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| Church of Saint Acheropeto.( left). 12.3 x 19 cms. Church of St. Mamas, at Morphou.. from a. to b. 58 1/2 feet. (right). 18.5 x 19 cms. "...... I had a very agreeable ride to Lapitho. This town is said to have been built by Belus, and stands agreeably on the rocks of the shore, whence the harbour seems to have run far to the westward; but it has no river, and yet all the grounds of the slope from the mountains are fertile and pleasant, bearing great numbers of natural and planted trees..... ..and some grand buildings, particularly one, the foundations of which I have partly traced: the wall was two feet deep, and fifty seven feet long; the front thirty six feet broad, and in the center of the west side was a space of six feet, where no foundation was to be seen; I therefore suppose this to be the width of the gate: the flooring is mosaic, very neat work. Perhaps another person would have found out a temple in this vestige; hut I chuse to represent only what I saw, and leave you to your own conjectures. In the church of Saint Acheropito I found the monumental stone, the drawing we have at No. 2 (left). The work is so that it cannot deserve the name of basso relievo, yet I would willingly give you specimens of everything by which you may judge of Cyprian taste; as for this performance, it is but about two hundred years old...." "......from hence ( Capo de Gato ) the country is open and pleasant to Colos, which is a fine village, where there was formerly a commanderie of the Knights Hospitallers. Lewis de Magnac, grand commander of Cyprus, built, in this place, a plain square, and strong tower, which still remains; the front exhibiting this appearance...' ( upper center in plate) ".....Morfou is a very cheerful place, about a league and a half from the sea, and its church is the handsomest building of its kind in the whole island; the court is finely walled with hewn stone, about fourteen feet high, extending to two hundred and fifty two feet in front, one hundred and fifty six feet on each side........ It was almost finished, in a kind of Italian taste, when the Turks conquered the island and any improvement was nipped in the bud by the irruption of the barbarians...... Saint Mamas, to whom this church is dedicated, performed abundance of miracles while he lived upon earth.......... Just above the place where he lay interred, a marble sarcophagus was placed, and on the wall is a picture representing him riding on the lion, with the lamb in one hand and a shepherd's crook in the other: upon his right is St. George, and on his left Saint Demetrius , both on horseback. The Turks, expecting to find a treasure in this sarcophagus, broke it up; and ever since, through two little holes, which were then made, water is continually conveyed into a hollow, being supplied from the sweat that issues from the face of the above picture....." ( right ) |