Cyprus: Historical and Descriptive

by Franz von Löher

“The city of Famagusta,” says Cesnola, “built by the Christians eight hundred years ago, from the ruins of Salamis, and destroyed by the Turks in 1571, after the terrible siege in which the Venetian soldiers so heroically defended their position, once counted its beautiful churches by hundreds and its palatial residences by thousands. Once it had been one of the principal commercial cities of the Levant, with a harbour, in which rode large fleets, but which now, through neglect, has become filled with sand, and is able only to float ships of light draught. It was just outside the mouth of this closed harbour, that the vessels containing the Venetian families and their most precious personal and household effects were sunk by the faithless Mustapha Pacha, after he had killed the Venetian generals.”

“As you approach the massive walls of the city, which are nearly seventeen feet thick, and of solid stone, all taken from the ruins of Salamis, you see how impossible it was to take such a city except by famine or treachery. The walls stand now as impregnable and intact as when raised by the Lusignans.”

“The old bronze guns of the Republic of Venice are still on the bastions, in their original place, looking formidably towards the sea, and the plain of Salamis, but spiked and out of service since 1571. There are a half dozen rusty iron guns of Turkish manufacture, pretty much in the same condition.”

“The ruins of Famagusta are not grand and imposing, yet they are most beautiful and touching. It is impossible to see the still existing walls of many of its fine mediæval churches, with frescoes plainly visible in the interiors—here a rectory, there evidences of elegant homes—without a feeling of intense sadness. Only two out of the three hundred churches, which are said to have existed in Famagusta, were left standing. The principal one, formerly the cathedral and now used as a mosque, is paved with mortuary marble slabs engraved with the names and arms of Italian noblemen, once buried beneath them, whose bones were exhumed, and thrown into the sea, by order of the fanatical and ferocious Mustapha Pacha, the day after he captured the city. The other church, used as a granary and a stable by the Turks, contains also a few tombstones, now all worn out by the horses’ hoofs. There I discovered an inscription, recording the day on which, by the abdication of Katharine Cornaro, the Venetians became the rulers of Cyprus.”

“Within the city walls resides the caimakan[15] of the province of Carpass, with the Cadi of Famagusta, and the usual mejilis. There is also a military governor of the fortress, and a company of artillery. This governor resides with his troops in a small fort overlooking the sea, and flanked by a large round tower called by the natives ‘Torre del Moro’ (Tower of the Moor). Tradition asserts that in this tower were the head-quarters of the Venetian Lord-Lieutenant of Cyprus, Cristoforo Moro, during the years 1506 to 1508. In the latter year, on the 22nd of October, Cristoforo Moro was recalled from Cyprus, and returned to Venice; and from documents which I have been allowed to peruse, it would appear that this man was married four times, and that his private life was not very exemplary. This Cristoforo Moro was the ‘Othello’ of Shakespeare.”

“The fortress of Famagusta contained some of the worst criminals of the Turkish Empire. Many of them are condemned for life, others are sentenced to from fifteen to twenty-five years’ imprisonment, and all are heavily shackled.”

The harbour of Famagusta would be excellent, if it were cleared of the filth with which it is blocked up; but at present it can only accommodate a few small vessels.

Limasol, on the south coast, is the most European town in the island, and has a good harbour; but the old parts of the town are a heap of ruins. It is still of considerable importance, and is the chief place of export for the wines of the country, which are much in demand in the Levant. The surrounding country is rich in fruit trees, of which the carob-tree is the most conspicuous.

Near the town formerly stood the Commandery of the Knights Templars (Commandery of Kolossi), extending from Mount Olympus to Baffo and Limasol.