Cyprus-Forum.com

[Nikitas]

DT, you say "well documented pirate". What kind of documentation is there for piracy during the 19the century?

I have looked and found none about piracy around Cyprus. Do you have any sources?

[denizaksulu]

Deniz,

As I have stated before, I am half GC and half Greek. The Greek side is from an island which is one of the traditinal shipping islands, and has produced its fair share of captains and shipowners. And from my research I know that there would be no Greek shipping today if there had been no pirates in the 18th and 19th centuries. At a time when there were no shipping finaciers piracy provided seed money to buy the first ship.

The funny thing is that we have no pirates in the Greek side, only one on the Cypriot side, which proves yet again that to be GC is to be Greek plus!

Others may dispute the fact, but those old photos Umit posted show sailing ships in all harbors.So there was a time when Cypriots knew how to handle sail, an art quickly lost in the 20th century. No doubnt some of those sailors practiced more than trading carobs to Syria.

I am still trying to find documented evidence of the type of piracy practiced by my ancestor. There were many different types, like simply threatening a ship and taking a kind of "toll" to let sail on, or actually taking over a ship, or giving it false signals and fooling it into beaching, etc. I will get to it in time.

my wife's grandmother's grandfather was a wel documented pirate. His turf apprently was the south coast of turkey and had his 2 ships anchored in larnaca. They had a hell of a lot of artefacts left by him in varosi.

So do you reckon their ill gotten LOOT has been returned to their original country?

Last I checked he didn't beach the ship, run onto the beach, break down the door of the first house he saw and kick the inhabitants out while he put his slippers on. He kept returning to Larnaca.

Anyway I doubt it was Turks he was pillaging then. There were far richer arabian ships going back and forth.

Its all interesting nevertheless.
At the time of the dates you give, there would be no Arab ships. They would all carry the flag or emblem of the Ottomans. They would all have been Moslem ships.eg. the Barbarry coast pirates all paid tribute to the Sultan enabling them to carry out their 'work' under Ottoman protection. Just like Drake and Raleigh I suppose.

[purdey]

It's all down to cost. To restore one old house you can build two new houses, and the tradesmen are not out there in great numbers.
I have (with help) restored two 400 year old houses all with original materials and in the traditional style. In Southern Cyprus grants up to 40% of costs are available via the Government if you use their list of recommended trades people.

[tessintrnc]

It's all down to cost. To restore one old house you can build two new houses, and the tradesmen are not out there in great numbers.
I have (with help) restored two 400 year old houses all with original materials and in the traditional style. In Southern Cyprus grants up to 40% of costs are available via the Government if you use their list of recommended trades people.

Thanks Purdey, I don't know if there such a scheme here in the North, but its a damn shame that the cost involved means losing such historical houses. I know that in some villages a lot of the old houses are sort of "built" around with newer more modern dwellings (by the owners) and the original houses are used for storage etc. I saw one old stone house that had a new house on "stilts" built right above it!! It looked really strange...........
Tess

[denizaksulu]

It's all down to cost. To restore one old house you can build two new houses, and the tradesmen are not out there in great numbers.
I have (with help) restored two 400 year old houses all with original materials and in the traditional style. In Southern Cyprus grants up to 40% of costs are available via the Government if you use their list of recommended trades people.

Purdey,

Have you visited the walled city of Famagusta?

If you see the Ottoman houses built with the stones from old Latin buildings you will be amazed. You can see the houses with stones originating from old Venetian, Lusignan and even older buildings embedded in the walls.

Not all the product of Turkish bombardment(1571). Great earthquakes have also taken their toll.

It is worth a trip.

[DT.]

DT, you say "well documented pirate". What kind of documentation is there for piracy during the 19the century?

I have looked and found none about piracy around Cyprus. Do you have any sources?

I never really asked but I'll check it and get back to you Nikitas cause i'm intrigued now. From what I recall he's mentioned in a book somewhere. He was called the pirate from Sfakia (Crete) Thats were they originally came from and settled in Cyprus.

[purdey]

I spent many a happy day of my youth in Famagusta. Until two years ago I had not revisited since 1973. I love the walled city, and have spent many hours wandering around.
Anything old is my passion in life, old stone, wood. I am due back this year for a further look around, this time with my camera and sketchbook.

[denizaksulu]

I spent many a happy day of my youth in Famagusta. Until two years ago I had not revisited since 1973. I love the walled city, and have spent many hours wandering around.
Anything old is my passion in life, old stone, wood. I am due back this year for a further look around, this time with my camera and sketchbook.

Good idea. LaST YEAR i WENT TO fAMAGUSTA WITHOUT MY CAMERA.

Now I have a back-up with Nokia95 and its 8GB memory.

I have been t Fa agusta so many times I still find places of interest and beauty everytime I go there.

[purdey]

It is my favourite area in Northern Cyprus, history at every turn.

[Nikitas]

DT said:

"I never really asked but I'll check it and get back to you Nikitas cause i'm intrigued now. From what I recall he's mentioned in a book somewhere. He was called the pirate from Sfakia (Crete) Thats were they originally came from and settled in Cyprus. "

My original conclusion was that my ancestor was non Cypriot who settled in Cyprus after his piracy days were over. I based this on the (now proven false) assumption that Cypriots were not sailors. Having seen old photos and engravings it is clear that they could handle complex sailing ships like two masted schooners and brigantines, so they could be pirates too.

The Sfakia connection is interesting. It would be a probable place since Sfakia was a lawless place that had never been controlled by any outsider, still is like that today.

Looking forward to your info.