The high masonry piers which had supported the arches of the ancient aqueduct from Kythrea looked like spectres of past greatness among the silent ruins, made doubly desolate by the miserable aspect of the withered plain around them. A short distance from these is the church of St. Barnabas, raised upon the site where it is believed that the body of the Saint was discovered, together with the Gospel of St. Matthew. How the Saint and the Gospel had been preserved in the damp soil of that neighbourhood must be left to the imagination.
Passing through the ruins of the old town with the line of the wall distinctly visible upon the sea front, we shortly arrived at the spot where the river Pedias should have an exit to the sea. No sign of a river-bed existed, but a long series of swamps, composed chiefly of bare mud, would during wet weather have made a considerable detour necessary; they were now dry, with the exception of two or three holes full of muddy water, which were unconnected with any perceptible channel. A long stone causeway proved that occasionally the hardened mud upon which we rode would become a lake, but from the numerous tracks of animals the earth was preferred to the uneven and slippery pavement of the artificial road. The enormous quantity of mud brought down by the Pedias during its fitful inundations had completely obliterated all signs of an ordinary river-bed, and the deposit had produced a surface that was scored in numerous places by the rush of water, without in any way suggesting that we were in the neighbourhood of the largest river in Cyprus. The width of this muddy swamp was about two miles, and terminated by a shallow lake upon our left. We were now within a mile and a quarter of Famagousta, and the ground began to rise. It struck me that an eminence upon our right was superior to the height of the city walls, and I rode up to examine the position. There was no doubt that it commanded the lower portion of the fortress, and that a direct shell- fire could be plunged into the rear of the guns which protect the entrance of the harbour. In the event of modifications being introduced when restoring the defensive works of Famagousta, it would be necessary to erect a powerful detached fort upon this position, which would be an immense addition to the defences of the city, as it would enfilade the approaches upon two sides.
The walls of Famagousta are most imposing; they are constructed of carefully-squared stone joined with cement of such extreme hardness that the weather has had no destructive effect. The perimeter of the fortress is about 4000 yards; the shape is nearly a parallelogram. The fosse varies in depth and width, but the minimum of the former is twenty-five feet, and of the width eighty feet, but in some places it exceeds one hundred and forty. This formidable ditch is cut out of the solid rock, which is the usual calcareous sedimentary limestone, and the stone thus obtained has been used in the construction of the walls. The rock foundation would render all mining operations extremely difficult. The fire from the ramparts is increased by cavaliers of great size and strength, capable of mounting numerous heavy guns at a superior altitude. The only entrance from the land side is at the south-west corner; this is exceedingly striking, as the fosse is about 140 feet wide, the scarp and counter-scarp almost perpendicular, being cut from the original rock.
A narrow stone bridge upon arches spans this peculiar ditch, the communication depending upon a double drawbridge and portcullis. Immediately facing the entrance outside the fortress is an old Turkish churchyard, through and above which the closed masonry aqueduct is conducted into the town. Following the course of the aqueduct along a straight line of sandy heights which somewhat resemble a massive railway embankment, we arrived at a mosque in which is the venerated tomb of the Turkish soldier who first planted the flag upon the walls of Famagousta when captured, in 1571, from the Venetians. This tomb is in a small chamber within the building and is covered with green silk, embroidered; but as the city was never taken by assault, and capitulated upon honourable terms after a protracted defence, the fact of establishing the Turkish flag upon the walls after their evacuation by the garrison would hardly have entitled the standard-bearer to a Victoria Cross; however he may have otherwise distinguished himself, which entailed post-mortem honours, perhaps by skinning alive the gallant Venetian commandant Bragadino, whose skin, stuffed with straw, was taken in triumph to Constantinople hanging at the yard-arm of the victorious general's ship.
Quitting the mosque, we continued along the aqueduct, always upon the same sandy heights, which gradually increased, until we arrived at a position about 200 yards from a windmill. This formed a prominent object at the back of the large village of Varoschia, situated upon the slope beneath facing the sea, about a quarter of a mile distant. I selected the highest position for a camp; this was close to the aqueduct and about 600 yards from the entrance of the fortress. I counted the embrasures of six guns that could have been brought to bear exactly upon our tent, but at the same time I remarked that we commanded the lower portion of the fortress, and could fire into the rear of the batteries upon the sea-wall within the water-gate at a most destructive range. This position would require a detached fort with a line of works along the heights flanked by a small fort at the extremity. Three detached forts upon as many points which now exist would render Famagousta impregnable, should the present works be repaired, and improved by some slight modifications.
I had been through the fortifications upon a former occasion, when I had the advantage of Captain Inglis the chief commissioner's guidance, but they are so extensive and of such exceeding interest that many days might be expended in a study of the details.
Upon entering the fortress by the drawbridge we passed through the arched and dark way beneath the ramparts, and emerged into a narrow street, which was swept and free from the usual impurities of a Turkish town, thus exhibiting proofs of a British occupation. A perfect labyrinth of narrow lanes, bordered by most inferior dwellings, confused a stranger, but with the assistance of a guide I reached the residence of the chief commissioner and the various officers attached to the establishment. Beyond this all modern buildings ceased, and Famagousta was presented as it must have appeared after the sack and utter destruction by the Turks in 1571. It looked as though a town had been shattered and utterly destroyed by an earth-quake, whose terrible tremblings had shaken every house to its foundation, and left nothing but shapeless heaps of squared stones. O Turk! insatiable in destruction, who breaks down, but never restores, what a picture of desolation was here! Three centuries had passed away since by treachery the place was won, and from that hour the neglected harbour had silted up and ceased to be; the stones of palaces rested where they fell; the filth of ages sweltered among these blood-sodden ruins; and the proverb seemed fulfilled, "The grass never grows on the foot-print of the Turk." I never saw so fearful an example of ruin.
Although the town was in this hideous state, the fortifications were in very tolerable repair, and had guns been mounted an enemy would quickly have acknowledged their formidable importance. Time appeared to be almost harmless in attacks against these vast piles of solid masonry. The parapets in the angles of the embrasures were twenty-five and twenty-seven feet in thickness. From these we looked down forty-five and fifty feet into the ditch beneath. As we walked round the ramparts and various bastions we remarked the enormous strength of the commanding cavaliers to which I alluded from the outside appearance of the forts. There were also vast subterranean works, store-houses, magazines, cannon-foundries, and all the appliances of a first-class fortified town and arsenal; but these were of course empty, and with the exception of a small chamber near the water-gate, which contained a number of rusty helmets and breastplates, there was no object of interest beyond the actual plan of the defences.
The water-gate was approached by a winding entrance beneath a powerful circular bastion from an extremely narrow quay, from which the remains of a once powerful mote projected about 120 yards into the sea and commanded the inner harbour. This was now a mere line of loose and disjointed stones. A citadel that is separated from the main fortress by a wet ditch which communicates with the sea by an adit beneath the wall commands the harbour on the east side. This ditch is as usual scarped from the rock, and otherwise of solid masonry; should the fortress have been successfully carried by assault on the land side, a vigorous defence might have been maintained in this independent citadel until either reinforcements should arrive by sea, or an escape might be effected to friendly vessels.
It is commonly asserted that Famagousta under the Lusignans and Venetians "counted its churches by hundreds and its palatial mansions by thousands." It would certainly have been impossible that they could have existed within the present area, as a large extent must have been required for barrack accommodation for the garrison, parade-grounds, &c. There are ruins of several fine churches with the frescoes still visible upon the walls. The Cathedral of St. Nicholas is a beautiful object in the Gothic style. Although dismantled and converted into a mosque by the Turks, the roof is in good repair, and its magnificent proportions remain, but they are marred by the stopping of the windows with rough stones and mortar. The total length of the cathedral is 172 feet 6.5 inches. Length of apse (included in above) 30 feet 9 inches; breadth of apse 32 feet 3 inches; breadth of cathedral 74 feet 1 inch; circumference of pillars 15 feet 3 inches, there being 12 pillars in all.