Home

Visit Rome following 8 XVIIIth century itineraries XVIIIth century Rome in the 10 Books of Giuseppe Vasi - Le Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna The Grand View of Rome by G. Vasi The Environs of Rome: Frascati, Tivoli, Albano and other small towns near Rome A 1781 map of Rome by G. Vasi An 1852 map of Rome by P. Letarouilly Rome seen by a 1905 armchair traveller in the paintings by Alberto Pisa The 14 historical districts of Rome An abridged history of Rome How to spend a peaceful day in Rome Baroque sculptors and their works The coats of arms of the popes in the monuments of Rome Pages on a specific pope Pages complementing the itineraries and the views by Giuseppe Vasi Walks in the Roman countryside and in other towns of Latium following Ferdinand Gregorovius A Directory of links to the Churches of Rome A Directory of links to the Palaces and Villas of Rome A Directory of links to the Other Monuments of Rome A Directory of Baroque Architects with links to their works A Directory of links to Monuments of Ancient Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Medieval Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Renaissance A Directory of links to Monuments of the Late Renaissance A list of the most noteworthy Roman Families Directories of fountains, obelisks, museums, etc. Books and guides used for developing this web site An illustrated Glossary of Art Terms Venice and the Levant Roman recollections in Florence A list of Italian towns shown in this web site Venetian Fortresses in Greece Vienna seen by an Italian XVIIIth century traveller A list of foreign towns shown in this web site
What's New!

Detailed Sitemap

All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.

The claws over the inscription Part one - The Walls of Famagusta

Introduction

These pages deal with the surviving monuments of the Frankish and Venetian rule over Cyprus (1191-1571). In April 1191, Richard Coeur-de-Lion, who was taking part in the Third Crusade, sailed from Messina in Sicily to reach the Holy Land. Some of his ships were wrecked on Cyprus and the crews were maltreated by the locals. Richard subsequently seized the island. In June he set sail for Acre where he joined the great Christian force which had been besieging this town since 1189. Richard remained in Palestine until 1192, when he reached an agreement with Saladin the Great, Sultan of the Mussulmans in Egypt and Syria who had conquered Jerusalem in 1187. Richard bestowed the Kingdom of Cyprus on Guy de Lusignan, his vassal in Poitou and the former King of Jerusalem.
The Lusignans ruled Cyprus for nearly three centuries and ruled the island with the feudal system existing in western Europe. In the XIVth century the Lusignans had to face the growing influence of Venice and Genoa and they usually sided with the Venetians; the Genoese in retaliation occupied Famagusta the main port of the island.
In 1453, the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople brought a new actor onto the scene. Venice signed a peace treaty with Sultan Mehmed II in 1454, but the confrontation was only postponed. The war erupted in 1463 when the Turks seized Argo. It lasted until 1479 and at the end Venice lost several possessions in Greece and Albania.

Map of Cyprus

The Lusignans in order to reconquer Famagusta, borrowed significant amounts of money from the Venetian bankers, in particular from the Cornaro family. King James II the Bastard, whose throne was challenged by the Duke of Savoy (married to James' legitimate half-sister Charlotte), thought it wise to strengthen his ties with his bankers by marrying in 1472 Caterina Cornaro, daughter of Ser Marco Cornaro. The Senate of Venice seized this opportunity for counterbalancing the losses in Greece and Albania. Caterina was named "Daughter of the Republic" and King James was forced to sign a statement by which Caterina inherited the kingdom, should he die without leaving an heir. A few months after the marriage King James died unexpectedly at the age of 33 and the Republic sent the fleet to Famagusta to protect the widow. Caterina reigned over Cyprus for fifteen years until in 1489 she was forced by her family to bequeath her kingdom to Venice. She happily lived until 1510 in the town of Asolo, where she set up a little court. The background of this page shows Caterina in a drawing by Albert Durer, based on a painting by Giovanni Bellini.

Famagusta: the Walls

It was after the loss of Acre in 1291 that the city of Famagusta rose to great importance as one of the main trading centres of the Levant. In 1373 the Genoese took the city by surprise and it remained in Genoese hands until 1464, in spite of numerous attempts to recapture it by the kings of Cyprus. The Venetians moved the government of the island from Nicosia to Famagusta and in the first half of the XVIth century they strengthened the town by building new walls which were able to sustain artillery attacks. The pictures below show the fortifications protecting the only access by land and a view of the walls.

Land gate and moat of the walls

One feature of the defensive system was the ability to rapidly move artillery and other war machinery in the points where they were needed. For this reason even the highest points of the fortifications were made accessible to carriages and animals.

Detail of Land Gate

The new walls included a Frankish castle protecting the harbour of Famagusta, which was transformed into the "Castelo da Mar" common in many Venetian Fortresses in Greece, in particular in Candia. The castle is today known as Othello's castle, as holiday-makers to the many beaches of the island are more familiar with Othello, than with the Lion of St Mark. For their joy a nearby ruin is called the Palace of Desdemona. The pictures below show: a) the entrance to the castle with the symbol of Venice and a Renaissance round tower; b) the interior of the castle built by the Lusignan.

Othello's Castle

The sea gate (Porta da Mar) has a decoration of a superior design. It housed a little chapel.

Porta da Mar

In September 1570 Lala Mustafa Pacha, with an army of 80,000 conquered Nicosia and convinced Kyrenia to surrender. He then laid siege to Famagusta. He sent to the Venetian commander Marcantonio Bragadin a basket containing the head of Niccolò Dandolo, the governor of Nicosia, but unlike Kyrenia, Famagusta did not surrender. The Turks bombarded Famagusta for several months and enforced a strict blockade, but after six months the defenders were still refusing to surrender. In the meantime Venice made an alliance with Philip II, King of Spain and Pope Pius V and a large fleet started to gather in Messina in Sicily. Lala Mustafa Pacha in May 1571 with a larger army (thought to reach 200,000) launched a new massive attack, but without effect. A new attempt was made by digging tunnels under the walls to place explosives. The losses among the Turks were very heavy. In July the attacks were repeated and the eldest son of the Pacha died in an assault which lasted 48 hours. At this point Lala Mustafa Pacha discouraged by the limited results achieved by his troops, stricken by the death of his son and ignoring the fact that the defendants had exhausted their gunpowder, offered extremely good terms for the surrender of Famagusta. The terms included: a) military honours; b) safe transfer to Crete of the troops; c) freedom for the rest of the population to remain or follow the troops. The offer was accepted and the troops with some families embarked on the Turkish ships. On August 5, Bragadin and his lieutenants were ready to formally hand over the keys of Famagusta to Mustafa Pacha. The meeting was accepted and at the beginning Mustafa Pacha was very polite, but soon his mood changed and he ordered his guards to kill Bragadin's lieutenants. Bragadin had his nose and ears cut off and two weeks later was flayed alive. He was quartered and the skin filled with straw was sent to Constantinople to be shown around. A few years later the Venetians smuggled the skin to Venice where it is now buried in SS. Giovanni e Paolo. These atrocities were not uncommon in those times. It is likely that Mustafa Pacha acted in this way in order to gloss over the fact that he had overestimated the remaining strength of the defendants.
Two months later at the battle of Lepanto in Greece the Spanish - Venetian fleet defeated the Ottoman fleet. In the fight Ali Pacha, the commander of the Ottoman fleet, was killed and his head on a pike twinned the horror of Bragadin's death.

See the other pages of this section:

Famagusta - The Churches
Nicosia
Kyrenia



SEE THESE OTHER EXHIBITIONS (for a full list see my detailed list).