Italian dig uncovers "oldest" temple in Cyprus NICOSIA (Reuters)
- An Italian archaeologist says she has discovered what is
believed to be the oldest site of religious worship in Cyprus, a
temple which is about 4,000 years old. The find at the Pyrgos-
Mavroraki site close to the southern city of Limassol predates
any other discoveries in Cyprus by about 1,000 years, Italian
archaeologist Maria Rosaria Belgiorno said. "This is the first
evidence of religion in Cyprus at the beginning of the second
millennium BC," she was quoted as telling the Cyprus Weekly
newspaper from Rome. The Cyprus Antiquities Department said
further examination would be required before the find could be
verified. "We cannot dismiss the claim but we cannot verify it
either," Antiquities Department official Maria Hadjicosti told
Reuters. Belgiorno said she had found the outline of a
triangular-shaped temple, comprised of two rooms, on the site.
There was a sacrificial altar flanked by a channel on two sides.
"We found no statues, but there