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CLAUDE DELAVAL COBHAM
Exerpta Cypria
page 173

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it is now destroyed. With it vied in rank as a royal residence Chiteon, hnilt before all the other cities of Cyprus by Cithin, grandson of Noah. Thin in situated nu the southern coast: it had a fine harbour, now it is but η village, called Cinti, When in the possession of Hector Podocatharo, a Cypriot knight, who wrote a description of it, it was the most delightful spot in the island, with beautiful gardens full of rare fruits. Zeno, the founder of the Stoic Sect, was a native of Citi inn, with Apollonius the physician and others. A league away on the seashore lies a lake alwnt three leagues ronnd, with springs of salt water, lu the middle of June it begins to congeal under the sun's heat, and by mid-August it is entirely dried into salt, a source of immense profit. A mile further on is the landing place of Salines, the resort of the larger merchant vessels. Salamis stood on the site known as old Famagosta ; it was called Constantia from King Costa, father of S. Catherine, and was the capital of one of the nine kingdoms. Built by Teucer, son of Telamou, it gave birth to King_Evagoras, mentioned by Plutarch, Nicocreon, captain of the fleet of Alexander the Great, and others. One may still see the remains of the fine aqueducts which brought water here from Cinti, thirty miles away, and outside the town the foundations and ruins of the prison of S. Catherine. A church is shown dedicated to the Apostle S. Barnabas, nnd the place where he was martyred and bnried in a well, together with the Gospel of S. Matthew, written by the Evangelist's own hand, which was found there about the year 473. Other cities were Aphrodision, sacred to Venus: Cypria, the birth-place of S. Hilarion, and Ceraunia, now Cerines, built by Cyrus when he subdued the nine kings. This town is on the north coast, with a strong fort built on a rock. It is the healthiest in the island. Cyprus, which lies about latitude 35", is struck directly by the sun, which beats fiercely on the soil and bakes it. Then the winds sweep over the heated earth, and they too get hot, so that their blasts merely augment the heat. It is necessary therefore carefully to protect one's chest, a thing difficult to do in such a furnace. At Cerines however the wind springs directly from the sea, and has no time to touch the burning soil, so that it does not add to the heat as in other parts of the island. On the south too it is protected by the chain of mountains mentioned above, which are near enough to give the place shade, and excellent water. Lapethos, two leagues from Cerines, was also an ancient capital, its last king being PisistratiiR, a companion of Alexander the Great. Now it is a village of the same name, wonderfully fertile, and quite famous for its excellent lemons. They say that iu the earliest ages Cinaras, son of A grippa, here first discovered the art, still practised, of making earthen vessels. Other capitals were Solia, anciently called Apamea, and Acamantis, near C. San Pifani, which the Greeks call Accama. It is now a village named Cm socco, for there are traces of gold there, as well as chrysocolla or vitriol. Here is the Fontana Amorosa : the poets say that they who drank of it feel the stings of love, hut they mention another which in its turn allays their smart. Gold is found also in the middle of the island near Nicosia, on the site of the great city of Tamassns, now a village, Tania glia. Nicosia was called by the ancients Letra, and then Leucoto. Under the nine kings it was the residence of one of them, bnt under the Lnsignans it became the capital, royal and archiépiscopal, of the whole island, and was glorified with palaces, churches and grand buildings. It had a circuit of nine miles, but in 1567 the Signory of Venice, with a view of strengthening it, reduced this to three. It is supplied most healthfully and pleasantly with running water, and here the nobles of the island lived, who kept adorning it with ever new buildings, gardens and delights. Twelve miles south of Nicosia was Idaliuin, called by poets PORCACCHl. 105

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