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Historical Monuments in Cyprus
Historical Monuments in Cyprus Nicosia Kyrenia Famagusta Larnaka
The history of the island, Cyprus History, makes it appear truly remarkable that there is any sightseeing at all to be done. From the remotest times invasion after invasion swamped Cyprus, and on each occasion the conquerors carried away shiploads of treasure. They all did it: the Arabs, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Venetians, the Turks. It is not surprising, therefore, that there are very few portable objects left on the classical sites, the interest of which lies in their situations, their layout and some imaginative reconstruction work. In addition, earthquake has been a great destroyer.
Luckily, however, Cyprus is blessed with a famous museum in Nicosia, where many of the valuable things salvaged from the past are beautifully and logically arranged. Again, it is surprising how much there is to be seen in the island's collections, considering that until the Antiquities Law of 1904 was passed excavators were permitted to remove two-thirds of whatever they found. An even greater proportion was taken out of the country illicitly. In this way (comparable to the invaders' shiploads) vast quantities of treasure found its way to foreign museums and private collections. The American, Di Cesnola, was the most controversial figure to engage in digging, and, while many experts doubt his veracity, he was certainly one of the consuls resident in Larnaca during the nineteenth century whose activities approximated more to loot than to research.
Many of the classical sites have not only been plundered but razed to the ground and below the ground, and their stones taken away by the barrow-load for domestic building, and also carried by ship as far afield as Port Said and Alexandria for use in the construction of nineteenth-century harbour works. Much of Famagusta was built of stones from Constantia, formerly Salamis (where is now Salamis Ruins North Cyprus can find), and this building material was later transported to Suez when the town lay ruined. But there is still a lot to see, and more is being uncovered every year. In fact, it is hardly exaggerating to say that Cyprus is one vast archaeological site, the surface of which has barely been scratched.
In addition to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Mycenaean, Hellenistic and Roman sites, and the many historical monuments left by the Crusaders, the Venetians and the Turks, there is one flourishing form of art in Cyprus which is very much a local product, and therefore unique. The little medieval mountain churches, with their steep, snow-proof, barn-like roofs, are not found elsewhere, not even on the Greek and Anatolian mainlands. Their simple, Byzantine structure is a delight, and their mural paintings a revelation. It is always difficult to attribute a reliable date to Byzantine frescoes and icons, because many have been repainted in their original form, so that the design may be antique, but the workmanship inferior. But this perpetuation of early art is most interesting and inspiring, and the 'modern' forms are seldom negligible. Damp and neglect in a few cases have already mellowed paintings which Jeffery, in his Description of the Historical Monuments of Cyprus (1918), dismissed as crude and vulgar.
Greek Orthodox churches in Cyprus are laid out according to a set pattern, and even the icons on the iconostasis (equivalent to a rood screen) have a prescribed arrangement above and on either side of the central Royal Doors. The space beyond the iconostasis, the bema, is an area forbidden to women, except in special cases, as at Kiti, where there is something immovable and of special importance in the apse. Most priests in charge will willingly bring out an icon or a relic so that it may be viewed in the body of the church. Many village churches are kept locked, but the whereabouts of the keys can always be discovered at the nearest kent-ron, or coffee-shop, and someone will usually volunteer to find the custodian, who is probably the village priest. It is customary to leave an offering in the church. If the offertory box is not obvious the priest will accept money when it is made clear that this is for the church, rather than for his personal benefit.
Secular buildings of the Byzantine period have not survived to the same extent as the churches, partly due to the fact that most defensive works were rebuilt and replanned whenever war techniques changed, and partly because of the regrettable local habit of covering vaulted roofs with a cheap terrazzo made of small stones, pusyplana or rubble and lime, which did not remain rainproof and led to collapse.
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