13 May – 6 June 1727, Larnaca and Alikes |
Хочу всё знать - Barskiy's Trail: Cyprus |
Lazarus, friend of Jesus and the salt lakeBarsky first arrived in Larnaca from Lefkosia, having covered the distance between them in three days. In the first half of the 18th century the area where the city of Larnaca stands today was two different places, called Larnaca and Alikes. The part adjacent to the sea, where the Church of St. Lazarus stands, is called Alikes, and Barsky struggles to define Larnaca, writing that it was not a town and not a village, but a place on the coast where the residences of the British and French consuls were situated. Barsky goes on to describe the port and notes the goods exported from Cyprus: wine, cheese, oil, honey, carobs, mineral paints. He also devotes attention to the Church of St. Lazarus, which resembles a royal palace. Barsky writes about Lazarus, the friend of Jesus and brother of Martha and Mary, who was the city’s first bishop. The position was then called Bishop of Kition, and in fact this name survives today in the church titles of the Cypriot clergy (for example, the current bishop is called Metropolitan Nektarios of Kition). Barsky mentions a sarcophagus that contained the relics of Lazarus, which in all likelihood had been lost at the time of his visit. The sultan owned the rights to the salt harvested from the salt lakes near Larnaca, so only the Turks had the right to extract it, and they were to pay a tax to the treasury on its sale. Barsky sketched Larnaca and Alikes, trying to capture their elusive character. The Church of St. Lazarus is depicted without a belfry, while its cupolas seem to have been cut off. There we spent 10 days, and from there, on the 13th of May, came to Larnaca (1), a place located not far from the sea. Larnaca is neither a town nor a village, but a place near the coast, where the French and English (2) consuls live, for the administration and judicial scrutiny of their people, who arrive by sea in ships. Close to Larnaca there is one place by the name of Alikes (a port, it is now inside the city boundaries), standing on the very seashore, here is a dock for ships, where vessels arrive from various countries – French, British, Turkish and others – and bring commodities that Cyprus requires, and from Cyprus they take in return goods and transport them to their countries somehow: wine, cheese, oil, honey, Turkish carobs, mineral paints extracted on Cyprus, and others. At this wharf is the Church of St. Lazarus (3), big and high, luxuriously built, like some kind of royal palace; about which it is not falsely told that it was built by St. Lazarus, he whom our Lord Jesus Christ raised from the dead on the fourth day after his death in Bethany. The best evidence of this is that in that temple, in a large altar, underground, there is, as it were, a recessed grave, dug like a small cave, and in it were placed the relics of St. Lazarus, when he departed for the second time, after having been a bishop on Cyprus (as his life testifies). I did not hear where they lay, the casket lies in the church even today, honoured and revered among Christians. Larnaca is situated a half-verst from Alikes, and therefore, since it is the sole settlement, people pass incessantly here and there on errands. In Larnaca, however, live all the distinguished people, there are more houses and there are three churches, in Alikes there is just one church of St. Lazarus; however, both here and there beautiful palaces are found, especially those of the French consuls and French merchants. In Larnaca there is after all one French church and a Franciscan monastery, belonging to Roman monks (4). Near to Alikes are two lakes with salt water, the source of salt white and pure (5); though of the Christians nobody owns them, only Turks, but even they purchase (salt) and give tribute to the sultan. This place sits on an even and cheerful field, but there are few gardens, and no woods at all; not far off, roughly two to three hours on foot, stand mountains and from there they take trees for wood. There is little good water there, but there is plenty of wine, bread, oil and everything else. Not far from the harbour, called Alikes, from the west, is a high mountain, around four hours’ walk, and on the top of the mountain stands the Monastery of the Holy Cross (6), which was founded by the Holy Empress Helena. But I will talk about that in more detail later. We paid our respects to the coffin of St. Lazarus there and stayed until the end of the month of May, occupying ourselves with our affairs. Stranstvovaniya Vasiliya Grigorovicha-Barskogo po svyatym mestam Vostoka s 1723 po 1747 / Edited by N. Barsukov. Part 1. 1723–1727 (St. Petersburg, 1885), 398-400 Location
Coordinates: 34.911440 33.635440
Comments
[1] The name Larnaca is first mentioned in the mid-15th century by the chronicler Geogios Boustronius in his Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus, in regard to a settlement located at a distance of 1.6 km inland from the port. In the 16th century this toponym came into widespread use; in Western sources the form Arnika predominates, since the Europeans took the first letter of the city’s name as an article. The port became known as Skala. Modern researchers reject the traditional view that the name Larnaca derives from the word λάρναξ (sepulchre, sarcophagus) and is connected to the burial of Lazarus. This toponym most likely means “low-lying place” (Μαραθεύτης, Παυλίδης. 1988. Σ. 254).
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