Limassol old town, stop by stop

There’s something I really like about Limassol old town, which is that it isn’t a stage set. In the same few streets you’ll find a 16th-century mosque, an Orthodox cathedral, British colonial buildings, a university and long-standing shops. The tourist board has strung all of it together in a free route, and that’s the easiest way to make sense of it. Here it is, with what I’d look out for along each stretch.

The start, between the port and the castle

The route begins in Michalis Kakogiannis Square, at the old port. Until 2021 it was Syntagma Square; the council then named it after the film director. Next to it is the tourist information office, open on weekdays, with free maps and leaflets. This is also where the Great Pier of 1881 begins, built under the British, where passengers and goods went to and from ships anchored offshore. There’s more on that in Limassol old port.

The Kebir Mosque and the Turkish baths

A few steps on is the Kebir Mosque, which the board dates to the 16th century and counts among the oldest on the island. The really interesting part is next door. Excavations east of the building revealed remains of a 10th-century Byzantine cathedral dedicated to Saint Catherine, so the one plot holds a thousand years of layered faiths.

Then come the Turkish baths, which the board believes date from the 16th century, the early Ottoman years, possibly reusing Venetian structures. They were known as the Crashi hammam, after the nearby market, and were more than a place to wash. In an age without running water at home, they were a meeting place for people of every community.

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The cathedral and buildings with a past

Opposite Agia Napa cathedral stands the Schiza Triangle, the Yellow House, a European eclectic building by the architect Zacharias Vondas, with an inner courtyard and arcades, on the site of Evriviadis Fragoudis’s old house. The cathedral itself, late 19th to early 20th century, replaced an earlier Byzantine church. Tradition links its name to an icon of the Virgin found in a leafy spot, a «napa», though another version ties it to a church from the Frankish period.

After that come the Cyprus University of Technology buildings, such as the library in a former courthouse of 1911, and the town hall, built around 1938 to a design by Benjamin Ginsburg and the council’s seat ever since.

Saripolou and the shopping streets

The second half of the walk is the liveliest. Evgenios Zenonos Square, known as University Square, leads on to Limassol Agora, a building more than a hundred years old turned into a food and leisure hall. Saripolou Square, the board says, was a somewhat neglected neighbourhood until the university filled it with students in the early 2000s. Then there’s the Hellas building, a former hotel with a courtyard and fountain, and the Fylaktou Arcade on Agiou Andreou Street, which for much of the 20th century was the town’s main shopping artery.

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The finish, back at the castle

The route closes past Limassol Castle, the Takis Pattichis pharmacy museum, opened in 2022 and free, and the Carob Mill, before returning to the old port. If you have energy left, the Limassol Archaeological Museum appears on the site as a nearby point off the circuit, as does the Pattichion municipal museum beside the Municipal Gardens.

How I’d do it

The board recommends the afternoon, and I agree. I’d set off around five, look inside the cathedral and the mosque if they’re open, and finish with dinner near the old port. Dress modestly for places of worship and keep an eye on service times. For the bigger picture of the town, start with Limassol.

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Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Limassol before prices climb.