Cyprus: Historical and Descriptive. Franz von Löher
Greek priests are said to average two per cent. of the whole population; it may therefore be supposed that their position is a degraded one, and their incomes very small. Many of those in Nikosia can scarcely do more than read the services, and perform the various ceremonies with proper intelligence and decorum, whilst those in the village cures are so reduced that they must often resort to the mending of shoes, and tending of sheep and cattle, to earn a bare livelihood.
The church of St. Katherine, now turned into a mosque, has a fine entrance, adorned with three arches and pillars, with Corinthian capitals. Two stately marble columns lie in the court-yard; these, with their fine carved escutcheons, have been torn down by the Turks and employed as seats. The graves of the brave defenders of the city are still held in honour, and small cupolas are erected to mark their resting places. The spot where the first Turk mounted and fell when the city was stormed, is also distinguished by a small dome. The gravestone is marble, and the coffin of wood, overshadowed by the green flag of the Prophet. Nikosia can boast a very unusual number of churches and mosques, and we are told that, when the city was at the height of its glory, there were no less than two hundred and fifty chapels and churches. Cyprus is also especially remarkable for the number of graves of its saints.
In all ages the island was regarded as a harbour of refuge from persecution or tyranny, and its close proximity to Syria and Palestine attracted many suffering Christians to its shores. In the thirteenth century Cyprus possessed no less than fourteen bishoprics, each of which were founded on some memorable or sacred spot. Paul and Barnabas, we know, preached the Gospel in Cyprus, and we learn that many were turned from the error of their ways to commence a new life. Accompanied by John, the Apostles landed at Salamis, and travelled over the whole island, preaching especially in the synagogues of the Greek Jews, who were then very numerous. In Paphos they encountered the Roman consul, Sergius Paulus, who speedily became a convert, and here Elymas, the sorcerer, was struck by them with temporary blindness, as a chastisement for his endeavours to turn away their converts from the true faith. The Apostle Saul here adopted the Roman fashion and changed his name to Paulus. St. Barnabas afterwards suffered martyrdom in Salamis, where he was burnt to death. During the reign of Justinian, his grave was opened and a copy of the Gospel of St. Matthew found lying on his breast. Salamis was also the birthplace of the celebrated St. Katherine.
The royal palace of Nikosia was built in the Norman-Gothic style and must have been a noble edifice. With the exception of an arched doorway, however, but little now remains beyond the outer walls, with gaps where the windows once were, and balconies with wooden latticework and wooden roofs. This palace was formerly the residence of the pacha. During my visit to the city the gaols were full of prisoners; the majority of these, I was told, were sent over from Syrian prisons to work out their terms of imprisonment. The Cypriotes themselves bore the character of being peaceable in their habits, and not easily roused to acts of violence and crime.
In the court of the palace stands a high pillar, which tradition says criminals used to be compelled to mount before receiving their sentences. I could fancy this ancient pillar, ornamented with winged lions, must resemble that in the market-place in Venice. I observed also the shattered remains of another Venetian lion, which, a few years ago, was wantonly destroyed by one of the pachas. Near the pillar above alluded to are reared three gravestones, decorated with knightly escutcheons and Latin inscriptions.
In the evening I dined with the pacha, a gentleman of great intelligence, who has had a most thorough European education. Our conversation happened to turn upon those interesting relics of past ages. My host spoke with much regret of the damage constantly and wantonly done to them by Turkish soldiers, and bitterly deplored his own inability to check their destructive propensities, which are all the more difficult of restraint, as they proceed from religious enthusiasm; followers of Mahommed being strictly prohibited, by the Koran, to make any image; this prohibition being not only confined to works of wood and stone, but including the precious works of the sculptor and the painter. Before quitting this interesting city, I cannot refrain from adding the testimony of a writer of the fourteenth century to the salubrity of the climate around this city. “Nikosia,” he tells us, “lies beneath the shelter of surrounding hills, and is noted for the healthiness of its air and the purity of its balmy breezes. For this reason it was selected as the residence of the court, nobility, bishops, and in fact all such as were free to choose where they might settle. Tournaments and hunting formed Their chief amusements; leopards and a species of mountain goat being the favourite objects of chase.” The same authority states that the nobility of Cyprus were at that period the richest in the world, an income of 3000 gulden being regarded with no more respect than a few shillings would be in other places. All these fine fortunes seem to have suffered severely from the heavy expenses attendant on their favourite pastimes. We are told of a count of Jaffa, that he kept five hundred hounds and a servant for every two dogs. Many of these nobles did not have less than two hundred men as falconers and huntsmen. During their hunting excursions it was no uncommon thing for them to camp out in the woods and mountains for a month at a time, sleeping in their tents and taking camels and mules with them, ladened with all the necessaries of life. These nobles, we are told, were men of education and experience, speaking many languages and hearing all the news of the world from the intercourse they had with the constant stream of travellers who visited this richly endowed and famous land, from all parts. The same writer tells us that the city of Famagusta was still more noted than Nikosia for its riches, and enumerates the following instances of reckless expenditure and rich possessions.
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