CYPRUS. 



537 



Cyprus. 



Ascription 

 I Che ii.te- 

 ior. 



ed in that of the different powers to which it became 

 subject. It was conquered by the Saracens from the 

 Europeans of the west; but fell under the dominion 

 of the Venetians during the Crusades. The Venetians 

 were in their turn driven from it by Sultan Selim in 

 1570, since which time it has constituted a part of the 

 Ottoman Empire. 



At a distance, Cyprus appears mountainous, rising 

 in height towards the east ; but upon approaching the 

 shore, villages and some fertile plains are seen skirting 

 the foot of the hills, some of which are craggy, and 

 of considerable height. It is rounded on the south- 

 west, and gradually narrows, until it draws out into a 

 long point, terminated by Cape St Andrew on the 

 east. On coasting along the southern shore from this 

 point, the town of Famagusta appears, lying at the 

 bottom of a large gulf of the same name. It is sup- 

 posed to have been built upon the ruins of the an- 

 cient Arsinoe, and is defended by some fortifications 

 which had been erected by the Genoese and Venetians, 

 but which are now falling fast into decay. Its har- 

 bour is safe but small, and half choked up with sand. 

 Proceeding west, we find the gulf of Larnioa, which 

 affords an excellent road-stead for vessels of any size, 

 and which is the most frequented in the island. The 

 town, (the ancient Citium), from which it takes its 

 name, stands at some distance from the sea. It is the 

 residence of the European consul and merchants, and 

 is still a place of considerable trade. 



The situation is rather unhealthy, being surrounded 

 by arid and barren plains, and exposed to a suffocating 

 heat. These plains, however, were formerly covered 

 with forests of olive trees ; and, in the neighbourhood 

 are still to be seen immense cisterns, which had been 

 erected for the purpose of preserving the oil which 

 they yielded. With the exception of the gardens ad- 

 joining the town, scarcely a vestige of cultivation re- 

 mains. These gardens, however, are very beautiful. 

 Every house almost has its garden, which is enclosed 

 with lofty walls, and contains every kind of delicious 

 fruits and flowers. About a mile south, on the coast, 

 is the town of Salines, which takes its name from a 

 cluster of salt lakes in its vicinity. It is the port of 

 Larnica, where the merchants have their warehouses, 

 and where almost all commercial transactions are car- 

 ried on. The southern promontory of the island is a 

 small peninsula, joined to the continent by a very nar- 

 row tongue of land. It was formerly named the promon- 

 tory of Agrotiri, now Cape de Gatti, from the multitudes 

 of cats which were kept by the monks who, in the 4th 

 century, had permission to settle here, and also on Mount 

 Olympus, upon condition of their keeping a great num- 

 ber of these animals for destroying the snakes which had 

 almost entirely overrun the island. On doubling Cape de 

 Gatti, the coast bends to the north-west, and a little more 

 than half-way between this cape and cape St Epiphanes, 

 the north-west part of the island, stands the small town 

 of Baffa, (the ancient Paphos), which consists of the 

 ruins of its former magnificence, a few mean Greek 

 churches, some paltry houses, and a wretched fort. On 

 the north side of the island, Cerina (formerly Ceraunia) 

 is the only place worth mentioning, and its ruins also 

 bear ample testimony to its past grandeur. 



The interior of the island is divided by a chain of 

 mountains which runs lengthwise from west to east. 

 The most remarkable of these is Little Olympus, so 

 called to distinguish it from another mountain of the 

 same name in Natolia ; and also a still more famous 



VOL. VII. PART II. 



one in Macedonia. Some of them exhibit curious forms, Cyprus, 

 standing insulated, and having flat tops, resembling ■"*—"/— « 

 what are usually called table-mountains. Near the 

 centre of the island, and in the middle of a vast and 

 beautiful plain, stands Nicotia, the capital of Cyprus. Nicotia. 

 The situation is agreeable. The soil around it is ex- 

 cellent, and is watered with abundant streams ; and 

 the town is surrounded by fine gardens. It is the re- 

 sidence of the governor, who now occupies one of the 

 palaces of its ancient sovereigns. The palaces are re- 

 markable for the beauty of their architecture, but are 

 abandoned by their Turkish masters to the destructive 

 hand of time. The fortifications of this town are still 

 nearly entire, and although neglected, yet they surpass in 

 beauty and magnificence those of almost every other 

 city. The moat is half a mile wide, but is now dry, or 

 at best but an unwholesome swamp ; and a few pieces 

 of artillery are now its only defence. The church of 

 St Sophia, in this place, is a very superb and beautiful 

 edifice. It is built in the Gothic style, and is said to 

 have been erected by the Emperor Justinian, when he 

 raised the church of the same name at Constantinople. 

 It has three large naves ; but the choir and the altars 

 were destroyed when the city was taken by the Turks. 

 Here the Christian kings of Cyprus were formerly 

 crowned ,• and it still contains the tombs of the Lusig- 

 nans, and of several ancient Cypriots and noble Vene- 

 tians. It is now converted into a mosque. There is 

 no other place in Cyprus worth our notice ; and this 

 island, which was formerly divided into nine king- 

 doms, and was so famous for its superb edifices, its ele- 

 gant temples, and its riches, can now boast of nothing 

 but its ruins, which will tell to distant times the great- 

 ness from which it has fallen. 



The chain of mountains which intersects Cyprus, Climate, 

 produces also a very material difference of temperature 

 in the two divisions of the island. In the northern re- 

 gion, the heats of summer are tempered by the refresh- 

 ing winds which blow from the high mountains of Ca- 

 ramania. These produce piercing colds during winter, 

 and even preserve the snow on some of the highest 

 spots during the greater part of the year. But on the 

 south, the north winds are impeded by the mountain 

 barrier ; and the heats are increased by the reflection 

 from the shelving rocks, which form the declivities of 

 the hills, and from a soil so white that the glare is of- 

 ten sufficient to cause temporary blindness. The south- 

 ern coast is also liable to hot winds from almost every 

 point of the compass. These come from the parched 

 deserts of Curdistan on the north-east, from the sands 

 of Palmyra on the east, from the Great Desert of Ara- 

 bia on the south-east, and on the south and south-west 

 from Egypt and Lybia. During a squall from the 

 north-east, Dr Clarke endeavoured to ascertain the tem- 

 perature. " We found it so scorching," says he, " that 

 the skin instantly peeled from our lips ; a tendency to 

 sneeze was excited, accompanied with great pain in the 

 eyes, and chopping of the hands and face; and the 

 mercury exposed to its full current rose 6° of Fahren- 

 heit in two minutes, from eighty to eighty-six." The 

 heats are sometimes so excessive, that persons going 

 out without an umbrella are liable to sufi'er from a coup- 

 de-soleil, or sun-stroke, a malady by no means uncom- 

 mon in this island; and the inhabitants, especially off 

 the lower class, in order to guard against it, wrap up 

 their heads in a large turban, over which, in their jour- 

 nies, they place a thick shawl many times folded. 

 They seldom, however, venture out of their houses du- 

 3 Y 



