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Kyrenia Gate: Nicosia
- North Cyprus |
The Kyrenia Gate is one of the three entrances to the city built by the
Venetians. The gate was originally called the "Porta Del Proveditore".
Kyrenia gate has undergone several changes since its Venetian days. In
1821 the Turks restored it and added a square chamber with a domed roof,
and in 1931 the British demolished the section of the walls around it to
facilitate the traffic into and out of the city. Still visible however
is a panel re- cording the date of its building and a stone tablet
inscribed with verses from the Koran.
For more than a thousand years Nicosia was a walled
town, like most towns in the Middle Ages in Europe. Very few have
retained their ancient walls, and those that have, such as Carcassonne
in the south of France, regard them as show places for tourists. Nicosia
has retained its walls because of their huge size, and, being just earth
ramparts with stone facing, not many building blocks could be obtained
by demolishing them. Before the days of preservation of ancient
monuments and various antique buildings, it was common practice to build
a house with stones derived from crumbling ruins of walls and towers.
The ancient walls of a town became everyman's quarry.
The old city of Nicosia was inhabited by artisans and craftsmen who not
only used the goods they made for themselves, but sold them in the town
market. The governors were rich merchants who decided what goods could
come in through the gates, and also what people should be allowed to
enter. Some had to go out at sunset when the gates were closed, but
there were plenty of wide open spaces outside the walls to camp out. The
Famagusta gate was the chief one and this led to the major port of the
island.
Just imagine the scene in the old days, when, in the early morning, long
queues of horse carts, donkeys, mules and camels waited to get into the
morning market. The entrance was by a very narrow gate where taxes were
often collected. There were no passports; only daggers and battle axes
to argue with. Fig. 4 shows the Kyrenia gate as it is today, but a
photograph nearly one hundred years old shows the gate in use with the
walls right up to the gate building. It was only about 40 years ago that
the British demolished part of the wall on either side of the gate, to
make two roads for motor cars to enter and leave. Today, every one seems
to rush by the gate and not notice it as it lies as an island in a whirl
of traffic.
The gate was originally known as Del Proveditore and was built by the
Venetians with stones from the mediaeval walls of Nicosia, of which not
a trace exists today. In 1821 the Turks repaired the gate, and added the
square building on top, surmounted by a dome. During the restoration, a
stone tablet recording the building of the gate by the Venetians was
found. This can be seen above the gate archway, and the details are
given in fig. 5. Are there any Latin scholars here who can translate the
words? It will be a puzzle, because some of the letters are missing.
Most people will understand MDLXII, which being 1562, must be the date
of this Venetian gateway. Outside the commemorative tablet is the date
1931, and George the fifth, king and emperor. This records the date when
the gaps in the walls were made to take the modern roads into the city.
Above this is a small tablet with a quotation from the Koran inscribed
in ancient calligraphy.
Between the gate and the Atatürk statue are two large iron cannon, seven
others in the public gardens to the east, two more on the rampart on the
other side, (fig. 6) and several in odd pieces along the walls. Some are
very corroded with rust while other s look as though they were made
recently. On some can be seen the British crown emblem and the old broad
arrow indicating the origin as Woolwich Arsenal Ordnance works. These
cannon were made in the reign of George 3rd, about 1790 and used in the
Napoleon ic wars. Later, they were acquired by the Turks and it must be
noted that it was the custom in the l9th century to mount old iron
cannon by the doors of public buildings or at the portals of some rich
man's mansion.
There was once a secret tunnel from the Roccas bastion, i.e. the bastion
to the west of the Kyrenia gate, and it led to the Greek quarter near
Ledra Palace. During heavy rains in 1965 it collapsed and was finally
sealed off by UNFlCYP.
From a distance, the Kyrenia gate looks quite small in comparison with
the huge Venetian ramparts, nevertheless it forms a good compact study
for a colour slide or for the artist to paint. It looks grand in the
evening sunshine, the yellow brown stone walls, the background canopy of
trees and the Kyrenia mountains beyond. It brings back memories to the
writer of the walls of Peking which one can follow for IS miles with
sixteen enormous gateways; the Marco Polo gateway is about twenty times
the size of the Kyrenia gate. So, having "done" Kyrenia gate, get on the
bus for Peking! |
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