-Ancient Times
-Middle Ages
-Modern Times
-Archeological
Excavations
Ancient
Times
The history of
Cyprus goes back 11,000 years.
Cyprus is an
island of oceanic origin which has never been
connected to the mainland. In the Pleistocen
glacial episodes the%26nbsp; minimum distance
of Cyprus to the mainland would have been 30
km.
The Stone Age
Neolithic Period I (8th millennium - 4500
BC)
Cyprus, though a small island, has always
played an important role in the history of the
Mediterranean, far exceeding its size. The
first signs of undisputed human activity can be
traced back to the 8th millennium BC when the
first settlements are encountered.%26nbsp;
Vestiges of such early communities are found
all over the island, such as at Khirokitia, Kalavasos-Tenta, Apostolos
Andreas-Kastros, Phrenaros, Petra tou Limniti
etc.
Neolithic Cypriots built circular houses with
small undressed stones for the lower structures
and sun-dried mudbricks and clay for the middle
and superstructure.
The daily life of the people in those
neolithic villages was spent in farming,
hunting, animal husbandry and the lithic
industry, while women were engaged in spindling
and weaving cloths, in addition to their
probable participation in other
activities.%26nbsp; The lithic industry was the
most individual feature of this aceramic
culture and innumerable stone vessels made of
grey andesite have been discovered during
excavations.
Plant remains indicate the cultivation of
cereals, lentils, beans, peas and a kind of
plum called Bullace.%26nbsp; Remains of the
following animal species were recovered during
excavations: Persian fallow deer, goat, sheep,
moufflon and pig. More remains indicate Red
deer, Roe deer, a kind of horse and a kind of
dog but no cattle as yet.
Life expectancy was very short; the average
age at death was about 34 years, and there was
a very high infant mortality rate.
Neolithic
Period II (4500-3500 BC)
The aceramic civilisation of Cyprus came to an
end quite abruptly around 6000 BC.%26nbsp; It
was probably followed by a vacuum of almost
1.500 years until around 4500 BC when we have
the emergence of Neolithic II.%26nbsp;
At this time newcomers arrived in Cyprus
introducing a new neolithic era.%26nbsp; The
main settlement that embodies most of the
characteristics of the period is Sotira near
the south coast of Cyprus.%26nbsp; It had
nearly fifty houses, usually having a single
room that had its own hearth, benches,
platforms and partitions that provided working
places.%26nbsp; The houses were on the main
free-standing, with relatively thin walls and
tended to be square with rounded corners.
Chalcolithic Period (3500-2500/2300
BC)
The Neolithic II culture was destroyed by an
earthquake c.3800 BC.%26nbsp; In the society
that emerged there are no overt signs of
newcomers but signs of continuity, therefore
despite the violent natural catastrophe, there
is an internal evolution that isformalised
around 3500 BC when we have the beginning of
the so-called Chalcolithic (copper and stone)
period that lasted until about 2500/2300
BC.
Metalwork appears now for the first time and
will stamp the future of the island for
centuries to come.%26nbsp; We have very few
chisels, hooks and jewellery of pure copper but
in one example there is a minimal presence of
tin, something which may support contact with
Asia Minor, where copper-working was
established earlier.
During the Chalcolithic period changes of
major importance tookplace along with
technological and artistic achievements,
especially towards its end.%26nbsp; The
presence of a stamp seal and the size of the
houses that was not uniform, both hint at
property rights and social hierarchy.%26nbsp;
The same story is supported by the burials
because some of them were deposited in pits
without grave goods and some in shaft graves
with relatively rich furniture, both being
indications of wealth accumulation by certain
families and social differentiation.
The Chalcolithic period did not come to an end
at the same time all over Cyprus.%26nbsp; In
the Paphos area it lingered on although in
northern Cyprus the Bronze Age came into
being.
The Bronze Age
Early Bronze Age (2500/2300 - 1900
BC)
The new era was introduced by people from
Anatolia who came to Cyprus because of
disturbances in Asia Minor.%26nbsp; It is only
natural that we observe the first vivid
vestiges of this civilisation around 2300 BC in
the northern part of the island, from where it
spread south and west.
As the newcomers knew how to work with
copper they soon moved to the so-called
copperbelt of the island, that is the foothills
of the Troodos mountains.%26nbsp; This movement
reflects the increased interest in the raw
material that was going to be so closely
connected with Cyprus for several centuries
afterwards.
The Middle Bronze Age (1900 - 1600
BC)
The Middle Bronze Age which followed
(1900-1600 BC) is a relatively short period and
its earlier part is marked by peaceful
development in contrast to its final years
which were marked by wars.
Unlike the early Bronze Age which furnishes no
settlements as yet, the Middle Bronze Age shows
several settlements in addition to cemeteries
that give us an idea about the architecture of
the period.
From Alambra in central Cyprus we know that
the houses were rectangular with many rooms,
while streets were constructed allowing people
to move freely in the community.
During the same period fortresses were built
in various places, a clear indication of
unrest, although we are not sure about its
cause.
The Late Bronze Age (1600-1100
BC)
The beginning of the Late Bronze Age does not
differ from the closing years of the previous
period.%26nbsp; Unrest, tension and anxiety
mark all these years, probably because of some
sort of engagement with the Hyksos who ruled
Egypt at this time but were expelled from there
in the mid-16th century.%26nbsp; Soon
afterwards peaceful conditions prevailed in the
Eastern Mediterranean that witnessed a
flowering of trade relations and the growing of
urban centres.%26nbsp; Chief among them was
Enkomi the earliest predecessor of modern
Famagusta, though several other harbour towns
also sprung up along the southern coast of
Cyprus.
Rich finds from this period testify to a vivid
commerce with other countries.%26nbsp; We have
jewellery and other precious objects from the
Aegean along with pottery that prove the close
connections of the two areas, though finds
coming from Near Eastern countries are also
plentiful.
The years of peace that brought about such a
flowering of culture and civilisation did not
last.%26nbsp; During these years Cyprus reached
unprecedented heights in prosperity and it
played a rather neutral role in the differences
of her powerful neighbours.
In the second half of the 13th century Cyprus
suffered because of raids that were intensified
and turned into devastating invasions in the
last quarter of the same century.
When those disastrous events came to an end,
we observe the massive arrival of the Mycenaean
Greeks as permanent settlers to Cyprus, a
process that started around 1200 BC and lasted
for more than a century.%26nbsp; This migration
is remembered in many sagas rehearsing how some
of the Greek heroes that participated in the
Trojan war came to settle in Cyprus.
The newcomers brought with them their
language, their advanced technology and
introduced a new outlook for visual arts. Thus
from c. 1220 BC Cyprus has remained
predominantly Greek in culture, language and
population despite various influences resulting
from successive conquests.
The Iron Age
Early Iron Age (1100 - 750 BC)
In the ensuing Early Iron Age (1100-750 BC)
Cyprus becomes predominantly Greek.%26nbsp;
Pottery shapes and decoration show a marked
Aegean inspiration although Oriental ideas
creep in from time to time.%26nbsp; New burial
customs with rock-cut chamber tombs having a
long "dromos" (a ramp leading gradually towards
the entrance) along with new religious beliefs
speak in favour of the arrival of people from
the Aegean.%26nbsp; The same view is supported
by the introduction of the safety pin that
denotes a new fashion in dressing and also by a
name scratched on a bronze skewer from Paphos
and dating between 1050-950 BC.%26nbsp;
This name (o-pe-le-ta-u) is in the Greek
language but it is written in the Cypriot
syllabary that remained in use down to the 3rd
century BC.%26nbsp; The alphabetic writing that
was adopted from the Phoenicians in the 8th
century BC in Greece proper was introduced to
Cyprus as late as the early 4th century BC.
In the period under discussion, and in
particular in the 9th century BC we witness the
arrival of the Phoenicians in Cyprus, who
probably came here from their land (modern
Lebanon) because they were harassed by the
Assyrians.
The Phoenicians brought with them their
deities and made their presence felt in minor
arts, pottery-shapes and ornamentation.
The Archaic Period (750-475
BC)
The 8th century BC saw a marked increase of
wealth in Cyprus. Communications with East and
West were on the ascend and this created a
prosperous society.%26nbsp; Testifying to this
wealth are the so-called royal tombs of
Salamis, which, although plundered, produced a
truly royal abundance of wealth.%26nbsp;
Sacrifices of horses, bronze tripods and huge
cauldrons decorated with sirens, griffins etc.,
chariots with all their ornamentation and the
horses' gear, ivory beds and thrones
exquisitely decorated were all deposited into
the tombs' "dromoi" for the sake of their
masters.
The late 8th century is the time of the
spreading of the Homeric poems, the "Iliad" and
the "Odyssey". IN fact the spread of the Greek
civilization had a great effect on Cyprus.very
much.%26nbsp; Funerary customs at Salamis and
elsewhere were greatly influenced by these
poems.%26nbsp; The deceased were given skewers
and firelogs in order to roast their meat, a
practice found in contemporary Argos and Crete,
recalling the similar gear of Achilles when he
entertained other Greek heroes in his tent.
Honey and oil, described by Homer as offerings
to the dead are also found at Salamis, and the
flames of fire that consumed the deceased were
quenched with wine as it happened to Patroclus'
body after it was given to the flames.%26nbsp;
The hero's ashes were gathered carefully
wrapped into a linen cloth and put into a
golden urn.
At Salamis the ashes of the deceased are also
wrapped into a cloth and deposited into a
bronze cauldron.%26nbsp; Therefore, the
Cypriots along with their extravagant display
of wealth that bears many oriental features, do
not forget their roots for which they must have
been very proud.%26nbsp; The circulation of the
Homeric poems must have revived the interest in
their ancestors whose system of government they
never lost sight of.
As Mycenaean Greece was divided in small
independent kingdoms, so Cyprus kept the
tradition alive down to historical times being
divided into ten petty kingdoms that were ruled
by a king.%26nbsp; Kinship was preserved even
under foreign occupations, when the cities of
Cyprus remained independent even after their
submission to the Assyrians in 709, the
Egyptians in 569 and the Persians in 545
BC.
The period of Egyptian domination, though
brief, left its mark mainly in arts especially
in sculpture, where we observe the rigidity and
the dress of Egyptians.%26nbsp; Soon, however,
the Cypriots discarded both for the sake of
Greek prototypes.
Under the Persians, the kings of Cyprus
retained their independence, although paying
tribute to their overlord.%26nbsp; They could
mint their own coins without even his portrait
on it.%26nbsp; Thus King Evelthon of Salamis
(560-525 BC), probably the first one to cast
silver or bronze coins in Cyprus, shows a ram
on the obverse and an "ankh" (Egyptian symbol
of good luck) on the reverse.
In the Persian empire, Cyprus formed part of
the fifth satrapy and in addition to tribute it
had to supply the Persians with ships and crews
.%26nbsp; In their new fate the Greeks of
Cyprus had as companions the Greeks of Ionia
(west coast of Asia Minor - now Turkey) with
whom they forged closer ties.%26nbsp; When the
Ionian Greeks revolted against Persia (499 BC)
the Cypriots except for Amathus, joined in at
the instigation of Onesilos, brother of the
king of Salamis, whom he dethroned for not
wanting to fight for independence.
The Persians reacted quickly sending a
considerable force against Onesilos.%26nbsp;
They won despite Ionian help.
The Classical Period (475-325
BC)
After the Persian defeat, the Greeks mounted
various expeditions against Cyprus in order to
liberate it from the Persian yoke, but all
their efforts bore only temporary
results.
Following these events Persian rule became
more oppressive and it favoured the Phoenician
element at the expense of the Greek.%26nbsp; A
Phoenician "usurper" ascended the throne of
Salamis and it took several decades before
Evagoras, a true scion of the Teucrid family,
succeeded in seizing the throne in 411 BC.
Evagoras dominated%26nbsp; Cypriot politics
for almost forty years until he died in 374/3
BC.%26nbsp; He favoured everything Greek and he
urged Greeks from the Aegean to come and settle
in Cyprus.%26nbsp; He assisted the Athenians in
many ways and they honoured him by erecting his
statue in the Stoa (portico) Basileios in
Athens.
His successors continued his struggle against
the Persians but to no avail until Alexander
the Great defeated the Persians at the battle
of Issos near modern Alexandretta (Iskenderun)
in 333 BC. From then on the Cypriot kings were
only too happy to transfer their allegiance to
him.
In the sphere of arts we have a definite
influence from Greece that was responsible for
the production of some very important
sculptures.%26nbsp; The archaic Greek art with
its attractive smile on the face of the statue
is found on many Cypriot pieces dating between
525-475 BC, that is the closing stage of the
Archaic period.%26nbsp; According to Greek
tradition men (Kouroi) are mostly presented
naked, while women (Korai) are always presented
dressed with rich foldings of their
himations.
The Classical period coincides with the
oppression of the Cypriot cities by the
Persians because of the revolt they staged a
little earlier in 499 BC.%26nbsp; Because of
this, few works of Greek workmanship have
reached Cyprus but their influence was
extensively felt.
%26nbsp;
The Hellenistic Period (325-30
BC)
When Alexander the Great was marching
southwards and then towards the heart of the
Persian empire and finally India, the Cypriot
Kings assisted him in many ways especially with
their ships in the siege of Tyre.%26nbsp; In
appreciation, Alexander set them free. This
period, however was very brief since the
Macedonian King died soon afterwards and Cyprus
became a bone of contention among his
successors.%26nbsp; Finally Cyprus was won over
in 294 BC by Ptolemy who ruled Egypt where he
established a dynasty that lasted for three
centuries.
Ptolemaic rule was rigid and exploited the
island's resources to the utmost, particularly
timber and copper.%26nbsp; A great contemporary
figure of Cypriot letters was the philosopher
Zeno who was born at Kition about 336 and
founded the famous Stoic School of Philosophy
at Athens where he died about 263 BC.
The ancient ship of
Kerynia.
The Roman Period (30 BC - 330
AD)
In 58 BC the tribune Claudius Pulcher carried
a law implemented by Cato, which turned Cyprus
into a Roman province attached to that of
Cilicia.
During the civil wars, Cyprus was briefly
given to Cleopatra of Egypt by Julius Caesar
and later by Mark Anthony.%26nbsp; It was
reverted to Roman rule in 30 BC and in 22 BC
became a Senatorial Province.
Pax Romana (Roman peace) was only once
disturbed in Cyprus in three centuries of Roman
occupation.%26nbsp; This serious interruption
occurred in 115/6 AD when a revolt by the Jews
inspired by Messianic hopes broke out.%26nbsp;
Their leader was Artemion, a Jew with a
hellenised name as was the practice of the
time. Historians put the number of those
massacred to 240,000.%26nbsp; No doubt the
number is exaggerated but one must not forget
that in Cyprus practically no Roman troops were
stationed and this facilitated the Jewish
revolt.%26nbsp; Soon, however, the then Roman
Emperor Trajan, dispatched to Cyprus one of his
generals who suppressed the insurrection and
expelled all Jews from the island, not allowing
them to tread her soil even when
shipwrecked.
No doubt the most important event that
occurred in Roman Cyprus is the visit by
Apostles Paul and Barnabas having with them St
Mark who came to the island at the outset of
their first missionary journey in 45
AD.%26nbsp; After their arrival at Salamis they
proceeded to Paphos where they converted the
Roman Governor Sergius Paulus to
Christianity.%26nbsp; In the Acts of the
Apostles, St Luke describes vividly how a
magician named Bar-Jesus (Elymas) was
obstructing the two Apostles in their preaching
of the Gospel, so Paul by his word only set him
blind for some time.%26nbsp; As a result of
this, Sergius Paulus believed, being astonished
atthe doctrine of the Lord.%26nbsp; In this way
Cyprus became the firstcountry in the world to
be governed by a Christian ruler.
Ìiddle
Ages
The Byzantine
Period (330-1191 AD)
The cities
of Cyprus were destroyed by two successive
earthquakes in 332 and 342 AD and this marked
the end of an era and at the same time the
beginning of a new one, very much connected
with modern life in Cyprus.%26nbsp; Most of the
cities were not rebuilt, save Salamis which was
rebuilt on a smaller scale and renamed
Constantia after the Roman Emperor Constantius
II, son of Constantine the Great, residing in
Constantinople.
The new city was
now the capital of the island.%26nbsp; It was
mainlyChristian and due to this some
alterations were made during the
rebuilding.%26nbsp; The palaestra was turned
into a meeting place and many architectural
elements were used to erect spacious churches
decorated with murals, mosaics and coloured
marbles.
In 395 AD
the Roman Empire was divided in two, eastern
and western. Naturally Cyprus became part of
the eastern part of the Empire called Byzantium
and it remained so for almost nine
centuries.
The main
event in Cyprus in comparison to older times
was the spreading of the Christian faith that
created a new attitude towards life since its
morality was different to that of paganism.
The political history of the island is one of
tranquillity until 649 AD when we have the
first Arab invasion.%26nbsp; Until then people
were engaged very much in matters of faith,
especially fighting the effort of the Patriarch
of Antioch to put the Church of Cyprus under
his control.%26nbsp; They were finally
successful in 488 AD when Archbishop Anthemius
guided by a dream discovered the tomb of St
Barnabas with the Saint's body lying in a
coffin and on his chest a copy of the Gospel by
St Matthew in Barnabas' own writing. Having the
relics with him, Anthemius dashed to
Constantinople and presented them to Emperor
Zeno.%26nbsp;%26nbsp; The latter was very much
impressed and he not only confirmed the
independence of the Church of Cyprus but he
also gave to the Archbishop in perpetuity three
privileges that are as much alive today as they
were%26nbsp; then, namely to%26nbsp; carry a
sceptre instead of a pastoral staff, to sign
with red ink and to wear a purple cloak during
services.
The Byzantine Art of
Cyprus.
Arab Raids (649-965%26nbsp;
AD)
In 649 AD
Arabs sailed with a big armada under the
leadership of Muawiya against Cyprus.%26nbsp;
They conquered and sacked the capital Salamis -
Constantia after a brief siege and pillaged the
rest of the island.%26nbsp; In the course of
this expedition a relative of the Prophet,
Umm-Haram fell from her mule near the Salt Lake
at Larnaca and was killed.%26nbsp; She was
buried in that spot and much later in 1816 the
Hala Sultan
Tekke was built there by the Turks.
In 654 AD
the second Arab invasion took place that
devastated the island again. This time,
however, a garrison of 12,000 men was left in
Cyprus, an indication of their intentions to
incorporate it into the Moslem
world.%26nbsp;
In 677 AD the Arabs aimed straight at the
heart of the Byzantine empire, Constantinople
itself.%26nbsp; They attacked with a huge fleet
but they suffered such a defeat that they had
to sign a treaty and pay an indemnity to the
Emperor. In 683 AD the Moslem garrison was
withdrawn and in 688 AD the island of Cyprus
was declared neutral, with no garrisons
stationed in it, the collected taxes being
divided among the%26nbsp; Arabs and the
Emperor.
The island was finally liberated by Byzantine
Emperor Nicephorus Phokas in 965
AD.
Richard the Lionheart (1191
AD)
In 1191 AD
King Richard of England was on his way to the
Holy Land participating in the Third
Crusade.%26nbsp; Some of his ships were wrecked
off the coast of Cyprus and the ship carrying
his sister Joanna, Queen of Sicily, and his
betrothed Berengaria of Navarre, anchored off
Limassol.%26nbsp; When King Richard arrived, he
regarded the Cypriots' behaviour as insulting
towards the women and captured the island,
starting a new phase, and not a happy one in
Cyprus' history.
The Frankish Period
(1191-1571)
King Richard of England was reluctant to keep
Cyprus under his control as his main aim was
Palestine.%26nbsp; For this reason he sold it
to the Knights Templar.%26nbsp; The Templars
ruthlessly exploited Cyprus so the inhabitants
rose against them in the Easter of 1192
AD.%26nbsp; Realising that it was difficult to
keep it under their control they sold it in
turn to the King of Jerusalem (Jerusalem was
now in the hands of the Arabs), Guy de
Lusignan, who took possession of the island in
May 1192 AD.%26nbsp;
From the very beginning Guy saw the Cypriots
as serfs so he invited the French nobility to
come from Syria and Palestine and settle in
Cyprus awarding them estates and ranks in his
newly founded Kingdom.%26nbsp; He reigned for
almost two years.%26nbsp; His brother Amaury
who succeeded him reigned for eleven years
(1194-1205 AD) and he is the real founder of
the Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus.%26nbsp; He
established the offices of the State which was
organised on pure feudal principles.
The indigenous population consisting of Greek
Cypriots was divided mainly in three
classes:%26nbsp; The "Paroikoi" were the most
numerous.%26nbsp; They were bound to the land
of their masters and they were almost
slaves.%26nbsp; Even marriage among "'Paroikoi"
from different estates was prohibited.%26nbsp;
The second group was called "Perperiarii"
(hyperperon was a Byzantine coin).%26nbsp; All
of them belonged to the previous group but they
bought off (redeemed) their freedom by paying
15 "hyperpera" to their masters.%26nbsp; They
continued, however, to pay taxes for their land
and produce as the "Paroikoi".%26nbsp; The
"Lefteroi" were free citizens who either
purchased their freedom or were set free by
some kind of favour. The entire Greek
population was reduced to a subject race by the
French rulers.%26nbsp; The hostility between
the two was exacerbated bythe introduction of
Catholicism which people reacted to.
This climate changed only after mid 14th
century and the Greek population was allowed
relative freedom in religious matters. This
allowed the Greeks to ascend the social ladder
and even become officers in the army.%26nbsp;
The French dynasty co-operated with the
Orthodox Church and mixed marriages were on the
increase despite the obstacles put forth by the
Catholic Church.
The last Frankish King James reigned from
1464-1473 AD and he chose as his consort a
young Venetian girl of the noblest families,
Caterina%26nbsp; Cornaro, a marriage that was
destined to seal the chapter of the Frankish
Kingdom of Cyprus. Before her departure from
Venice, Caterina was adopted by the Venetian
State so, when James II died unexpectedly a few
months after his wedding, as did his offspring
James III a few weeks after it was born,
Caterina was persuaded in February 1489 AD to
abdicate voluntarily.%26nbsp; Venice offered
her an estate at Asolo where she spent her days
until her death in 1510 AD.
The noble local Frankish families resented the
way they were treated by the Venetians and the
Greeks gained nothing from this change, in fact
they were squeezed by heavy taxes.%26nbsp; The
Orthodox Church, however, gained full freedom
for political purposes. Rebellions did occur
but were easily crushed.
Meanwhile, as all the countries around Cyprus
fell to the Ottomans, Cyprus could have been
their prey at any moment. The Turks sent an
ultimatum with insulting terms in March 1570 AD
to the Council of Ten in Venice, demanding the
immediate cession of the island.%26nbsp; Venice
tried in vain to send reinforcements so any
resistance was doomed to failure.
The Turks under Lala Mustafa landed near
Larnaca, proceeded unharassed and laid siege to
Nicosia on 25 July 1570 AD.%26nbsp; Having
relatively easily conquered that in about one
and a half months, they proceeded to Kyrenia
which surrendered without a shot.%26nbsp; The
same happened in Paphos and Limassol, so Lala
Mustafa moved his entire army outside Famagusta
on 23 September.%26nbsp;
The defence of Famagusta is one of the
greatest epics of siege warfare recorded in
history. Against Mustafa's 200,000 men, with
145 guns, the Venetians had some 3-4,000
regular Italian infantry, 2-300 cavalry and
about 4,000 Greek militia, with 90 guns. The
siege lasted from 16 September 1570 to 1 August
1571 when the Captain of Famagusta, Marcantonio
Bragadin, of a distinguished Venetian family,
offered his surrender. It was accepted by
Mustafa in flattering terms. When Bragadin and
his surviving officers came out, after
receiving the acknowledgement of surrender
sealed with the Sultan's seal, Mustafa gave the
signal for the massacre to begin. He himself
cut off Bragadin's ears and nose, then kept him
waiting in this state for two weeks before
having him flayed alive. His skin was stuffed
with straw and taken to Constantinople in
triumph. A patriotic Venetian later stole it
and it now rests in an urn in the church of SS
Giovanni e Paolo in Venice.
Cyprus was annexed as a province of the
Ottoman Empire and Lala Mustafa Pasha became
the first Governor.
Sugar Mills in the Middle
Ages
The Cartography of Cyprus
Through the Ages
Modern
Times
The Ottoman Period
(1571-1878)
The Ottoman occupation brought
about two radical results in the
history of the island.%26nbsp;
For the first time since the late
13th, 12th and 11th centuries BC
a new ethnic element (save the
Phoenicians in the 9th century
BC) appeared, the Turks.
The second important
result of the Ottoman occupation
benefited the Greek peasants who
no longer remained serfs of the
land they were
cultivating.%26nbsp; Now they
could acquire it against payment,
thus becoming owners of
it.%26nbsp; At the same time the
Orthodox Church was liberated
because the Turks were afraid of
the presence of the Catholic
Church as it might instigate an
attack of Western Europe against
them.%26nbsp; Gradually the
Archbishop of Cyprus became not
only religious but ethnic leader
as well, something the Turks
promoted wanting to have somebody
responsible for the loyalty of
the Greek flock.%26nbsp; In this
way the Church undertook the task
of the guardian of the Greek
cultural legacy which is partly
carried on even in our days,
although diminished after
independence.
The Ottoman occupation,
apart from adding one more
possession to the Ottoman Empire,
detached Cyprus from the direct
influence, cultural and economic,
of the West and brought it
directly under the influence of
Ottoman despotism.
The heavy taxes and the
abuses against the population on
the part of the Ottoman
conquerors in the early years
after the Ottoman occupation gave
rise to opposition, following
which the Sultan, by order
addressed to the Governor, the
"Kadi" and the Treasurer,
prohibited the oppression of his
subjects and commanded the
officers to govern with
justice.%26nbsp; While the
Sultan's orders indicated his
goodwill towards the local
population, the Ottoman local
administration proved
indifferent, arbitrary and often
corrupt, taking no measures
whatsoever for the benefit of the
people and the situation was
aggravated by the heavy burden of
taxes. Those collecting the taxes
were trying by all means to
extract as much money as they
could by exploiting the local
population.
Following the Ottoman
conquest, many Greek Cypriots and
Latins, in order to escape heavy
taxation converted to
Islam.
Many Greek Cypriots who
had been converted to Islam
remained actually Christians in
secret.%26nbsp; They were
normally called
"linobambaki".%26nbsp; According
to a view expressed for the first
time in 1863 AD, and then adopted
in the following years, this word
was taken metaphorically from a
cloth woven with linen and cotton
and which had two different sides
corresponding thus to the two
aspects of their faith.%26nbsp;
The "linobambaki" turned up
during daytime as Moslems, and in
the evenings they appeared as
Christians, keeping to the
Christian religion, its customs
and its habits.
The inhabitants of
Cyprus, disappointed at the
mismanagement of home affairs by
the Ottoman governors, soon
turned to Europe in search for
help for liberation.%26nbsp; Very
characteristic is the appeal by
Archbishop Timotheos to the King
of Spain Philip II for liberation
of the island, in which, among
other things, the following is
stated:%26nbsp; "There have
recently been repeated cases of
abuse on the part of the organs
of the conqueror; in a greedy
manner they attempt to confiscate
and seize the property of the
inhabitants; Christian
houses%26nbsp; are broken into
and domiciles violated, and all
sorts of dishonest acts against
wives and daughters are
committed.%26nbsp; Twice until
now churches and monasteries have
been plundered, multiple and
heavy taxes have been imposed
whose collection is pursued by
systematic persecutions, threats
and tortures, which lead many
persons to the ranks of Islam,
while at the same time the male
children of Cypriot families are
seized (in order to form the
brigades of
"Jannissaries").%26nbsp; This
most hard practice is the worst
of the sufferings to which the
people of Cyprus is subjected by
the Ottoman
administration".
Between 1572 and 1668 AD
about 28 bloody uprisings took
place on the island and in many
of these both Greeks and Turks
(poor Turks were also exploited
by the ruling class) took
part.%26nbsp; But all of them
ended in failure.
About 1660 AD, in order
to eliminate the greed of the
Ottoman administration and stop
the oppression and injustice
against the people (who they
called "rayahs", sheep for
milking), the Sultan recognised
the Archbishop and the Bishops as
"the protectors of people" and
the representatives of the
Sultan.%26nbsp; In 1670 AD,
Cyprus ceased to be a "pasaliki"
for the Ottoman Empire and came
under the jurisdiction of the
Admiral of the Ottoman
fleet.%26nbsp; In his turn, the
Admiral sent an officer to govern
in his place.
In
1703 AD Cyprus comes under the
jurisdiction of the Grand Vizier
who sent to the island a military
and civil administrator. The
title and function of this
officer were awarded to the
person who paid the highest
amount of money in exchange. As a
result, heavier taxation was
imposed and the Cypriots became
the subject of harder
exploitation.%26nbsp; About 1760
AD the situation in Cyprus was
intolerable.%26nbsp; A terrible
epidemic of plague, bad crops and
earthquakes, drove many Cypriots
to emigrate.%26nbsp; In addition
what was worse for the Greeks and
Turks of the island, the newly-
appointed Pasha, doubled the
taxes in 1764 AD.%26nbsp; In the
end Chil Osman and 18 of his
friends were killed by Greek and
Ottoman Cypriots alike but the
two ethnic elements had to pay a
huge sum of money to the Sultan
and the families of the
victims.%26nbsp; It was assessed
that each Christian had to pay 14
piastres and each Turk 7.%26nbsp;
The latter did not accept this
judgement and broke into an open
rebellion having Khalil Agha, the
commander of the guard of the
castle of Kyrenia as their
leader.%26nbsp; Finally the
uprising was crushed and Khalil
Agha was beheaded.
The Greek War of
Liberation of 1821 had its
repercussions on the situation in
Cyprus.%26nbsp; With the Sultan's
consent, the Ottoman
administration in the island
under governor Kuchuk Mehmed,
executed 486 Christians on 9 July
1821, accusing them of conspiring
with the rebellious Greeks. They
included four Bishops, many
clergymen and prominent citizens,
who were beheaded in the central
square of Nicosia, while
Archbishop Kyprianos was hanged.
The property of the Church was
plundered and the Christians were
forced to pull down the upper
storeys of their houses, an order
that remained in force until the
British put the island under
their control almost sixty years
later.
Between the years 1849
and 1878 Cyprus witnessed some
slow change for the better in the
administration section.%26nbsp;
District councils were set up and
consisted of Greek and many
Ottoman members. Many reforms,
however, which were supposed to
have been introduced were
frustrated by unwilling
administrators.
The Ottoman occupation
came to an end in 1878.%26nbsp;
In all it lasted for 307
years.%26nbsp; During their long
presence on the island, the
architectural remains left by the
Turks included the small fort of
Paphos dating to the late 16th
century and largely based on a
Lusignan plan, the tomb that was
built where Umm Haram, a relative
of the Prophet, died in the
mid-7th century, which dates to
the late 18th century and over
which%26nbsp; a tekke and a
mosque were built 1816 adding
Oriental charm to the
place,%26nbsp; the aqueduct
constructed by Pasha Abu Bekr in
1747 in order to bring fresh
water to Larnaca. In Nicosia, the
capital,%26nbsp; there is a 16th
century inn called a Khan, a 17th
century Tekke of the Mevleri or
the Dancing Dervishes and the
Arab Ahmet Pasha mosque of the
18th century.
When
the Turks were defeated by the
Russians in 1877 and the Berlin
Congress took place the next year
in order to revise the treaty of
St Stefano which was signed by
Russia and the Ottoman Empire
according to terms dictated by
the former, it was officially
announced on 9 July 1878 that on
the 4th of preceding June, the
British and the Sultan had
secretly countersigned the
Convention of Istanbul by virtue
of which the possession and
administration of Cyprus was
vested in Great Britain.%26nbsp;
The reasons for the detachment of
Cyprus from the hands of Turkey
can be found in the words of the
British Minister for Foreign
Affairs, Lord Salisbury, who
stressed the following:%26nbsp;
"The Government has already
proceeded to preparations for the
construction of a%26nbsp; new dam
behind the ruined Ottoman
waterdam". So after considering
many other places (such as Crete,
Lesbos, Lemnos, Alexandretta,
Accra, Haifa and Alexandria),
Great Britain decided%26nbsp; to
obtain possession of Cyprus,
which Beaconsfield (Benjamin
Disraeli) described to Queen
Victoria in 1878 as "the Key to
West Asia".
The British Period
(1878-1959)
During the Congress of
Berlin, which took place on 4
June 1878, Britain and Turkey
signed the Cyprus Convention
whereby Cyprus was handed over to
the British in exchange for the
latter's aid to Turkey in
defending the Ottoman Empire
against any Russian
attack.
While the Greek Cypriots
had at first welcomed British
rule hoping that they would
gradually achieve prosperity,
democracy and national
liberation, they were soon
disillusioned.%26nbsp; The
British imposed heavy taxes to
cover the compensation which they
were paying to the Sultan for
having conceded Cyprus to them.
Moreover,the people were not
given the right to participate in
the administration of the island
since all powers were reserved to
the High Commissioner and to
London.
A
few years later the system was
reformed and some members of the
legislative Council were elected
by the Cypriots, but in reality
their participation was very
marginal.
With the beginning of the
First World War the Ottoman
Empire sided with Germany and
Great Britain annexed Cyprus on 5
November 1914.
After the war a number of
modernising trends prevailed in
Cyprus such as economic
development and increased
educational
facilities.
The British annexation of
Cyprus became more concrete with
the Treaty of Lausanne (24 July
1923) whereby Turkey formally
accepted the 1914 annexation and
advised the Turkish Cypriots to
leave the island.%26nbsp; As a
result of this treaty, Britain
proclaimed Cyprus a Crown Colony
in 1925 under an undemocratic
constitution.
In
the years that followed Greek
Cypriots mainly tried to increase
their constitutional
liberties.%26nbsp; Their main
objective was to achieve ENOSIS,
union with Greece, despite the
fact that both the British and
the Turkish Cypriot leaders were
against it.
In
1929 the 'National Radical Union
of Cyprus' was
established.%26nbsp; It aimed at
the liberation of Cyprus from the
British and ENOSIS with
Greece.%26nbsp; In 1931 this
group issued a proclamation of
protest%26nbsp; against the
British which was followed by an
uprising of the Greek
community.
The uprising, which was
suppressed with the help of
Egyptian troops, exasperated the
British and they were no longer
willing to negotiate for the
independence and
self-determination of
Cyprus.
The period between
October 1931 and October 1940
proved to be a very difficult one
for the Greek
Cypriots.
The Governor of the time
Sir Richmond Palmer took a number
of suppressive measures including
limitations in the administration
and functioning of Greek schools
and prohibition of trade unions
and associations of any kind and
form.%26nbsp; This illegal regime
became known as Palmerokratia
named after of the
Governor.%26nbsp; Its aim was to
prevent all Enosis movements as
well as local public interest in
politics.
There were strong
protests against the regime but
the suppressive measures were not
lifted until the beginning of the
Second World War, during which
more than thirty thousand
Cypriots joined the British armed
forces.
After the war, a
delegation from Cyprus submitted
a demand for ENOSIS to
London.%26nbsp; The demand was
rejected but the British proposed
a more liberal constitution and a
10-year programme of social and
economic development.
On
1 April 1955 EOKA (the
Organization of Cypriot Fighters)
began an armed struggle and when
its activity was intensified the
British Governor took severe
repressive measures.
From mid-1956 onwards
there were constant discussions
in NATO but all efforts to create
an independent Cyprus which would
be a member of the British
Commonwealth proved to be
futile.%26nbsp;
In
1958 the British Prime Minister
Harold MacMillan prepared new
proposals for Cyprus but his
plan, which was a form of%26nbsp;
partition, was rejected by
Archbishop
Makarios.%26nbsp;%26nbsp; The
Archbishop declared that he would
only accept a proposal which
guaranteed independence excluding
both Enosis and
partition.
This sort of proposal was
then discussed in NATO.%26nbsp; A
final agreement was reached in
Zurich on 11 February 1959, and
ratified during the London
Conference the same
month.%26nbsp; Although the
agreements were not very positive
for Cyprus, Makarios had to
accept them for fear that, if the
British withdrew from Cyprus and
abandoned the Greek population,
Turkish troops might have invaded
the island.
Among other things the
London-Zurich agreements provided
for the independence, territorial
integrity, security and
constitutional structure of the
Republic of Cyprus.
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