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Selected and rare materials, excerpts and observations from ancient, medieval and contemporary authors, travelers and researchers about Cyprus.
 
 
 
 
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CLAUDE DELAVAL COBHAM
Exerpta Cypria
page 310

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reason to be of that- opinion. I rather suppose it to have been the grand cnmmanderie of the island, foi- it is bnilt iu the palatial stile of those days; and its Italian naine, Della-Paese, though a little corrupted, seems to confirm my conjecture. I could find nothing that resembled the cells of the monks ; the apartments are all a little more knightly : the court is a square of an hundred feet ; the corridor round it fifteen feet within, vaulted, and supported by clustered coriuthinn pillars : on the right is the refectory, an hundred feet by thirty ; and on the left, the church, which is by no means equal to a monastic edifico of such α superb form: behind, on the ground-floor, are two spacious rooms; bnt, immediately above, is the grand sale, of an bundled feet by thirty, and thirty feet high, arched iu dusters, from six pilasters on each side. Over the gate nf the refectory are three coats on a marble architrave ; that of Jerusalem in tho centre, Jerusalem and Cyprns quartered on the dexter, and Cyprus on the sinister. The same bearings are likewise in other parts ; and just by the gate uf that dining-room stands a beautiful marble fountain, from whence tho company have been supplied with water: on eaoh side of it is a boy bearing up festoons of fruitage; nnd in the bondings thereof are lions heads, and bulls heads on tho angles, all well executed. Just by the church door is an inscription on a tomb-stone, in old French of the thirteenth century, which however I cannot understand. [It should probably Ve read thus, DOVMARIN . QVI . TRESPASSA . A . XXIX . IOBS . DE . DÉCEMBRE . A . LAN . DE . MCCCXYIIII . DE . CHRIST . ] From this delightful retirement I went to Agios Phancntis, the rocks of which are washed by the sea, and there I found several human bones and teeth petrified. The country people, who, yon know, abound in legends, say that a vast number of foreigners, called Alluni, who came freni a savage country to subdue and seize their fruitful lands, were here shipwrecked and perished ; their 1 tones, as a punishment, and monument of their crimes, were turned into stone as we now see them; though some of them, being converted to the christian faith, lived happily in the island nnd became saints. Of this number was Saint Mamas, of whom such honourable mention hath been made ; yet some say he was a native of the island, while others affirm he was born upon the main. Ridiculous as this fable may appear, there is certainly some foundation for it. We know the froths invaded Greece, and visited some of the islands ; and though 1 do not remember the circumstance in history, some of them may have made an attempt npon Cyprus ; else how should the inhabitants become acquainted with the woid Albini, nnd transmit it from father to son ? I never saw a vegetation of stone-bones, stone-teeth, Ac. yet I have such petrifactions iu my possession ; and heads, fingers, nnd toes have been found; whence I conclude that a great many people, in the early or distant ages of the world, have been wrecked upon this little point, nnd their bodies, when washed on shore, indurated by the untumi means of petrifaction. On my road from this place nothing occurred worth mentioning until I re-crossed the hills and came to Citrcun, which is one continued chain of gardens and summer-houses of vast extent; everything was in the highest bloom and gayest verdure, being watered by living streams, conveyed to every field through little channels. In my way to Saint Chrysostomos 1 crossed a field where perpendicular strata of stones run along the surface like so many foundations of walls. The convent of which this saint is protector, 1 found a large though mean building; some parts are of good marble, well wrought, and tolerable mosaic of variegated stones, with a great deal of gilding nnd painting ; but nothing is of a piece. The superior had no records, which indeed none of them have, but he told mo it was 301» EXCERPTA CYPRIA.

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