View PDF version of this page

Also in that island and province of Cyprus there is a native wine called Marea. If it were drunk neat the heat of the wine would burn up a man's entrails. It does not appear so strong to the taste, anyone who would drink it must put one glass •·£ wine to four of water, and even so it is strong enough. The circumference of the island is six hundred miles. In that island is a very high mountain which is seen from the sea, and on the mountain a renowned monastery of Black Monks called of the Holy Cross, and a chureh. Between two rocks hangs the cross of the good thief, to whom the Lord said " To-day shall thou be with ME in Paradise." It is held in great and devout veneration, and a vast multitude visit it. It is called the mountain of the Cross ; it is fifteen miles from the sea, and a good day's journey from Famagosta. To this monastery of the Black Monks of the Holy Cross I went on my return from Nicosia. I arrived there with devotion and reverence, nnd saw and touched that blessed wood, which is held in reverence by all, and seafaring men in storms at sea invoke the blessed Cross of Cyprus. L. VON SUCHEN. Some fragmentary but interesting notes on Cyprus from the De Terra Saneta et itinere Ihìerosol. of Ludolf, priest of the church of Suchen in Westphalia, are here translated from vol. n. pp. 910—217 of Möns, de Mas Latrie's Histoire de l'iie de Chypre. The original work, printed in the fifteenth century without note of date or place (Strassburg, 1468?), is extremely rare. The visit took place between 1336 and 1341. One text was edited by Prof. F. Deycks, Stuttgart, 1851: another, "Ludolphus de Sudheim, de Itinere Terrae Sauctae," In 1884 by Dr G. A. Neumann, Ord. Cist (Archives de Γ Orient Latin, n. pp. 305—877: see also lt. Hohricht, Deutsehe Pilgerreisen, Gotha, 1889, p. 102). Suchen or Suchern, supposed to be lu the diocese of Paderborn, Westphalia, lias not been identified. Concerning the kingdom of Cyprus. From Rhodes we sail to Cyprus, an island most noble and fertile, most famous and rich, surpassing all the islands of the sea, and teeming with all good things, first inhabited by Japhet, son of Xoah. It is productive beyond all other lands. The distance by sea which divides Cyprus from the cities situate on the coasts of Egypt, Syria, Armenia, Turkey and Greece is scarcely a day's journey, as you shall hear later. This glorious island belonged once to the Templars. They sold it to the king of Jerusalem, and when the Holy Land and Aeon were lost and laid waste, the king of Jerusalem with the princes, nobles and barons of his realm removed to Cyprus, and have remained and lived there up to the present day. And so it was that Cyprus was made a kingdom. There are three Bishoprics in Cyprus, at Paphus, Xymocia and Fainagusta, and one Metropolitan at Nycosin : in my time this last was Hólie [de Xabinal 1332—1367] a brother of the Friars Minor. Pope Clement V. made him Cardinal. Paphus, whilom a great and goodly city, is the oldest in Cyprus: it lies on the seashore opposite Alexandria, and is now well-nigh destroyed by frequent earthquakes. SS. Paul and Barnabas turned this city to the faith of Christ, and thence was the whole world turned to that faith, as is shown in the Acts of the Apostles. Concerning the castle of Venus. Near Paphus once stood the castle of Venns, where ! they were wont to adore an idol of Venus, and came to visit its threshold from distant I countries, and all noble lords and ladies and damsels were gathered there. It was there that 18 EXCERPTA CYPRIA.

View PDF version of this page