History

18 Μάρ 1881

Colonel Benjamin Donisthorpe Alsop Donne of the Cyprus Pioneer Corps became enamoured with the unique character of Nicosia

 

Colonel Benjamin Donisthorpe Alsop Donne of the Cyprus Pioneer Corps became enamoured with the unique character of Nicosia:

We entered by the Famagusta Gate and I handed over the force to Capt Croker Adjt, 93rd Regt and put up with Chetwyd and Gordon the Commissioner. Nicosia is a beautifully situated town in the middle of the Messaria plain one of the richest granaries in the world, and at this time looking its best. It is unique in one respect as being perhaps the only city in the East where Mohomedan and Christian religions are tolerated side by side. The old Cathedral of Santa Sophia is now a mosque and above the walls of the town Greek Church spires rise up side by side with Moslem minarets, and in the busy picturesque bazaars Greek and Turk are freely mixed. A grand view is obtained of the Northern Range and distant Carpas, and altogether I was immensely pleased with Nicosia. I dined with H. E. the High Commissioner one night and at Mr. King-Harman’s another, and met most of the English officials of the Capital.