Friday 29 Sept – A slice of Salamis

We were provided with breakfast this morning – fried eggs, haloumi and tomato pide, fresh tomato and cucumber, two cheeses, olives, jams, ricotta pastries, sliced melon, fresh pomegranate and a selection of breads. Fortunately we were being picked up by Salah’s friend, Iyad (another interesting fellow – Syrian engineer who also fled his homeland at the outbreak of the civil war), so we didn’t have to waddle far to his car.

We drove a few miles out of town to the ancient city of Salamis which was founded, according to legend, around 1180 BC by Teucer, son of Telamon, king of Salamina on the Greek mainland.  Brother of the hero Ajax, Teucer was unable to return home from the Trojan War after failing to avenge his brother’s death.  Salamis was an important trading centre from about the 8^th century BC; it later came under Assyrian rule and when Cyprus became a Roman colony the city really prospered.  Unfortunately two earthquakes (1^st and 4^th centuries AD) and a tidal wave interfered in its prosperity and the city crumbled and during the mid-7^th century AD it was evacuated only rediscovered in the last century or so.

The archaeological site covers about seven square kilometres and contains several significant sites – the huge colonnaded gymnasium, complete with swimming pools, baths, saunas and latrines; the adjacent amphitheatre and 15,000 seat theatre; the remains of several Roman villas; temples, basilicas, aqueducts, reservoirs, agoras (market places, including a fish market) and water reservoirs.  We trudged around in the intense heat, enjoying every minute of it as we marvelled at the ingenuity and determination of the people who built these great structures – basically by hand - and managing to find a few shards of ancient pottery, complete with decorations.  It was particularly interesting to be doing this with a civil engineer, so we could speculate on the construction methods that they must have used.

Then back to Famagusta, a farewell to our friend Ayid, a brief lunch and off to find a few more churches (or their remains) – St George of the Greek, a stately Byzantine church, now in ruins but with traces of frescoes extant in the nave; St George of the Latins, the oldest of them all, also in ruins;  and the Nestorian Church, still largely intact but unfortunately locked.  Then a walk through the Othello Tower, built in the 12^th century AD as an extension of the town walls.  Leonardo da Vinci apparently advised on its later defensive improvements, which involved construction of more walls in about 1481. 

On the way home we passed a delightful patisserie and made an on-the-spot decision to have a light (?) dinner in our courtyard at “home”, so we bought some sweet and savoury treats (which no doubt contain all five food groups) and wandered home, again passing our little friend who we have seen repeatedly over the past couple of days and reminds us so much of our own Sasha.

Tomorrow – on the bus for Nicosia.