View PDF version of this page

CH. χ vu] Journey front Limasol to Paphos 85 Nine miles from Curium is Afdimu, a village of few inhabitants but not badly cultivated. It was one of [the four cities in the island built by Ptolemy Philadelphus in honour of his sister Arsinoe. Twelve miles further on is Conuclia, the residence of an Agha, the principal person in these parts, and looked on as a kind of feudal lord. The land round the village, owing to the abundance of running water, produces silk and excellent cotton. Many curious antiquities used to be found here, especially in tombs. Now the Turks view all excavations with jealousy, and everyone fears in attempting such to expose himself to fresh extortions. Here stood the city Cythera so besung by poets. It was sacred to Venus, and gave of old a name to the island, as Pliny, Strabo and others tell us. The next site on the south coast is Old Paphos. Here was the famous temple of Venus, overthrown, together with the entire city, by an earthquake. Scarcely any remains are visible. A lake close by is not always dry in summer, and makes the place somewhat unhealthy. Nea-Paphos or New Paphos is on the east coast. It was so called by ancient geographers, and is still known as Pafo, though the name in some modern maps is written Baffo. But it is no longer a city such as historians describe it, having been more than once destroyed. It had a harbour, and even now vessels coming to load here anchor. outside ; but only in summer, for it is the most dangerous roadstead in the island, exposed and with a bad and rocky bottom, which does great damage to the cables, which are sometimes cut through. Sailors take care to buoy them off the bottom with empty casks, which keep them suspended in the water. There is a fort on the shore, and another, ruined, on the adjacent hill. Pafo is governed by a Digdaban or Commissioner; there is also a Qazi and an Agha, who is Customs officer. The only building of Christian times is the church of St George, now used by Greeks. The products of this end of the island are

View PDF version of this page