‘On of the Princypalle Havenes of the See’: The Port of Famagusta and the Ship Graffiti in the Church of St George of the Greeks, Cyprus

Abstract

In its 1000‐year history the port has been the source of triumph and tragedy for the city of Famagusta, being the conduit through which flowed both enormous wealth and destruction. Today the French medieval and Greek Orthodox churches, and the Venetian walls, though ruined, still carry physical traces of this turbulent society in the form of ship graffiti. Though such images are often classified as ‘low‐art’, they are nevertheless imbued with a deep social significance, which the maritime historian can yet use to get a glimpse of an important, though virtually‐forgotten, heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean. © 2007 The Author

Seamen on Land? A Preliminary Analysis of Medieval Ship Graffiti on Cyprus

“…On Cyprus, carved ships were found on monumental buildings dated as early as the Late Bronze Age, in Kition (Basch and Artzy, 1985) and Enkomi (Schaeffer, 1952: 102); after that period, they have been documented mainly in medieval and later contexts (Imhaus, 2001; Walsh, 2007; Trentin, 2007; Bollon and Imhaus, 2009; Trentin, 2010; Michail, 2015; Demesticha, forthcoming). Given their remarkable number and diversity, the Maritime Archaeological Research Laboratory, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus, in collaboration with the Cyprus Institute and the Department of Antiquities, initiated a research project in 2014, funded by the Leventis Foundation and entitled ‘ΚΑRΑVΟΙ’ 1 : The Ship Graffiti on the Medieval Monuments of Cyprus: Mapping, Documentation and Digitisation’.…”

“…Previously published elaborate SG from Cypriot monuments: a) Selimiye mosque (old Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Nicosia), as published by Bollon and Imhaus (2009: 425–426); b) and c) Church of Saint George of the Greeks, Famagusta District (see Imhaus, 2001: 182–183; Walsh, 2007; Michail, 2015: 45); d) ‘Royal Chapel’ of Saint Catherine, Pyrga, Larnaca District , previously published, without the inscription, by Bollon and Imhaus (2009: 426) (Original drawings by Jean Humbert, reproduced with the permission of Brunhilde Imhaus. Digital processing: Lefkothea Papakosta, University of Cyprus).…”

“…These superstructures do not extend beyond the bow as is the case of carracks, and it seems more plausible that they depict extensions of the deck and the bulwarks, or even a balustrade. Bollon and Imhaus (2009: 425-426); b) and c) Church of Saint George of the Greeks, Famagusta District (see Imhaus, 2001: 182-183;Walsh, 2007;Michail, 2015: 45); d) 'Royal Chapel' of Saint Catherine, Pyrga, Larnaca District, previously published, without the inscription, by Bollon and Imhaus (2009: 426) On the hulls of all the ships in this group, a number of horizontal lines can be observed portraying the planking strakes. They run directly from the stem to the sternpost.…”

16th-Century Ship Graffiti on the Town Walls of Eivissa, Balearic Islands, Spain

“…Other harbour scenes include Naples in 1479 (Berckenhagen, 1994: 45 fig. 22), Famagusta in 1571 (Walsh, 2008: 121 fig. 6) or Algier by Stoopendael in 1680.…”

“The Vile Embroidery of Ruin”: Historic Famagusta between Ottoman and British Empires inFin de SiècleCyprus: 1878–1901

“…The British, we must remind ourselves, were interested not in preserving Famagusta as some sort of outdoor museum per se, but in revitalising the urban landscape as a working, strategically important and culturally significant possession in the Eastern Mediterranean. 6 And yet, despite the acquisition of Alexandria en route to Suez (post 1882), the off-putting but unmistakable rise of Greek nationalism, the demise of the original Russian threat to Turkey and the overall fact that Cyprus was not yet a colony, Britain decided to invest in Famagusta. 7…”