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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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GIOVANNI MARITI
Travels in the Island of Cyprus
page 23

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н] and Town of the Salines 19 the Greeks must not adore any figure in relief which represents our Lord, or the Virgin Mary or the saints. In every Greek church is an episcopal throne, which stands at the entrance of the choir, but always on the left side {in cornu epistolaé). These seats are made of wood, with carved foliage, and inlaid with mother of pearl and tortoise-shell, but in St Lazarus is a very ancient throne, transported there from another church ; many foreign visitors have remarked on the perfection of its carving, but it is in no wise esteemed by the Greeks, who have lost all taste and all notion of the beautiful. Outside the church is the cemetery of Protestant strangers. There are many tombs, especially of Englishmen, adorned with marble. Not far from the church of St Lazarus the Turks have a small modern mosque. And near it is a bath open to persons of all classes. The drinking water of the town is most excellent. It comes from an abundant spring in the village of Arpera, which is divided just outside Larnaca, part of it supplying that town. The aqueducts, which are carried on stone arches of good construction, are the work of the last Pasha who ruled the island, and are still kept in good order, a duty which the inhabitants of the district owe to the said Pasha, who not only helped them with the plan and its execution, but also left them a certain income, for the repair of the aqueducts when they might threaten to fall or had actually fallen. His wishes are most faithfully observed, for the matter is one of universal interest. The command of the town of the Salines rests with the Commissioner of Larnaca, who is represented by the Chief Officer of Customs ; there is also a Harbour Master (iskele-aghast) whose duty is to watch so much of the coast as is under this custom-house, to prevent fraud in the exportation and importation of merchandise. As the roadstead of the Salines is the place where not only 2—2

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