Cyprus Today, Jan-March 2007 1

Editorial
Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus is the place which has been continuously inhabited for the longest time on the whole island. It can boast an almost uninterrupted succession of settlements from the Chalcolithic period in the 4th millennium BC to the present day.
Modern Nicosia is built on layers of ruins, the typical stratigraphy being - from
the lowest strata - Cypro-Archaic, Hellenistic, Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian, Ottoman a long succession of civilizations. It is not surprising, therefore,
that many construction sites in Nicosia may turn out to be archaeological areas
the earth yielding up its secrets as archaeologists painstakingly work to uncover the mysteries it held back for centuries.
After St George’s Hill, where the discovery of part of the ancient city has put
the project for a new House of Representatives building on hold (see relevant article by Dr Despo Pilides in Cyprus Today, vol. XXXVII, April - June
1999), and the unearthing of a Lusignan castle in the heart of the old city
where a new municipal building is to be erected, a new surprise was in store
on the construction site of the new Supreme Court. The site, situated on the
eastern bank of the Pedieos River revealed the ruins of a 14th century convent
of the Cistercian Order.
In the main article of the present issue of our review, archaeologist, Eftychia
Zachariou-Kaila, whose team have been carrying out intensive excavations,
presents their important findings which do not only identify an important
monastery but also provide clues to the lifestyle of nuns living in Cistercian
convents.
In the same revelatory and exploratory spirit, Dr Sophocles Hadjisavvas, in his
article “Wine Culture in Cyprus” presents the case of wine making on the
island through the eyes of an archaeologist. The topic was well debated throughout the centuries. Historians, geographers and travellers often refer to the wines
of Cyprus, for which the island has been renowned since antiquity, as being
‘extremely subtle’ or ‘exquisitely light’. Pliny considers Cyprus wine to be superior to all other wines, while Strabo designates Cyprus as ‘an island of fine
wines’. Mediaeval travellers never fail to praise the strong and rich wine of
Cyprus. Although the beginning of wine making in Cyprus cannot be dated
with certainty, Dr Sophocles Hadjisavva’s article reveals archaeological evidence
which suggests that wine making was practiced long before Pliny’s or Strabo’s references. It is obvious that the roots of viticulture in Cyprus go back to
the depths of history as the roots of our vines to the depths of our land.
1
The Cistercian
Convent
of St. Theodore
in Nicosia
Rescue Excavation in the Supreme Court Area
Eftychia Zachariou Kaila - Department of Antiquities
The medieval fortification of Nicosia,
as it developed before the 16th century,
was made redundant with the arrival of
gunpowder, which changed century old
traditions of warfare. Guns and fortresses were now essential for defence.
Due to the pressure of Ottoman expansionism that appeared as early as the 15th
century, the old medieval fortifications
Nicosia within the Venetian walls
2
that protected the cities of the Venetian
empire needed to be modernized. Consequently, in 1567 the Venetian Crown
began designing the new walls of Nicosia.
The Venetian walls of Nicosia had a smaller circumference than the previous Lusignian walls. In order to achieve a better
defence system it was thought necessary
to demolish any building that lay in the
area between the old and new walls. The
ruins of these buildings became valuable sources of sandstone, which was
the main material used for facing the new
walls.
Among the eight churches – both Orthodox and Catholic – and the five monasteries that were sacrificed in the name
of defence, was the female monastery dedicated to St. Theodore, which belonged
to the Latin Cistercian Order (Estienne
de Lusignian, Description de toute l’isle
de Chypre, Paris, 1580, fol.32).
In his important book on the Gothic
Art in Cyprus, published in 1899, the
French archaeologist Camille Enlart mentions St. Theodore, which was already
known from written sources, as being one
of Nicosia’s vanished monasteries and
whose exact location was unknown.
More than a century later, on the construction site of the new building of the
Supreme Court and covering the area of
the new building’s future monumental
entrance, chance finds were unearthed which
identified the site as the remains of the nunnery of St. Theodore.
On the 30th of August 2004 the contracting
company of the new Supreme Court building notified the Department of Antiquities that a tombstone had been unearthed
during construction work. It was therefore
necessary to thoroughly examine the
area.
3
The inscribed tombstone, which happens
to be our most important find, enables us
to link the architectural finds with the available historical enidence1. In this context the
female figure engraved on the tombstone
holds a staff in her left hand, which symbolizes both the abbess’s power and her pastoral role. The figure is bordered by an
inscription, which refers to Plaisance de
Giblet, abbess of the nunnery of St. Theodore,
who died on Friday, 10th of February 1328.
In 1244 the head of the Cistercian Order,
Abbot Boniface of Citeaux (the original and
leading monastery of the Cistercian Order)
gave his approval for the foundation of an
abbey of nuns of the Cistercian order in
Nicosia. This was with the initiative of Alice
of Montbeliard, widow of the regent Philip
of Ibelin, who wished to provide a place for
her daughter Mary. The plot for this convent was located between the first Dominican house and the location of the future
Beaulieu Abbey, a Cistercian men’s monastery,
which was then in the hands of the Franciscans.
The inscribed tombstone unearthed during the
construction of the new Supreme Court. The figure
of the abbess, Plaisance de Giblet, who died in
1328, is engraved on it
St. Theodore was not just the average Latin
nunnery. The inscription on the tombstone
demonstrates the significance of the abbey:
not only was the founder a woman of a leading noble family and the widow of the regent
of the Kingdom of Cyprus, but almost a
century later its abbess, Plaisance, was a
member one of the most important Cypriot noble families, the Giblets, who were
among the highest nobility after the Lusignans and the Ibelins.
The abbey was probably the richest nunnery of Cyprus as is shown from church tax
records. The only monasteries to pay high-
I would like to thank Chris Schabel, Assistant Professor of Medieval History at the University of
Cyprus for his valuable contribution.
1
4
General view of the excavation site
er taxes were the wealthy and powerful
men’s abbeys of Cistercian Beaulieu, Premonstratensian Bellapais and Benedictine
Stavrovouni.
According to the Italian traveller Niccolo
Martoni, by 1394 "St. Theodore, which is
a church of nuns", was situated "within the
walls of the city". This gives us another clue
about the extent of the walls constructed
5
in the fourteenth century, which were replaced
by the present Venetian walls in 1567. Until
the 1360s, Nicosia appears to have been
without walls.
In his Italian Chorograffia of 1573, Etienne
de Lusignan mentions that the Cistercian
nuns of St. Theodore lived in the monastery
until it was destroyed in 1567. Unfortunately the phrase is not in the later, corrected
French translation, which suggests that St.
Theodore did not survive upto 1567.
The excavation, which began in the first
week of September 2004, was carried out
in collaboration with the archaeologists
Efthymia Alphas, Stalo Eleftheriou and
Xenia Michael.
The area under excavation consisted of 800
square meters, its limits being the Supreme
The foundation of the lavabo unearthed
6
Court building which was under construction in the north part of the site, the 1930s
building known as the Poulias building in
the south, and Charilaos Mouskos street in
the east.
Considering that by the time the Department of Archaeology was informed and
arrived at the site the construction of this
public building was approaching its completion and the contractors were desperately
attempting to meet strict deadlines, one can
appreciate how difficult the working conditions were. The excavation therefore took
place quite literally in the middle of the construction site.
Only a very small part of the monastic building complex has been revealed. The monastery’s
very bad state of preservation and the absence
Efthymia Alphas and Stalo Eleftheriou excavating
at the site
of any architectural evidence beyond the
wall foundations make the site’s reconstruction extremely difficult. We are however familiar with the perfectly preserved
12th and 13th century Cistercian monasteries in France.
Given that gothic architecture in Cyprus,
although based upon western artistic styles,
had its own particular character, it seems
likely that the same was true for the architecture of St. Theodore’s monastery.
The architecture of Cistercian monasteries
follows strict conventions which reflect the
Cistercian monastic way of life. Decorative sculpture is absent while representations
and the use of colour is generally avoided.
The nucleus of the monastic building complex is the cloistergarth which is usually rectangular or square in plan and is surrounded
by four colonnaded galleries (quadriporticus). In the area covered by the staircase of
the Supreme Court a cloister yard has been
revealed, which is rectangular in plan and
measures 22 by 18m, along with the galleries which surround the yard. Adjacent to
the eastern wall of the yard the foundations
of a lavabo have been unearthed. The lavabo
is circular in plan and part of the drainage
The Poulias building
system consisting of a clay pipe has survived.
Research on Cistercian monasteries in France
has shown that there is evidence that the
vaulted galleries that formed the cloister
were not just passages but that they were
also areas where religious processions took
place during specific religious events and
for the ceremony of the weekly washing
of the feet (pedilavium) which was an enactment of Christ washing his disciples’ feet.
As far as the monastery of Saint Theodore
in Nicosia is concerned, the northeast
corner of the galleries was probably the
abbess’s burial ground. Unfortunately it is
not possible to locate her tomb with certainty since the digger that revealed her
tombstone caused much damage by removing important evidence.
The vaulted galleries provided covered access
to various rooms that opened onto them.
The excavation also revealed a group of
rooms in the south that open onto the south
gallery. Although the function of these
rooms has not yet been determined, the
remains (kilns, unbaked clay) point towards
the area being used as a workshop and a
kitchen area. A large amount of cooking
7
the 15th and the beginning of the
16th century.
Among the above was also
an open bowl, imported
from Italy with both
incised decoration and
painted green and yellow motives.
ware was also noted from this area.
At the westernmost part of these rooms, and
bordering the Poulias building, two pits
were excavated, providing valuable information since they contained sealed deposits.
Both cooking ware and glazed pottery were
unearthed from the first pit including a
Majolika type jug that can be attributed
to workshops in the Venice region.
In addition, two vessels (Plain ware) with
vertical handles were found but their use
has not yet been determined.
The second pit contained local pottery,
which can be dated to between the end of
8
The excavations
revealed the remains
of at least 35 burials,
covered by irregularly
shaped stone slabs. In some cases river stones were used to delineate the graves.
Most of the dead were positioned with their
arms placed across their body below their
chest whereas others were placed with
their arms and wrists placed parallel to their
bodies. Evidence of wooden coffins was not
noted in any of the burials. Although the
study of the graves has not yet begun it is
expected that the human remains do not
belong exclusively to the female members
of the convent as it was a customary practice of the mediaeval church to offer prayers
for the dead and space for family tombs in
exchange for financial donations, as well
as to the staff hired by the nuns for heavy
manual work.
A collective analysis of the human bones
from excavations of the mediaeval sites of
Nicosia will perhaps provide valuable information concerning the population, the
changes in standards of health and the diet
of the city’s inhabitants during this period.
A very basic preliminary study of the pottery and the coins unearthed shows that the
site was continually inhabited between
the 13th and the end of the 16th century,
which agrees with the written sources that
place the monastery’s founding and destruction within this time limit.
The next period which is documented by
the evidence is the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century,
when the British built army premises in the
area, which are still known today as the
Wolsely Barracks.
The Department of Antiquities, being the
responsible body for the protection of antiquities, believed that the preservation and
consequently the display and visibility of
the site were issues that needed to be considered seriously and resolved.
regarding the access to the building needed to be altered. The initial plans included
an access via a staircase on an embankment,
which would have led to the building’s main
entrance, whereas a second point of access
would have led to the open space at the back
of the building. Antiquities were unearthed
in both access routes.
The solution that was suggested by the Architect, Mr Alexandros Livadhas, and was
approved by the Department of Antiquities, provided for the creation of an accessible archaeological site, which is covered
by the main entrance’s 600 square meter
elevated concrete slab, which is supported
by 11 foundation supports. Natural light
in this area is provided through openings
made in the entrance’s concrete slab.
The proposed solution also provided for the
construction of a platform (in the south part
of the site) covering a surface area of 200
square meters and composed of horizontal glass slabs which cover the site and at the
same time allow it to be visible. A special
Even though the site’s preservation is fragmentary, the excavated features can be identified and can be historically positioned,
providing valuable historical evidence but
also acting as a landmark in the landscape
of mediaeval Nicosia.
Following the Department of Antiquities’ demand to incorporate the antiquities into the new Supreme Court
building plan, the plans
Various glazed pottery items found on the site
9
One of the 35
tombs found during
the excavations
ly designed passageway leading to the exhibition area and to the building’s outdoor
spaces was placed on top of these glass slabs.
The planners made the positioning of the
11 support columns after the Department
of Antiquities made sure that the supports
would not affect the archaeological features.
Although the building of the new Supreme
Court along with the salvage excavation that
simultaneously took place is a small-scale
project since the area of archaeological investigation was rather limited, it is however the
first time that an attempt has been made to
incorporate ancient remains in a modern
public building in Cyprus.
The Convent of St. Theodore in Nicosia
was not the only Cistercian religious house
in Cyprus. Written sources locate the existence of the monastery of Beaulieu at Pyrgos in the Limassol district. However its
position has not to this day been sufficiently
investigated archaeologically.
After a short period the monastery moved
from Pyrgos to the outskirts of the walled
city of Nicosia. This monastery, known as
Beau Lieu, was located in 1901 during exca10
vations by the French archaeologist Camille
Enlart. It was not identified as such, however, because Enlart considered that it was
a Franciscan monastery, having been led to
this conclusion by additions which were
made at later stages. The site where Enlart
carried out the excavation remains unknown
to contemporary research because the architectural remains of the monastery are no
longer visible, having been covered up or
destroyed. The only known information for
finding the position is the description which
Enlart gives and which locates it to the west
of the city, on the axis of Ayia Sophia and
Panayia tis Tyrou.
This axis runs exactly from the area between
Kinyra, Korivou and Rimini Streets to a
short distance from Paphos Gate and the
new Supreme Court building. The area
between the above streets has been acquired
by the Republic of Cyprus for the purpose of building offices for the Town
Planning and Housing Department.
In September 2005 archaeological investigations began on the site, and are still in
progress, in cooperation with the archaeologist Stalo Eleftheriou.
In the north section of the excavated site
architectural remains have been found which
although fragmentary relate to a building
of monumental character. A large room was
found, aligned east-west, 9 metres wide and
about 25 metres long. The wall, 120 centimetres wide appears to extend to the east,
beyond the excavated site. To the north of
this room smaller walls have been uncovered which appear to have been extended
to form smaller rooms belonging to the same
complex. The walls made of limestone and
river gravel were used for their foundations.
The scientific documentation and the assessment of the various finds of the site will perhaps indicate a new determination of the
position, as in the case of the site of the
Supreme Court, providing us with important information about the topography of
mediaeval Nicosia. It will be a link which
will in the future possibly lead to the identification of other sites as well, such as those
of the other monasteries mentioned in the
sources, relating finally to the extent of
the mediaeval fortifications of Nicosia which
no longer survive.
Bibliography:
Annual Report of the Department of Antiquities for
the year 2004, (Nicosia 2006), 86-90.
N. Coureas, The Latin Church in Cyprus, 1195-1312,
(Aldershot 1997).
C. Enlart, Gothic Art and the Renaissance in
Cyprus, trans. D. Hunt (London 1987).
C. Enlart, “L’ ancient monastère des Franciscains à
Nicosie de Chypre,” Florilegium Recueil des
travaux d’ erudition dédiés à M. Le Marquis de Vogüé,
(Paris 1909), 215-29.
C. Schabel, O Camille Enlart Î·È ÔÈ ∫ÈÛÙÂÚÎÈ·ÓÔ›
ÛÙÔÓ ¶‡ÚÁÔ, Report of the Department of Antiquities 2002, 401-406.
The Supreme Court entrance after the construction of the concrete slabs and before the glass slabs were placed
11
Wine Culture
in Cyprus
Dr Sophocles Hadjisavvas
The well-known House of Dionysos in
Paphos illustrates in mosaic form the importance of the vine and wine in Cyprus during the Roman occupation of the island.
The principal hall, the triclinium, is decorated with a carpet-like mosaic floor representing vintage scenes, vines laden
with grapes and humans and erotes pick-
ing the fruit. Apart from the many representations of the god of wine Dionysos,
who gave his name to the house, the most
prominent panel of the west portico which
communicates with the triclinium depicts
the history of winemaking. King Ikarios,
unaware of Dionysos’ true identity gave
the god hospitality while the latter was on
Mosaic depicting Dyonisos with nymph Akme drinking wine from a bowl. Late 2nd and early 3rd century.
Nea Paphos
12
Vintage mosaic, House of Dionysos, Nea
Paphos. Hunting scenes, a rabbit pecking
a bunch of grapes, birds and peacocks
13
a visit to Athens. Dionysos showed his gratitude by teaching Ikarios how to cultivate the vine and make wine from its fruit
- something that up until then was unknown
to mortals.
The mosaic depicts King Ikarios returning home with a cart loaded with wineskins.
On his way he met two shepherds to whom
he gave some wine to taste. The shepherds
became intoxicated and are shown falling
down. An inscription in Greek above them
explains why: "those who drank wine for
the first time". This tragic episode is the
mythological assumption that winemaking is a divine present to the mortals.
Winemaking was known in Cyprus long
before Strabo wrote his Geography and
even longer before the Paphos mosaic was
made. I will try to present the case of winemaking on the island of Aphrodite through
the eyes of an archaeologist, starting with
the cultivation of the vine.
Macrobotanical remains attesting to the
presence of vines on the island were found
in two Neolithic and in almost all Chalcolithic sites from all over Cyprus. Thus,
the earliest archaeological proven evidence
dates back to the middle of the fifth millennium BC. Pip imprints were discovered
in two sites of the Early and Middle Bronze
Age as well as in later Late Bronze Age sites.
The particular shape and size of the pips
enabled archaeobotanists to distinguish
between the wild grapevine and the cultivated Vitis vinifera. Thus while the earlier specimen is of uncertain identification
because of its incomplete nature, the later specimen may be classified as belonging to a cultivated species of vine.
It is quite possible that the wild species
Vitis sylvestris existed on the island long
before its habitation along with the remaining "first fruits of civilization" such as
Mosaic depicting King Ikarios and the first wine drinkers. Late 2nd – early 3rd century. Nea Paphos
14
the olive, the fig and dates. It is rather difficult to make any assumptions concerning the time and circumstances under which
the wild vine was brought into cultivation.
We may, however, suggest that the inten-
sive cultivation of the grapevine led to specialization of labour.
Another question which remains to be
answered is the time of the first winemaking
on the island. There is no direct evidence
for the production of wine in ancient times.
Archaeologists have not discovered large
deposits of fruit which had been crushed
for the extraction of juice to be drunk as
wine after fermentation. There are, however, some installations related to wine production but
their dating is obscure.
To some extent these installations are similar or identical
Clay model showing a
ritual related with
grape treading
Rock-cut installation used as a press
15
to olive oil production installations. Whatever the case, much equipment related to
wine production was made of wood,
thus leaving no trace in the archaeological
record. Indirect evidence for the consumption and most probably the pro-
duction of wine is present in the form of
wine residues found in the bottom of pointed amphoras suitable for transport and
storage. A large number of them have been
discovered in the Hellenistic layers of the
House of Dionysos in Paphos.
Head of Bacchus in relief. Limestone, 3rd century BC
16
Wine “eye” cup decorated with Dionysos. (Polis)
Some idea about wine producing installations may be obtained from representa
tions of everyday life scenes appearing on
the shoulders of different types of vases
dating to the Early and Middle Bronze
Age. One such deep bowl of Red Polished Ware was found in Kalavasos
and published in 1986. The bowl
bears a scenic composition which
it seems the excavator interpreted as a
wine press scene. A fragmentary human
figure to be standing in a trough and he/she
may be crushing grapes. This interpretation is by no means certain. The bowl dates
to the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1900 BC).
A much better and more realistic scene
appears on a richly decorated Red Polished
ware jug discovered in a tomb in the village of Pyrghos two years ago. The jug is
provided with a double cut-away neck and
two vertical handles from rim to shoulder.
A large number of everyday life scenes
rendered in the round occupy the entire
shoulder of the vase. The most notable
are a ploughing scene, a woman
holding an infant, women
preparing bread, a donkey carrying goods and
a prominent seated figure. The most complicated group represents several figures possibly
treading grapes for the production
of wine. A human figure, its extended hands supported by the two vertical handles of the jug, is standing
within an oblong spouted trough. A receptacle circular basin is placed below the projecting spout to receive the treaded product. Another human figure is standing
behind the receptacle basin, its hands holding a jug with cut-away spout in the basin.
The whole arrangement of the human
figures in combination with the placement
of the treading trough and the receptacle
basin hint to the presence of a wine press-
Kantharoid bowl decorated with bunches of grapes
17
ing installation. The iconography of the
Cyprus vase is almost identical to a vintage
and treading scene from a painting in the
Tomb of Nakht dated c. 1372-1350 BC
from the Valley of the Nobles in Thebes.
The Egyptian painting, however, shows
three standing figures in the treading trough
while the remaining features are identical
to the Cypriot vase. Naturally a painting
affords many more possibilities for detailed
representation than modelling in clay. A
similar scene is known from an Attic blackfigured amphora by the painter Amasis dated c. 550 BC, not to mention later representations in mosaics and other media.
duction of the lever press, which was in
use in combination with a screw mechanism up to the middle of the present
century, wine as well as olive oil were
produced in simple rock-cut installations
consisting of a sloping crushing or treading floor connected to a lower collecting
vat. For the production of wine the
treading floor was made deeper and usually larger in size. Such installations were
recently discovered on a low rocky plateau
in Geroskipou, overlooking the ancient
city of Paphos, the capital of Cyprus during most of the Hellenistic and Roman
periods.
As I have mentioned before,
wine producing installations are similar to olive
oil installations but some
slight differences may clarify their identity. Deep pressing troughs could be associated with wine production although they could
also be used for olive pressing. Such is the spouted circular trough from the Late
Bronze Age settlement near
the Larnaka Salt Lake. Similar troughs are also known
from Kommos in Crete.
There is a variety of shapes and combinations of these installations which no
doubt were used for the production of wine.
The most common combination are two
basins, at slightly different levels communicating through an open channel or
through a hole between them. Treading
took place in the first basin at a higher level and the juice was conveyed into the lower basin which is usually much bigger and
deeper than upper one.
There is little doubt that
the level press was used for
the production of wine as
well as for the production of olive oil. For the
latter this use was established on archaeologiHorn-shaped vase
cal evidence at least from
used for drinking
as
early as the Late Bronze
wine (Bellapais)
Age. Before the intro18
In one case a canalis rotunda resembling
a chariot wheel is also connected to a couple of basins. It is possible that this circular channel was used only when olives had
to be crushed, but we cannot exclude the
possibility of the use of a galeagra for the
pressing of grapes.
Small portable installations made from a
monolithic stone are also known in some
parts of the island. An example from Paphos
represents a press bed rectangular in
plan, connected with a rectangular receptacle. This monolithic installation works
in combination with a wooden container
Detail from the Pyrgos jug. The human group represents a wine press scene. The first figure seems
to be treading grapes in the trough and the must is collected in the circular basin
(cofre) and most probably is the predecessor of the galeagra with screw.
All types of presses known from classical
literature appear in Cyprus throughout the
Roman period, attesting to the close
contacts between metropolitan centres and
the provinces of the empire. The presence
of stone stipites in at least five different sites
provides direct evidence for the use of
the lever and drum press as described in
detail by Cato and demonstrated by the
wine press in a Pompeiian house.
The introduction of the screw in the pressing operation replaced all previous installations at least in large capacity wine
producing units. Its application enabled
19
greater force to be brought in and, as a
consequence, the press bed could be placed
anywhere between the anchoring point
and the screw. This type of press which
was described in detail by Pliny was in use
up to the middle of the 20th century at
least in three different wineries on the
island of Cyprus. During the Byzantine
period it was the press par excellence in all
church wineries used by the communities.
Small mobile presses known as galeagra
were introduced most probably during the
later part of the Roman period as a result
of the decentralisation of the economy.
Their prototype is known in Pompeii in
the form of a single screw direct press.
Complete examples are still preserved in
monasteries which continue old traditions.
The earliest preserved equipment is usually entirely constructed of wood.
Cyprus wines were famous since the
time of Strabo but this fact did not prevent the import of wines from world famous
centres such as Rhodes, Thasos and Chios.
Wine containers from these Aegean islands
have been discovered in the Hellenistic
cemetery of Paphos as well as in the Roman
villas. The wine of Cyprus was also famous
in the Middle Ages and King Francis I of
France attempted to naturalize the Cyprus
grapevine at Fontainebleau, albeit without success. The Knights Templar who
established their Grande Commanderie at
Kolossi produced their own wine which
became known as the vin de la Commanderie. This wine is still produced on the
Kolossi Castle - where the Knights Templar produced their Commandaria wine
20
Fikardou – pressing mechanism with wooden cast
and screw
Large terracotta jar (pithari) used for storage
island not by factories but traditionally by
certain villages. The wine is known
today as Commandaria and it is bottled at
the Limassol factories under different commercial names.
quering Cyprus in 1571, the wine industry did not flourish during the period of
Ottoman rule. The main obstacle was
the triple taxation amounting to 28%, as
well as some vine diseases.
Etienne de Lusignan, writing in 1580,
praises the wine of Cyprus as "the best in
the world". This, he writes, is confirmed
by Saint Bernard, Saint Thomas Aquinas,
Saint Gregory and Saint Hilarion. Saint
Gregory mentions that Solomon planted
in his garden some vines which he had
transported from Cyprus.
Commandaria wine, despite the oppression of both the Venetian and Turkish rulers,
very strictly maintained its main traditional
characteristics, the area where the vines
were cultivated and the method of production. At present, the same method of
making Commandaria continues to be
as successful as during the period of the
Crusades and it is probably the same method
recorded by Hesiod 2000 years earlier.
Commandaria is known since the Templars and Hospitallers, thus it is the wine
with the oldest appellation of origin.
Though there is no historical basis for
the story that the sweet wine of Cyprus
was the main inducement of the Turkish
Sultan Selim II for attacking and con-
21
Karageorghis’ Memoirs
The memoirs of the well-known Greek Cypriot archaeologist,
professor and writer, Dr Vassos Karageorghis have recently been
published in English by the Mediterranean Archaeological Museum of Stockholm under the title "A Lifetime in the Archaeology of Cyprus". The publication is a tribute paid by the Medelhavsmuseet to the man who ever since 1948, when, as a student he worked on an excavation conducted by the Swedish Professor Arne Furumark, developed warm ties with Swedish scholars and supported the study of Cypriote archaeology in Sweden.
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Itorn ofthetheforeword
to the publication, the DirecMedelhavsmuseet, Sanne HoubyNielsen, appreciates that Dr Vassos Karageorghis "is the man whose enormous energy, whose never failing will to explore and
understand ancient Cyprus no matter what
political disasters, and whose boundless passion for the archaeology of Cyprus has highlighted Cyprus permanently on the scholarly map of the Mediterranean."
The memoirs trace Vassos Karageorghis’
personal and professional life from his childhood in the village of Trikomo, stricken
with poverty during the years prior to the
Second World War, through later years of academic and archaeological success, decorations
and honorary doctorates. And throughout this
extraordinary life, the driving force that propelled him to heights was his fierce will-power to succeed, his determination, his ambition
"controlled to a degree which has beneficial
effects" as he puts it.
In the 226-page book, which took him
three months to write, very little is left untouched
and from the captivating narrative that
keeps rolling, one can sense the satisfaction
the writer relishes going through all those years.
The memoirs start with the early years in
the village of Trikomo where most families
could hardly afford the bare necessities for
their children. Primary school recollections
are vivid; early rising and walking to school,
a frugal breakfast of bread and olives, shoes
worn only in winter, at church and during ceremonies at school, football played with a rag
ball, the joy of learning and the instinctive
will, that gradually became second nature,
to be the best.
As a pupil in the gymnasium in Nicosia, he
worked hard to justify a scholarship and
tasted the satisfaction of collecting all the
prizes in the school throughout his secondary
education.
A pupil at the Pancyprian Gymnasium, in January
1946
With Jaqueline at Grenier, in 1950
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After a short spell at the University of Athens,
he was accepted to read Classics at University College, London; an experience he enjoyed
enormously as he had the opportunity to
listen to the fascinating lectures of Professor
Martin Robertson, T.B.L. Webster, Gordon
Childe, Mortimer Wheeler and other great
names in archaeology.
Back in Cyprus in 1952, he was appointed
Assistant Curator at the Cyprus Museum,
obtained his Ph.D. Doctorate from the University of London in 1957, was promoted to
Curator in 1960 and in 1964 Director of
the Department of Antiquities.
His first task was to revive the publication of
the Report of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus and make it the annual scientific journal of the Department. His career as
a civil servant was not easy but, as he remarks,
"it was not time wasted as I tried to learn how
to be efficient, how to take decisions and collaborate with other people."
Meanwhile, in 1952, he started excavating
at Salamis where he uncovered grandiose monuments: the Gymnasium, the Baths, the Theatre
- inaugurated with Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex,
performed by the pupils of the Famagusta
Greek Gymnasium – and later, in 1963 the
Royal Tombs with horses and chariots. The
excavations at Salamis lasted twenty-two years
(1952 - 1974), the most enjoyable period of
his whole career abruptly interrupted by the
Turkish invasion. "I saw my dreams crushed,
and Salamis as well as my village disappeared all of a sudden from my life." There
is ongoing grief for his "beloved site" and
the 1974 occupation "a bleeding scar "on
his soul and mind.
After 1974, as a Director of the Department
of Antiquities he managed to turn the limelight of research in the Mediterranean on
Cypriote archaeology through a liberal policy which opened the island to international
research. His archaeological reach has been
wide and his friends have included eminent
foreign professionals such as Einar Gjerstad,
Mortimer Wheeler, Olivier Masson, Marguerite Yon, Jean Pouilloux, Claude Schaffer,
Edgar Peltenburg, Franz-Georg Maier, Paul
Åstrom and others.
Removing the soil from the bronze statuette decorating
one of the chariots of tomb 79. Salamis, 1966
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In 1989, having served in the Department of
Antiquities for 37 years, and having seen his
policy and vision being fulfilled, he retired.
During his tenure at the Department of Antiquities he has lectured extensively as Visiting
Professor at various universities such as the
State University of New York, Université Laval,
Quebec, the University of Aberdeen, Princeton N.J., U.S.A. or Visiting Fellow at Merton College, Oxford, All Souls College and
Oxford etc.
Showing André Malraux, Minister of Culture, the exhibition ‘Treasures of Cyprus’ in Paris
With Prof. F.G. Maier at Kouklia, in 1983
With Marguerite Yon at Kition, in 1981
In addition to his university appointments
abroad, there are accounts of a series of international symposia following the success of the
First Symposium on the "Myceneans in the
Eastern Mediterranean" held in 1972. The
proceedings of all the symposia were promptly published. In 1988, the Department of
Greek and Roman antiquities of the British
Museum organized an international archaeological symposium on "The First Millennium BC in Cyprus" in Dr Karageorghis’
honour. It was one year after the opening of
the A.G. Leventis Gallery of Cypriote Antiquities (on 9 December, 1987). The keeper
of the Department, Dr B.F. Cook wrote in
his preface:
"……It was decided to devote the Greek and
Roman Department’s annual colloquium to
Cyprus and East Mediterranean in the Iron
Age, and to dedicate the colloquium to Vassos Karageorghis, who has made such a distinguished contribution to the study of ancient
Cyprus. He has done this in three ways: by
his own scholarship, through administration
and by what may be described as archaeological diplomacy. His scholarly achievement
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After receiving the Onassis Prize ‘Olympia’ with
Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Jimmy Carter, 1991
Instructing American and Canadian students.
Summer school at Kition
resting on a host of excavations and publications is so well known and so highly admired
as to need no further accolade here………"
The couple have two children, a daughter,
Clio who studied architecture and works at
the Department of Museology at the Louvre
Museum, a son, Andreas, Professor of
Mathematics at the University of Cyprus and
four grandchildren.
Honours were literally heaped upon him. He
was conferred more than thirty distinctions,
Honorary Doctor of more than ten universities, member of several academies, among
them the Academy of Athens and the Royal
Swedish Academy. He was awarded some prestigious prizes like the Onassis Prize ‘Olympia’
in Athens, in 1991 for his efforts to trace
and repatriate antiquities smuggled out of
Cyprus after the 1974 war and the "Cavalli
d’Oro di San Marco" in Venice, in 1996. One
of the honours that seems to have touched
him deeply was from his own village of Trikomo, a silver plaque with a representation of
the old church of Ayios Iakovos.
The memoirs also recall personal matters:
meeting his French-born wife , Jaqueline, also
an archaeologist, during his student years;
their Bohemian "honeymoon" in the dig house
built by the Swedish expedition at Vouni Palace
where in spite of the primitive conditions they
felt they were in a five-star hotel. He never
fails to express his high regard for his discreet and understanding wife who "provided a serene family life, made my work easier
and very often sacrificed much of her own
time in helping me in my research", he admits.
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In 1990, Vassos Karageorghis joined the Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation, and in 1992
he accepted an appointment as the first Professor of Archaeology at the University of
Cyprus and Director of the Archaeological
Research Unit. He retired from the University of Cyprus in 1996 and since then he has
been with the Leventis Foundation as Director of the Cyprus branch of the Foundation,
member of the Board of Governors of the
Foundation and a consultant for all archaeological projects of the Foundation in Greece
and elsewhere.
This has been a most rewarding period of
his life. He considers that working with Constantinos Leventis, the fist Chairman of the
Foundation, was an honour and a privilege,
and there was absolute trust and consensus of
opinions between them, sharing the vision for
the conservation and promotion of the Greek
cultural heritage wherever it manifests itself.
Thus, he set about the task of resurrecting the
Cypriote antiquities forgotten or hidden in
the dark store-rooms of foreign museums. As
their return to the country of origin was not
feasible, generous grants from the A.G. Leventis Foundation enabled a number of museums to create Cypriote Galleries: the Fitzwilliam
Museum, Cambridge (1997), four galleries
were assigned to the Cesnola Collection in the
Metropolitan Museum, New York (2000), the
National Museum of Denmark (2002), the
British Museum, the Louvre, the Antikensammlung in Berlin, the Medelhavsmuseet in
Stockholm, the Eretz Museum in Tel Aviv,
the Royal Ontario Museum, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Archaeological Museum of Odessa, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the Hermitage Museum in
St. Petersburg…and the list is still growing.
Illustrated catalogues were also published
for all the collections.
Apart from helping foreign museums to exhibit and publish their collections of Cypriote
antiquities, Dr Karageorghis has derived particular pleasure from helping institutions in
foreign countries, especially those facing financial difficulties, to carry out cultural projects
such as for example, the Archaeological Museum of Odessa, the libraries of the Universities of Mariupolis and Harkovo (Ukraine) and
the ancient Odeon of the city of Plovdid (Philippoupolis) in Bulgaria.
Dr Karageorghis continues to rise at dawn and
do research work and writing in his office,
in the sandstone neo-classical renovated building of the Leventis Foundation. With the beautiful garden surrounding it, the atmosphere
is serene, an ideal place to work in.
Writing his memoirs, he stresses, does not
mean the end of active participation in archaeology and life in general. "There are still many
moments to enjoy in life", he confesses,
such as "the discovery of an interesting object
in a museum store-room, the completion of
a project like that of the archaeological Museum of Odessa, the satisfaction of seeing young
and bright Cypriot men and women earning a Leventis scholarship to study for a
doctorate in universities throughout the
world…."
Then, he adds, there is also "the smell of jasmine on a summer afternoon in the garden
of my office and so much more".
He insists that life is sweet as he launches new
projects. "To be among the living is a blessing, and one should never be discouraged or
unduly saddened by hardships and hurdles",
he counsels.
New member of the Academy of Athens, in 1992,
with Professor Sakellariou
Closing the memoirs, he expresses his only
wish, which is "to describe the day when I
may visit my own native village again, and my
beloved Salamis, and feel free to travel all over
the small island which I tried to come to know
in depth for so many years and to serve for
more than half a century."
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