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CYPRUS,
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
London: Wm. H. Allen & Co. Stanford’s Geog.l Estab.t London
MAP OF
CYPRUS
1878.
CYPRUS,
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
ADAPTED FROM THE GERMAN
OF
FRANZ VON LÖHER.
WITH
MUCH ADDITIONAL MATTER
BY
MRS. A. BATSON JOYNER.
AND TWO MAPS.
LONDON:
W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE.
Publishers to the India Office.
1878.
INTRODUCTION.
The sudden interest created by recent political events ineverything relating to Cyprus, an island which, from itsgeographical position, seems destined to play no unimportantpart in modern history, has rendered the appearance of Herrvon Löher’s narrative of his recent journeyings throughthe length and breadth of that country extremely welcome.It is therefore with much pleasure we have received permissionfrom the Author to lay before the British Public anadaptation of his book (only published during the last fewdays) which seems well suited to supply information, such asis at present much needed in England.
The island of Cyprus from the first dawn of civilisationhas been classic ground, extremely interesting to antiquaries,and its history throughout the Middle Ages is largely blendedwith tales of chivalry and romantic incidents, such as in thesevimatter-of-fact times are scarcely cared for by speculators,whose object is to obtain reliable information on subjectsof more practical importance, such as the resources of thecountry, the character of its soil, the capabilities of its surface,and the industry of its inhabitants. Lessons upon thesepoints are only to be learned from a careful survey, such asthat accomplished by our author, who, uninfluenced by prejudice,describes in simple narrative the actual condition ofthe island, the scenery of the interior, and the everydayemployments and pursuits of the people, thus removing manyerroneous impressions as to the condition of the Cypriotes, andleaving the reader to form his own opinion as to the statusand prospects of our new acquisition. All informationconnected with these points we have carefully rendered, onlyomitting such matter as appeared irrelevant, and calculatedunnecessarily to increase the size of the book. Additionalinformation gleaned from various sources, relative to thegeneral history and statistics of the island, is to be found inthe Appendix.
That the climate of Cyprus is delightful, the soil prolific,and the landscape in some parts of the country of surpassingbeauty, we have abundant testimony in the writings ofclassic authors, and there is no reason to suppose that in theserespects its attractions have deteriorated. A late writer,J. Jasinides, who died at a good old age at Koutzovendi, inCyprus, in 1871, at the