Soloi was one of the ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus, dating from as early as the 6th century BC. An older tradition suggests that Soli was founded after the Trojan War by the Attic hero Acamas, c. 1193 BC. Occupied sequentially by early Cypriots, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Byzantines, the city was famous for its many copper mines, which helped supply Cypriot copper to locations throughout the ancient world. Located on a high hill overlooking the Mediterranean, the city's excavated remains consist of a number of public buildings - including an agora (market square), a temple of Athena, a Roman theater, and a Christian basilica. USAID (the United States Agency for International Development) recently funded a project to restore, protect, and interpret the basilica's many elaborate mosaics.
