The architectural ruins of the ancient city-kingdom of Kition provide the first clear evidence that the Mycenaean Achaeans arrived in Larnaka (Larnaca) in the 13th century BC and stayed until the end of the 11th century BC. The Phoenicians inhabited the city in the 9th century BC.

Around the end of the 13th century, Mycenaean Achaeans fortified the city with cyclopean walls made of giant blocks of limestone. Later on, the Phoenicians settled in the area in the 9th century, and built the temple of Astarte, Goddess of Fertility, related with the worship of Goddess Aphrodite. In 312BC, Kition was originally occupied and then destroyed by Ptolemy 1st Soter (the Egyptian Pharaoh). In spite of this, habitation continued into Christian times.

Kition was well known for its harbour in antiquity, from which many agricultural products were exported to the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and the Aegean. Moreover, its strategic position rendered it an exceptional naval base. Of particular interest at the ancient port are the drawings of ships etched into the walls of buildings.

The most interesting architectural remains are those of the Temple of Aphrodite-Astarte, built by the same Phoenician masons that built the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, both originating in the 9th century BC.

Egyptian-style temples of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty - which are older than their Greek equivalents and served the pre-Hellenic Cypriot population - have also been found nearby.

The site is one of the first that the Cyprus Department of Antiquities excavated, after the island gained its independence from British Rule in the early 1960’s, and is linked to the Aphrodite Cultural Route.