Shakespeare wrote his play Othello in 1603-1604. His source was the story of a Moorish Captain (third decade, story seven) in Gli Hecatommithi by the Italian author Cinthio (Giovanni Battista Giraldi), a collection of one hundred novels about love, grouped by theme into ten decades.
Sir Ronald Storrs, Governor of Cyprus from 1926-1932, brought to the foreground the story of Othello and its connection to Cyprus by naming one of the towers on the walls of Famagusta “Othello’s tower” and using it for publicity. When he arrived in Cyprus, the tower was a depot of the Department of Works, dirty and full of rubbish. He gave orders to empty it, clean it and make repairs in the interior. Subsequently, Storrs used the main hall of the tower as a dining room. He decorated the walls with colourful hangers portraying various Lusignan and Venetian codes of arms, put torches on the walls, and a long table in the centre. There, he used to entertain his VIP guests in all pomposity and grandeur.
Painting: PNT-00658, Kyrenia from the fort, Tristram James Ellis, 1879
© Costas and Rita Severis Foundation
The ‘Did You Know’ series is made possible with the support of OPAP (Cyprus).
