Kutub Osman tekye, Famagusta

Popham Nicholson was also known as Lobb Popham Reginald. He was Colonial Secretary in Cyprus 1926-1929 and an amateur artist. During his stay he had to deal with minor crises over emigration questions relating to Turkish Cypriots. This brought him into closer contact with the Turkish people of the island, providing him with a better understanding of their language, customs and thinking. The Tekke takes its name from Şeyd Kutup Osman Fazli Efendi, the founder of the Cypriot branch of the Celveti Brotherhood. The word kutup is given to persons who devote themselves to God. The Tekke consists of various buildings arranged around a courtyard and is next to a cemetery. The locality is known as the Pine-tree area, opposite the entrance to the walled city of Famagusta. It was a sacred place, where Moslems took votives and prayed. The word Tekke means “solitude” in Turkish and is used as the equivalent word for “monastery”. Only the rounded dome of the Tekke is visible in this drawing surrounded by trees and bushes. The artist’s purpose was not to record the building but rather to convey the meaning of the word. A solitary hilltop with an expanse of the sea behind it holds a cluster of trees that almost seem to form a shield around and over the Tekke, protecting it from the voyeur and the passer-by. The cypress trees, often to be found around both Greek and Turkish cemeteries, stand upright, cutting across an angry winter sky.