Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879Baker, Samuel White, Sir
History
Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879
Baker, Samuel White, Sir
Cyprus -- Description and travel
The view from each portion of the terrace is exceedingly interesting, as
it commands a panorama for a distance of nearly thirty miles. On the
north is the range of mountains, about twelve miles distant, which form
the backbone of Cyprus, and run from east to west, attaining the height
of 3400 feet. This is a peculiar geological feature in the island, as it
is the only instance of compact (or jurassic) limestone. Through my
powerful astronomical telescope I could plainly distinguish every rock,
and the Castle of Buffavento upon the summit of the perpendicular crags
afforded an interesting object, although invisible to the naked eye. The
south and east presented a miserable aspect in the brown desert-like
plain of Messaria, broken by the numerous flat-topped hills to which I
have already alluded. On the west the important mountain-range which
includes Troodos bounded the view by the snow-capped heights of the
ancient Mount Olympus, between which several chains of lower hills
formed a dark base of plutonic rocks, which contrasted with the painful
glare of the immediate foreground. The highest points of this range are
Troodos, 6590 feet, Adelphe, 5380 feet, Makhera, 4730 feet. These are
the measurements as they appear upon the maps; but the recent survey by
the Royal Engineers has reduced the height of Troodos by 250 feet. A
green patch at the foot of the Carpas range denoted the position of
Kythrea, about twelve miles distant east, watered by the extraordinary
spring which has rendered it famous both in ancient and modern times;
and almost at our feet, or a mile in a direct line, the fortified
capital, Lefkosia, presented the usual picturesque appearance of a
Turkish town. A combination of date-palms, green orange-gardens,
minarets, mosques, houses quaint in their irregularity and colouring,
and the grand old Venetian Cathedral, St. Sophia, towering above all
other buildings, were enclosed within the high masonry walls and
bastions, comprising a circuit of three statute miles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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