This 1870 watercolour depiction of Larnaca town from the sea contains a number of interesting and informative features. The mountain of the Holy Cross looms large in the background casting a protective shadow over the town. From left to right, and adjacent to the town’s castle, the minaret of Cami-i Kebir mosque rises conspicuously into the sky. Together with the minaret of Zahouri Mosque further to the right, they frame the western part of the town. Somewhere in the middle, the steeple of St. Lazarus Church complements an array of religious features in the landscape.
The sequence ends with the Latin church of Santa Maria Regina Pacis which dates back to 1843. It all bears testimony to the multiplicity of religious groups that a seemingly small, but clearly busy, Levantine port could accommodate up to the end of the Ottoman period. A number of European Consulates which the city harboured contributed to a spirit of mercantile openness that could only be conducive to a harmonious blending of races and faiths. These Consulates appear on the seafront, just on the left and right of a mill the existence of which is recorded by the Spanish traveller Jose Moreno in 1788. At the far right of the watercolour, warehouses and customs offices complete the picture.
PNT-00019 > Anonymous, Larnaca, Watercolour, 10x25m, 1870-06-07
