Cyprus - In the footsteps of a queen
June Samaras
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/heritage/footsteps-queen/20120108
By Natalie Hami
Published on January 8, 2012
Did Caterina Cornaro, the last queen of Cyprus, once make my family
home in the mixed village of Potamia her summer retreat, way back in
the 15th century?
As a child I had not a moment’s doubt that what had become our
sprawling, if majestic-looking ruin years before, was once a grand,
imposing arched palace surrounded by trees and gardens where the
widowed queen escaped when the machinations of Lusignan and Venetian
politics in Nicosia became too much for her to bear.
I had an ally in my Turkish Cypriot father who seemed to believe,
without a doubt, that Queen Caterina had stayed in the mansion just a
20 minute drive from Nicosia. And even to this day visitors to Potamia
only have to mention they’ve heard of a medieval mansion, for
villagers to respond, “Oh, you mean Queen Caterina’s palace.”
All of which has made it harder for me to accept that the antiquities
department’s view is far less romantic.
The department, which requisitioned the property in 2002, concedes
that part of the complex dates back to the times of Lusignan rule from
1192 until 1489, but says there is no evidence the dynasty’s last
representative, Queen Caterina, ever stayed there.
Evi Fiouri archaeological officer of the antiquities department said
the department has never referred to the structure as the queen’s
summer palace but simply as the medieval mansion of Potamia.
“As the antiquities department we never said this, it seems like it
went down in tradition as this,” said Fiouri. “We don’t know how it
started.”
The main structure - the west wing - was kept in my family for
generations and they fought for years to appeal the antiquities
department’s attempts to take over our part of the property until the
expropriation notice finally arrived in 2002.
The department plans to turn the west wing into a cultural centre for
the area, to be used as an exhibition hall, conference hall, lecture
room and for workshops. The works are due to begin this month and will
continue in stages for the next three years depending on funds
available as no EU funds were secured.
“The delays in getting the project started was because of money and
that’s why we’re doing it in stages now,” said Fiouri.
The whole ‘tsiftlik’ - or grand manor house - dates back to different
periods and not all of it will be renovated according to Fiouri. The
west side that belonged to my family and consisted of a two-storey
house surrounding a courtyard area is - rather sadly for me - actually
the most recent part of the complex and dates to Ottoman times
(1571-1878) and will be given the €1 million face-lift. However, it is
the east side, which belonged to Greek Cypriots, that has parts of it
dating back to medieval times. This section will be supported as it
has become too dangerous to simply leave as it is, but not restored.
Fiouri said the medieval structure of the building as well as written
accounts of the area points to the fact that the east side dates back
to Lusignan rule. She mentioned that some archaeological digs have
taken place in the area but would not reveal what, if anything, had
been found.
“A study also took place for the west side in 2010-2011 and it was
discovered that under the flooring there was even older flooring and
this was how we could date it back to the Ottoman period,” she said.
Both wings were linked through an arcaded passage with an upper floor
loggia, or corridor. The complex was surrounded by magnificent gardens
and orchards. A system of different waterworks - wells, cisterns -
still found in the larger area supplied the necessary water for the
gardens.
Although there are no pictures of what the original looked like,
Fiouri said that enough of it remains for a sensitive renovation to be
carried out.
Questioned on why so many years had gone by before the department
decided to carry out reconstruction work, Fiouri said that it had been
a long process to get the expropriations.
Not all in my family have shared my father’s and my romantic view of
our family home. My far more sceptical aunt says she always questioned
whether the falling down mud-brick remains could ever have been part
of a queen’s palace. According to my aunt another story exists: it may
have been a Catholic church. However, again no evidence exists for
this.
Our family left the property empty in 1972 after a taste of modern
conveniences, such as an indoor toilet, following a spell in the UK
that prompted my great uncle and his brother - my grandfather - to
build a new home further towards the centre of the village, where the
majority of Potamia residents now live. The ‘tsiftlik’ was then used
by the National Guard from 1974 to 1978 as a base.
But even the question of how the west wing of the building ended up
with us in the first place is not completely clear with some family
members saying my great grandfather built most of the section we
owned.
A far more fascinating version was put forward by Cypriot historian,
Costas Kyris who wrote an account of the area in an International
Symposium on Political Geography back in 1976. He traced the
‘tsiftlik’ back to the Lusignans and painted a picture of their old
ways lingering on there after the Venetians took direct control of
Cyprus in 1489.
Kyris writes that after the Ottoman invasion of 1571, a number of
“noble or bourgeois ladies with their children were taken prisoner and
some of them married Turkish officers and became Moslem to save their
lives and family property.” He gives the example of two noble widows,
the last Lusignan-Cornaro mistress of the castle and fief of Potamia
and the lady of Mania, who married Ottoman sipahi - part of the
Ottoman cavalry - during and after the conquest. The Lusignan-Cornaro
mistress married a Menteschoghlou of Magnesia after the fall of
Nicosia.
The Menteschoghlous are also referred to as Potamialis or
Potamializades, who Kyris said managed to preserve much of their
‘fief’ and half of the ‘castle’ attached to it as their home, the rest
having been sold to Greek Cypriots. “The last scion of Menteschoghlou,
Abdullah [Hami], is still living at Potamia today, like others of that
village,” said Kyris, referring to my grandfather.
Needless to say, I prefer this version. The times fit, and it means
that despite the scepticism of both my aunt and the antiquities
department, Queen Caterina may well have enjoyed the gardens of her
Potamia palace before the Venetians forced her into exile in 1489 and
brought an end to Lusignan rule.
Caterina Cornaro (1454-1510) was a Venetian noblewoman who became
queen of Cyprus by marrying the Lusignan James II, king of Cyprus,
Jerusalem, and Armenia, supplying him with a much-needed alliance with
Venice.
The marriage agreement was reached in 1468 when she was just 14. In
1472, Caterina finally departed for Cyprus, where the formal ceremony
took place. James died in 1473, leaving her and her unborn child heirs
to the kingdom. Unsuccessful plotters against James now conspired to
deprive Caterina of the throne; and when she bore a son, James III
(August 1473), Cyprus was seized by the archbishop of Nicosia and his
Neapolitan allies. Imprisoned briefly, Caterina was restored by the
intervention of Venice.
The early death of Caterina’s son (1474) precipitated further
conspiracies, all of which were foiled by the Venetians, who gradually
usurped Caterina’s power and finally forced the queen to abdicate
(1489). She was received with honour at Venice and given the castle
and town of Asolo.
--
June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : june.s...@gmail.com