II 
70 CYPRUS. 
CHAP, generally a camelian stone S inscribed with a 
few words from the Koran, a proverb in Arabic, 
or a couplet in Persian. We found, as usual, 
ample employment among these men ; and were 
so much occupied in the pursuit, that we even 
neglected to visit the Cathedral of St. Sophia'^, 
built in the Gothic style by the Emperor 
Justinian, when he raised the edifice of the same 
name in Constantinople. It is said that the 
monuments of English warriors who fought 
during the crusades still exist within this 
building. We have the testimony both of 
Drummond and of Mariti for the architecture 
(1) To supply these stones, they frequently disfigure or conceal the 
finest antique g^fiMW ,• either by cutting; them into a more diminutive 
form, or by hiding the work of the antient lapidary in the setting, 
and turning the obverse side outwards for the writing. 
(2) "The most beautiful edifice here is, without doubt, the Church 
of St. Sophia, where the kings of Cyprus were formerly crowned. It 
is built in the Gothic style, and has three large naves. It contains the 
tombs of the Lusignans, and of several antient Cypriots and noble 
Venetians. The choir and the altars were destroyed when the city 
was taken. This church then became the principal mosque ; and 
Mustapha,\.h& Turkish ^en&rd\, \Meni to it for the first time, to offer 
thanks to the Almighty, on the fourteenth of September 1570." 
Mariti's Travels, vol. I. p. 98. It is said by Dapper (Descript. des 
Isles de I'Archipel, p. 32. Amst. 1733) to contain an antient tomb of 
very beautiful Jasper, of one entire piece, eight feet and a half long, 
four feet and a quarter wide, and five feet high. Dapper, perhaps, 
alludes to the beautiful kind of marble called Hosso Jniico by the 
Jtaliatu. 
