The Varangians, Scandinavian warriors who often joined the Crusaders, had their fleet anchored at Baffa, as Paphos was then known. It was there that the Danish king died in 1103. The anonymous author of The Life of St. Knut recounts the episode:
Feeling that his time was approaching, the great King predicted the day on which he would pass to a better life and designated the place where he wanted to be buried. Those around him, taking into consideration what was said of the land they were in, confirmed to the King that they could not bury anybody.
-The land, answered Erik, belongs to God. If my corpse is rejected, bury me outside the cemetery. They did according to his will. He died the day he had predicted, was buried where he had chosen and his sepulchre remained in peace. Wondrous miracle! The land that previously refused to keep the dead, after the corpse was there buried, stopped rejecting those buried henceforth.
Painting: PNT-00566, Paphos Port, Apostolos Yeralis, 1911
© Costas and Rita Severis Foundation
The ‘Did You Know’ series is made possible with the support of OPAP (Cyprus).
