Larnaca District Archaeological Museum

The Larnaca District Archaeological Museum, now known as the Larnaca District Museum, is an archaeological museum in Larnaca, Cyprus, controlled by the Department of Antiquities. Founded in 1936 and inaugurated in its current building in 1969, the museum presents the historical development of the ancient city of Kition and the broader Larnaca district from the Neolithic period through Roman times. It stands as one of two archaeological museums in Larnaca, alongside the Pierides Museum, and serves as a key institution for understanding the region's deep prehistoric and ancient history.

The museum was founded in 1936 and initially occupied two rooms in the church of Ayios Lazaros. In 1948 it moved to an Ottoman-period castle before being relocated to its present building in 1969. The facility was expanded and reorganized between 1987 and 1988. A further update of the permanent exhibition concluded in 2022, aiming to modernize the museum and incorporate pieces from recent excavations.

The collection spans from the ninth millennium B.C. through the Roman period, divided between prehistoric periods (Neolithic, Chalcolith一直到ithic, and Bronze Age) and historical periods of Cyprus (Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman). The exhibition particularly emphasizes the evolution of ancient Kition, the city that lay in the Larnaca area and achieved notable importance. Holdings include funerary objects, votive offerings, pottery of all major Cypriot wares, sculpture, terracotta figurines, and imported goods that attest to the island's wide Mediterranean connections.

In the entrance hall, a replica of the stele of King Sargon II greets visitors. Room I contains Neolithic through Middle Bronze Age material from Choirokoitia and Kalavasos-Tenta, including bone tools, flint knives, picrolite and dentalia jewelry, and a preserved Neolithic burial in contracted position with a heavy millstone placed on the chest and head. Room II focuses on Mycenaean-period finds, including LH IIIA:2 jugs, stemmed kylikes, and three-handled amphorae from Pyla, Tersefanou, Kalavasos, and Alykes, alongside a faience sceptre with the cartouche of Pharaoh Horemheb and an opium pipe. Room III presents Cypro-Geometric through early Classical terracotta horse-and-rider figurines from Larnaca-Mnemata, a chariot group, and a limestone male head with rosette diadem dated 550-525 B.C. Room IV displays imported Attic Black-figure and Red-figure pottery, including a bell-shaped crater with symposium scene from Kition and an oinochoe with female musicians from Larnaca-Mnemata, plus Hellenistic lagynoi and kantharoi, Roman Red Slip ware, and sculptures including a Priapos statue of the 2nd-3rd centuries A.D. and a Tanagra-type terracotta figure. The courtyard contains large statues, funerary stelae, and a restored Roman olive press.

The museum building lies in the northern part of central Larnaca, approximately 300 meters south of the remains of ancient Kition at Plateia Kalograion. The Kition-Bamboula archaeological site sits about 100 meters north of the museum, with information about it posted on the museum grounds. The Kition-Kathari site lies roughly 500 meters further north. The museum includes two main exhibition halls plus an open courtyard and backyard where larger finds and the restored olive press are displayed. Behind this courtyard lies another openly accessible archaeological site with few structural remains.

The Larnaca District Museum is located in Larnaca, Cyprus, and operates under the Department of Antiquities. As of 2013, the entrance fee was €1.70, with no separate charge for viewing the Bamboula site. The museum's website is http://www.mcw.gov.cy.