During the middle of the nineteenth century Cyprus received many French visitors who aimed at exploring its archaeological wealth and… who knows, perhaps reclaim the island. The Second French Archaeological Mission to Phoenicia arrived in Cyprus in 1862 headed by the draughtsman and antiquarian Edmond Duthoit, who wrote about Nicosia:
Nicosia is the residence of the Pasha, governor of the island. We went to pay our respects to this old character, nothing is more funny than the Ottoman or oriental visits in general.
My companions find me terrible, despite all my good will I cannot keep up the appearance of being serious. I bite my lips but without success; I laughed in front of the Pasha. On arrival at the Pasha we were made to sit or lie on the divan and they brought the chubuk, long pipes 1.5 to 2.00 metres long. Here the pipe, its dimension, body of amber more or less thick, have their significance and one kind of pipe is given to one type of person in particular and not to another. One starts with compliments and banalities what is
usually said amongst people that have never met and who are obliged to have the services of an interpreter to converse. Then a platter arrived covered with a purple muslin embroidered with gilded stars and brought in by four officers. The coffee is followed at a certain distance by another platter and another cover and another four officers. This platter contains quite large bowls full of lemonade or orangeade, it is the sorbet. It is at the moment of these different services that my hilariousness was very difficult to contain.
Imagine four men dressed in various colours half in the European manner, half in the Ottoman, in pantaloons and without socks, bringing in all seriousness a platter holding what? Four cups of coffee as big as eggcups!
Our military attire nearly caused us a problem while leaving Nicosia, I had to wave my firman and threaten the officers that commanded the Gate of Sahι. Just as we went out of the gates of the city, about 15 peasants came to ask me to allow them to accompany us and on the way I gathered a certain quantity in a way that upon arrival at Akaki, in early evening, we strongly resembled a cavalry of donkeys and mules with a very picturesque and a bit comical effect. I still see a fat Turk mounted on a poor donkey holding in front of him a small child of one or two years old almost nude and behind him another child of four years old.
The 'What I saw...' series is made possible with the support of OPAP Cyprus and Active Citizens Fund.
