HISTORY ETHNOGRAPHY NATURE WINE-MAKING SITE MAP
Selected and rare materials, excerpts and observations from ancient, medieval and contemporary authors, travelers and researchers about Cyprus.
 
 
 
 
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SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879
page 257

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There were stony mounds in many directions, anc fallen pillars and columns of granite and of coarse grey and whitish marble ; but beyond these ordinary vestiges there was nothing of peculiar interest. A s there is no authority equal to General di Cesnola upon the antiquities of Cyprus, I trust he will excuse me for inserting the following interesting extract from his work, upon The Great Centre of the Worship of Venus :— " Although this spot [Paphos] was the scene oil great religious events, and was otherwise importanti in the island, yet neither are there more than a very] few ruins existing above ground, nor have the ex- plorations I have directed there at different times* succeeded in bringing to light anything of interest' I believe that this absence of ruins can be accounted for in the following manner. Paphos was several : times overthrown by earthquakes. The last time the temple was rebuilt \vas by Vespasian, on whose coins 1 it is represented ; but as nothing is said of the reJ building of the city it is supposed that it was left in ruins; probably therefore during the long period thati Cyprus was under the Roman and the Byzantine rule a great deal of the decorative and architectural material! of Paphos was transported to the other city called Nea-β Paphos, and used for its embellishment. In the Acts ! of the Apostles it is spoken of as the official residence! of the Roman proconsul Paulus Sergius, and was l therefore the capital of the island. By the time of thel Lusignan kings Palseo-Paphos had disappeared, and its! ruins under their reign were extensively explored ini search of statuary and other objects of art, with whichfj to decorate the royal castle built in its vicinity. Therefl is scarcely any ancient tomb to be found of a datefl previous to the Roman period which had not beenu opened centuries ago. " In page 207 General di Cesnola gives an illustration! of "stone feet with a Cypriote inscription, from thai

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