Settlement Type: | village |
Official Name: | Alassa |
Native Name: | Άλασσα |
Pushpin Map: | Cyprus |
Pushpin Relief: | y |
Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
Pushpin Mapsize: | 300 |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Cyprus |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Cyprus |
Subdivision Type1: | District |
Subdivision Type2: | Municipality |
Unit Pref: | Imperial |
Population As Of: | 2001 |
Population Footnotes: | [1] |
Population Total: | 201 |
Timezone: | EET |
Utc Offset: | +2 |
Timezone Dst: | EEST |
Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
Coordinates: | 34.7642°N 32.9275°W |
Alassa (el|Άλασσα) is a village in the Limassol District of Cyprus, north of the Kouris Dam, on the main road from Limassol to Kakopetria.
Excavations at Alassa by Cypriot archaeologists in the early 1980s unearthed the ruins of a Bronze Age city. Among other findings were the remains of a palace, suggesting that the site once had a much greater importance as a local trading center.[2] Whether Alassa was the capital of the ancient kingdom known as Alashiya remains a question of debate. The archaeologist Claude Schaeffer has made certain claims in this regard.[3]
Roman villas have also been found there, a mosaic floor depicting Aphrodite and Eros from one of which is in the Limassol museum.[4]
Alassa has been developed in modern times as a park-like tourist centre.