History

14 Μάι 1589

Seigneur de Villamont, on his way to the Holy Land, visited Cyprus where he landed on 11 May 1589.

Seigneur de Villamont, on his way to the Holy Land, visited Cyprus where he landed on 11 May 1589. In his account of the island, he visited Limassol and noted:

Sunday morning, May 14, I landed to hear the Holy Liturgy celebrated by a Greek priest, for there were no Latin priests. When this was over, I met the Turks going to their mosque, which is twice the size of the Christian church, and built after the same fashion. But no Christian were as bold as to enter it unless he would be burned, or made to deny Jesus Christ. We returned to the ship and dinner was scarcely over when the Cadi and a great many Turks came to see our vessel, all handsomely dressed in stuffs of different hues, wearing turbans as white as snow. Their whiteness is due to their being made of cotton cloth, which Turks use more than flax. Our captain seeing them coming made all haste to prepare dinner and to spread carpets on the after-deck for them to sit on. The Turks as a rule never eat at high tables, but sit on the ground like tailors, resting their arms on their knees and in this fashion eat like pigs. And although their law forbids them wine, yet they will drink to excess without scruple or shame. They dined well and then walked all about the ship and accepted some mirrors and other things from the sailors.