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.
 
 
 
 
uses Google technology and indexes only and selectively internet - libraries having books with free public access
 
  Previous Next  

SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879
page 269

View PDF version of this page

below. The salt lake, which adds an important amount to the revenue of Cyprus, lay beneath us upon the right, in the heart of the peninsula of Akrotiri ; immediately below were thebut to us invisible W e arrived at the townSavile thus describes it :— ruins of ancient of Episkopi. Curium, Captain " A pleasantly situated village, standing on the Episkopi or Lycos river, and very abundantly supplied with water. Th e houses are surrounded with fruitful gardens, and there are fields of grain . and cotton in the vicinity. The inhabitants have however very small holdings, and are, as a rule, miserably poor. In former days Episkopi was a rich city, and contained in the Venetian times large manufactories; of its ancient greatness now remain the ruins of an aqueduct, immense storehouses or vaults, and several ruined Greek churches. The spurs from Mount Trôôdos extend nearly down to the shore, and the road follows the coast-line, traversing a very beautiful country ; the ground in spring is covered with flowers and aromatic herbs, and the ravines are filled with a luxuriant growth of cypresses, wild-olives, and flowering shrubs. " There was nothing to induce a delay in Episkopi, but an addition may be made to the above description in stating that the river which has fertilised the spot and made it famous originates in the Trôôdos range. Later on, during the summer months, I often rested at the faintly dripping source of its first mountain affluent near the top of Trôôdos, which by degrees acquires strength from the Olympus drainage to form an important stream. W e passed quickly through Episkopi with its fruitful gardens, narrow streets, and yelling curs. Poor Wise

View PDF version of this page


  Previous First Next