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Selected and rare materials, excerpts and observations from ancient, medieval and contemporary authors, travelers and researchers about Cyprus.
 
 
 
 
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CLAUDE DELAVAL COBHAM
Exerpta Cypria
page 427

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ΚΙΧΝΕΠΪ. 417 the ditch is diy and shallow, bnt so broad that it now yields a considerable quantity of corn ; the rampart is also in some parts cultivated, and of great breadth, as all the earth and rubbish from the interior of the town appears to have been transported thither iu order to add to its solidity. The batteries are en barbette, and 1 counted but four small pieces of artillery without carriages and completely honeycombed, a matter however of no consequence, as this city conld never stand a siege, being entirely commanded by the heights to the S. of it.. Nicosia, or, as the Turks call it, Lieosia, contains, according tu the account of the Archbishop, two thousand families of Mahoraedans, half that number of Greeks, forty of Armenians, and twelve of Maronite Catholics, four public baths, eight inosqnes (all of which were once churches), six Greek chapels, and one Catholic convent, besides the episcopal palace, and a large caravanserai now falling to decay. The remaining part of the town consists of brick and mud huts, many of which have been erected on the foundations of the old edifices, mie bazar, although tolerably*well supplied, is not even arched, but roofed with reeds and mats, which admit tho rain in all directions. The city is entered by three gates, namely, those of Lamica, Corina, and Paphos, of which the latter is most deserving of notice; the circumjacent plain is filled with Greek convents, and the white peak of Mount Olympns bore about S.rV. by W. 10th. In the morning the dragoman paid me a visit, and in the evening Τ returned it: he was a Greek of a good family at Constantinople, and formerly attached to the English army in Egypt. It was not difficult to perceive that a jealousy subsisted between him and the Archbishop, whom he accused of avarice ami ambition, and a desire of intermeddling in matters that did not concern him. On the 19th I bade adieu to Nicosia, and set out for Ceriua, where I intended to embark for the opposite coast of Carainania. I directed my course through the plain in a X.W. direction, and about a mile and a half beyond the city wall, crossed the northern branch of the Pedio. a small stream flowing to the E. At tlie fourth mile we entered a range of low brown hills, through which we travelled until the ninth mile, when we descended into a narrow flat, running along the foot of the lofty chain of mountains before mentioned : this flat had the appearance of great fertility, but it was neither inhabited nor cultivated. At the eleventh mile we reached the foot of the range; when changing the direction of onr course to the N.E. we entered a cleft or opening in the mountains, the sides of which were clothed with myrtle, a variety of other evergreens, and sweet-scented flowers. Our route for about three miles led through this defile; when, on turning the point of a rock, we had a view of the distant coast of Cilicia, and the finest part of Cyprus I have yet seen : a narrow belt of land, covered with shrubs and trees, confined on one side by the sea^ and on the other by the mountains, extended to the E. and W. as far as the eye could reach. The little* town of Cerinia, or, as the Turks call it, Gerinia, with its ancient chateau, was discerned immediately under ns reflected in the water; and on the right hand the stately towel's of the convent of Bella Paisà rose amidst the wooded cliffs of the mountains : we were nearly an hour in descending, and at three in the afternoon reached Cerinia, the whole distance being, according to my computation, about eighteen miles. I had no sooner arrived than I was informed by the Zabit that the boat had sailed only a few hours before for the opposite coast, and was not expected back for two or three days ;— a circumstance which occasioned me some uneasiness, as I foresaw that Ί should be detained in a place where it was impossible to procure even a habitable apartment. Τ had brought a letter of introduction to Signor Loretti, the captain of the boat; but he was gone in command of the vessel, and I was therefore necessitated to cultivate the acquaintance of the Zabit, who invited me to dinner, and regaled me with abundance of wine and a Cyprian concert, consisting of two blind fiddlers, accompanied by a boy who sang and playad upon the lute.

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