su denktas
Othello Citadel, Cyprus
There is something else of extraordinary beauty in the citadel. On the east side of the first floor, there used to be rooms where people stayed in back in the days. The rooms are now only run down walls with no roof on top. However the remaining walls tell a story only available to the true observer. When you look closely you can see the original plaster from 14th century resting on the uneven rock bricks of the castle. On this plaster wall, there are drawings of ships, randomly scattered around the wall. These are not normal decorative drawings. They were simply scratched into the plaster by people who were there during the time of distress. I was told by the architect who was collaborating in the restoration project of the citadel, which these ship scratches were made by the merchants that came to the island for business and stayed over. The images were drawn on the wall as a ritual to have a safe journey back home.
Yet, after some research, I have come across a similar appearance of the ship scratches in another structure in Famagusta. Cathedral of St. George of the Greeks contain the same, perhaps more sophisticated, ship drawings embedded on its walls as well. Venetian or European ships were carved in to the plaster by righteous people, probably during the period of the Ottoman siege, as a prayer for the Christian ships to arrive. This ritual of scratching ship figures on the walls was a very old tradition in the Mediterranean, more specifically on the villages near the coast. This habit that developed with Romans and mimicked in the Christian world, was used in temples and sacred buildings by the sailors and children. The drawings in the citadel are form the 14th century but the exact date of them is not certain. Thus, it cannot be said for certain whether or not the drawings belonged to sailors who wished a safe journey back home, or, fearful people, trying to find hope from the terror the siege brought to them.
Su Denktas
Othello Citadel, Cyprus
There is something else of extraordinary beauty in the citadel. On the east side of the first floor, there used to be rooms where people stayed in back in the days. The rooms are now only run down walls with no roof on top. However the remaining walls tell a story only available to the true observer. When you look closely you can see the original plaster from 14th century resting on the uneven rock bricks of the castle. On this plaster wall, there are drawings of ships, randomly scattered around the wall. These are not normal decorative drawings. They were simply scratched into the plaster by people who were there during the time of distress. I was told by the architect who was collaborating in the restoration project of the citadel, which these ship scratches were made by the merchants that came to the island for business and stayed over. The images were drawn on the wall as a ritual to have a safe journey back home.
Yet, after some research, I have come across a similar appearance of the ship scratches in another structure in Famagusta. Cathedral of St. George of the Greeks contain the same, perhaps more sophisticated, ship drawings embedded on its walls as well. Venetian or European ships were carved in to the plaster by righteous people, probably during the period of the Ottoman siege, as a prayer for the Christian ships to arrive. This ritual of scratching ship figures on the walls was a very old tradition in the Mediterranean, more specifically on the villages near the coast. This habit that developed with Romans and mimicked in the Christian world, was used in temples and sacred buildings by the sailors and children. The drawings in the citadel are form the 14th century but the exact date of them is not certain. Thus, it cannot be said for certain whether or not the drawings belonged to sailors who wished a safe journey back home, or, fearful people, trying to find hope from the terror the siege brought to them.
Su Denktas