Vouni Palace.
Vuni Sarayı · Güzelyurt
Tier IV · Also here
A hilltop palace of the fifth century BC above Morphou Bay.
What to see at Vouni Palace
- Vouni Palace (Vuni Sarayı) stands on a hilltop 250 m above the sea, its foundations showing an estimated 137 rooms on three terraces.
- A temple of Athena of the 5th century BC crowns the summit terrace.
- On the middle terrace are a courtyard with a rock-cut cistern, storerooms with pits for amphorae, and baths.
History of Vouni Palace
- About 500 BC
- The pro-Persian king of Marion builds the palace to watch over Soli; its eastern features show the Persian period.
- 449 BC
- General Kimon's Greek army takes Kition and Marion, and Vouni passes to Greek control.
- 380 BC
- Soli burns the palace, which is never used again.
- Late 1920s
- Swedish archaeologists excavate the site.
Visiting Vouni Palace
Allow an hour. The palace is near Bademliköy, about 8.6 km north-west of Lefke, on an exposed hilltop with low foundation walls. The D.30 road (Ecevit Caddesi) passes about 550 m away. No car park is mapped nearby.
Monuments near Vouni Palace
- SoliThe city the palace watched over, with basilica mosaics and a Roman theatre.
- Lefke Mining MuseumThe story of Cypriot copper, told in the 1930s Vasıf Palas cinema and hotel.
- St Mamas MonasteryChurch on a temple of Astarte, with a carved 16th-century iconostasis.