According to mythology, this is where the god Theseus left the pregnant Ariadne after his battle with the Minotaur.
Amathus has been settled since approximately 1000 BC and was one of the island's original four city-kingdoms. The first inhabitants here were probably Mycenaean, although there is no definite evidence to prove this. The remains on show today date mostly from the Roman and Byzantine eras.
During the Roman period, Amathus was an important port city, which made its money by exporting the island's copper and timber, but the city's age of glory began to crumble during the 4th century after it fell victim to a series of devastating earthquakes.
