Statue Bases Uncovered in Sanctuary of Apollo on Cyprus

News May 27, 2026

Aerial view of excavations in the Sanctuary of Apollo, Frangissa, Cyprus
Cyprus' Deputy Ministry of Culture & Department of Antiquities
SHARE:

FRANGISSA, CYPRUS—La Brújula Verde reports that more than 20 statue bases have been discovered at the site of the Sanctuary of Apollo in central Cyprus, which was discovered in 1885. At that time, many bases of votive statues were unearthed, but they were included in the backfill when the site was reburied. Matthias Recke of the University of Frankfurt and Philipp Kobusch of the University of Rostock said that the in situ statue bases, which were found under the nineteenth-century fill, remain close together in their original positions within the sanctuary. Limestone and terracotta feet are still attached to some of the bases. The excavation also revealed that these bases had been covered with a leveling layer around 480 B.C. Recke, Kobusch, and their colleagues will continue to evaluate the remodeling of the sanctuary. For more on Roman decorations from Cyprus, go to "And They're Off!"

  • Features May/June 2026

    Pioneers of Lakefront  Living

    Why Neolithic and Bronze Age farmers in the Alps built their villages on stilts

    Read Article
    Modern replicas of Bronze Age houses in Lake Constance
    © APM/Frank Müller
  • Features May/June 2026

    The Last Maya Kingdom

    On the shores of a lake in Guatemala, the Itzá people defied the Spanish for nearly 200 years

    Read Article
    Flores Island, Guatemala
    Courtesy Timothy Pugh/Itzá Archaeological Project
  • Features May/June 2026

    Art for the Ages

    A surreal style of painting endured for 4,000 years in the canyonlands of West Texas

    Read Article
    Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center Archive
  • Features May/June 2026

    Bridge to the Past

    The Yellow River brought both prosperity and calamity to China’s dazzling medieval capital By Ling Xin

    Read Article
    Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology