CVAR | In 1733, Count Chancellor and Commander of the Royal Nordstjerne Order, Mr Eduard Carleson, visited Cyprus.

In 1733, Count Chancellor and Commander of the Royal Nordstjerne Order, Mr Eduard Carleson, visited Cyprus. Writing about Kythrea, Chitri, he notes:

Chitri, which is 2 ½ miles from Nicosia to the north had formerly the same name as at present, but it was then a big town. Nowadays you see there nothing but numerous gardens, divided into 11 quarters, which produce silk, cotton and all kinds of fruit. In an agreeable valley there is a spring of fine flowing water that divides into 5 channels which water all the gardens and drive 40 water mills. Above, on a rather high mountain are 3 old castles, at equal distance of each other, the names of which are Dio d’ Amare, Poufferwento and Canthara. These are said to have been fortified by James I about the year 1400, to serve as a defence during civil disturbances. It is a wonderful feat to have erected such strong buildings on high and almost inaccessible mountains, which we were not without much effort and danger able to find our way up and from which we could see quite well Mount Lebanon in Asia and several other mountains in Asia Minor. The Venetians destroyed these 3 castles as well as 7 others, which were in the country, regarding it as both inadvisable and dangerous that there should be fortresses in any other place than where they were most needed.

Eduard Carleson, Short description of the island of Cyprus written there in the summer of the year 1733, by the Count Chancellor and Commander of the Royal Nordstjerne Order, Mr Eduard Carleson, during his Oriental Journey. (Rita Severis, The Swedes in Cyprus, 2008: 106-7;)

The 'What I saw...' series is made possible with the support of OPAP Cyprus and Active Citizens Fund.

In 1733, Count Chancellor and Commander of the Royal Nordstjerne Order, Mr Eduard Carleson, visited Cyprus.

Discover More

Sir Harry Luke, writing about Kyrenia in the 1930s, expressed himself in a most emotional way.

Esme Scott-Stevenson, was very observant of the local population and indeed of the local women.

Archduke Louis Salvador of Austria was enchanted by Nicosia and wrote a book about his visit in 1873

The French antiquarian Edmond Duthoit was in Cyprus in 1863 and 1865 collecting antiquities. He came across an interesting acquaintance in Famagusta:

Lawrence Durrell loved Kyrenia, where he spent most of his time. In Bitter lemons he writes:

Patrick Balfour, 3rd Lord Kinross, writer and traveller came to Cyprus in 1950; he spent some months in Lapithos, staying with Austin Harrison’s junior partner Pearce Hubbard. In his book The Orphaned Realm, Balfour recorded some obscure observations: