works; it’s the convenience layer, not the gate.

How long is the tour and how much time do I need?

The audio runs ~1–2 hours total, but you walk at your own pace. 12 narration points across the site. Most visitors take 2–4 hours; some spread it over multiple visits. Once you buy it, it’s yours — there’s no expiry and no subscription. Come back next year if you like; the link in your receipt always works.

Can I share with my partner or family?

One purchase covers one device session. Most couples share earbuds and use a single phone — the audio is paced for that. If you want everyone listening on their own device, each person needs their own purchase. We do not gate sharing aggressively; we trust visitors to do the right thing.

What if I never use the tour, or never make it to the site?

Full refund if you never trigger a single narration on-site. Partial refund based on how far you got. See the refund policy for specifics.

Walk Kourion — the City on the Cliff and the Sanctuary of Apollo
12 narration points.
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