The CVAR, together with the Spanish Embassy, are organising a lecture (in English) on Tuesday 31 May 2022 at 19:00 at The Archontiko of Axiothea titled: The travels of Ali Bey el Abbassi, a spy in Cyprus.
The life and journey of Domingo Badía, Ali Bey el Abbasi, is still little known. It is not clear whether he set off for a journey through Africa with the intention to carry out scientific research, or if this was just a pretence to enable him to prepare the conquest of Morocco. At one point, he says he was close to assuming power and soldiers and weapons were mobilized, but the plan was interrupted, and when it was re-planned it was already too late.
The only way to flee from the dangerous situation was under the pretext of a pilgrimage to Mecca, and one thing we know for certain is that he did so under the name of Prince Abbasi and that he was the first European to describe this journey. On his travels through the Mediterranean to the Holy City, he also passed through Cyprus, and its capital Nicosia, which he described in detail.
This testimony and description of Ali Bey el Abassi’s impressions of Cyprus are especially interesting, and will be the main focus of this presentation.
19:00 - Lecture at The Archontiko of Axiothea (in English)
20:30 - We will make our way to the CVAR for a viewing of the Ali Bey el Abbassi exhibition.
21:30 - Cocktails
