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city_n	call_v	great_a	place_n	10,107	5	4.1120	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B21024	A voyage to Mount Libanus wherein is an account of the customs, manners, &c. of the Turks : also a description of Candia, Nicosia, Tripoly, Alexandretta, &c. : with curious remarks upon several passages re[l]ating to the Turks & Maronites / written originally in Italian by the R. F. Jerome Dandini.; Missione apostolica al patriarca de' Maroniti del Monte Libano. English	Dandini, Girolamo, 1554-1634.	1698 (1698)	Wing D168	76,284	146

Venetians There is also on the same hand Buzo and Elisa which are inhabited by Christians and belong to the same Venetians We discovered afterwards on the same side Gaza Arista Meleda which belong to the Republick of Ragusa Casaro and Budua subject to the Venetians And we saw also at a great distance the famous City of Ragusa further are Cluticari Deleigno Durazzo Sasamo Vallona and Cimarra governed and inhabited by the Turks A little further is also a Rock called Fano uninhabited belonging to the Signiory of Venice as well as Corfu Ce●alonia Zant Strivalli All these places are inhabited by Christian Greeks A little further we discovered Navarino Sapienza Cavogallo and Camatapano which are subject to the Turks And further again upon the Left is Cerigo and on the Right Cerigoso depending upon the Venetians Finally as we continued to look on that side we discovered the Island of Candia which we had longed to see and where we arrived safe a little while after CHAP. III. Of the Isle and City of Candia IN all the course of our Sailing we cast Anchor no where but here and that we were obliged to do because our Ship carry'd 60 Venetian Soldiers which were to be put there on shoar leaving therefore the Cape St. John or Cape Lion to the South and following the Cape Spada which is to the North sometime called Cimario we Anchored at Frashia on the 13th of the same Month half an hour after Sun-set being 8 Miles distant from the City of Candia and as we were obliged to sojourn there for some time we went ashoar next day in a Galley that came to fetch the Soldiers This Isle called by the Ancients Creet is much samed for its bigness for it is 560 Miles in circumference 250 long and 60 Miles over where 't is broadest it is much celebrated by the Ancients who believed as did their Poets that it was the Country of the Gods and that Jupiter was Nursed up there on Mount Ida not to mention its famous Labyrinth which they hold to have been near to the ancient City of Cortina and of the excellent Laws of Rodamanthus and Minos who governed the People after Jupiter and founded the Republick of Creet This Island had once an hundred Cities altho' Homer in his Odyssees allows it but 90 there remains not at this day but four which are Canea Retimo Candia to the West and Sittia to the East Candea and Canea are the best besides that there are in it two Ports called Spina Longa and Sude not to speak of other Places fit for Anchorage The City of Candia stands in the middle of the Island a dozen Miles distant from the Grot of Minos and very near to Mount Ida it is indeed a very great and spacious City but much ruined by Earthquakes The Houses are almost all built with Gravel yet the Buildings are not unhandsome they have no Tiles but there and in all the Levant except at Antioch have Terrasses of Lime or of some other Matter well made with Spouts on the sides for to let the Water run out Probably they use such sort of Buildings because they are not so Curious and Industrious as we however I believe they cover their Houses in that manner out of frugality to the end they may as well spread Cloth and Linnen there for to be whitened as to sleep in Summer Nights thereon for the coolness of the Air when the excessive heat hinders them to remain in their Houses When they would repose themselves upon the Terrass they spread thereon a Mat and sometimes over that a Carpet and sleep in that manner exposed to the Air which is very sweet in those Parts and no ways injurious to health The use also of their Terrasses might proceed in that they have seldom any Rain for there falls not oftentimes a drop of Water for six Months together and I understood that they had had no Rain since the second day of February neither did they expect any till November The Streets of that City are streight but very nasty the Republick of Venice kept a Garison of 2000 Soldiers about it part of which were Posted in a Citadel upon the Sea-side and the rest disposed in other Places There is also some Garison in Canea The rest of the Inhabitants are almost all Greeks amongst whom there remains yet some noble Venetians for that Boniface Marquis of Montferat having sold them that Island in the Year 1194. they transported thither some Families of the Nobility and Citizens for to inhabit the Place It was afterwards retaken in 1349. after a Revolt and since that time they have enjoyed it peaceably The Country is very Mountanous and almost Barren one can see there also but few Trees and Herbs but yet it follows not but that it hath Plains of many Miles extent fertile in Grain Trees Olives Oranges Lemons and all other sort of Commodities Moreover there grow Berries for to dry Cloth withal much Wax there is and Honey Cheese and Medicinal Herbs so that 't is very good Living there There is also a great quantity of excellent Wines whereof the most estimable is Muscadine insomuch that those that know it not take it for Malmsey but they are mistaken for it comes from a little Island that bears the Name of it The goodness of the Wines of Candia renders the Natives great Drunkards and it happens sometimes that two or three great Drinkers will set themselves at the head of a Tun of Wine from whence they will not stir till they have emptied it There is no venemous Animal to be found in that Country so that they are not afraid of Scorpions Serpents Toads neither can you see there a Wolf Tyger nor any other the like Beast so that they live there in great repose both Night and Day Persons of approved Faith have told me a remarkable thing there which hath also been written of by good Authors to wit That there is growing upon Mount Ida which hath been shewed me at a distance an Herb whose Vertue was to gild the Teeth of those Animals that eat of it one may believe and with good reason that that proceeds from the golden Mines which are in that ground There grows also a certain Herb called Alincos which being bitter preventeth ones being hungry for a whole day but that which is wonderfully surprizing and beyond the force of Nature are certain pieces of Money which they call St. Helens that are found up and down the Fields where there is also Brass and other Silver They pretend that that Saint happening to be in that Country without Money made some of Brass which in passing of them changed into Silver this Money they say hath the vertue to this day to cure the Falling-Sickness in them that hold it to their Hand or apply it to their Flesh The Custom of the Women of this Island is not to go out of their Houses in the day time no not to go

thereabouts having been so impious and hardy as to cut down some of these Trees they call Saints were punished forthwith with the utter loss of their Beasts One may also see there the Spring of a Rivolet which the Inhabitants call the holy River for that it takes its source from the Mountain whereon grow the Cedar-Saints in a very hidden and delicious place and from it descends along the Valley running with little murmuring streams amongst flint stones I was very much satisfied to have seen the foresaid place and in my return to the Monastery where resided the Patriarch I informed my self of the goodness of the Soil of the Customs and Ways of living in that Country as also of their Belief and I endeavoured to observe them as exactly as possibly I could All the Country consists of stony and high Mountains which extend from North to South 't is a good days Journey in breadth and four or five long so that in circumference it may be 6 or 700 Miles Yet these Mountains by the Industry and Labour of Men seem for the most part like a Plain for they gather the stones together in some low places which are dispersed here and there and raise up high Walls therewith and so proceeding on daily erect others therewith insomuch that by the force of levelling Mountains and filling up of the Valleys they make of a barren Mountain a pleasant Campaign which may be easily cultivated and such as is very pleasant and agreeable This Country abounds in Corn excellent Wines in O●● Cotton Silk Honey Wax Wood savage and tame Animals and especially in Goats As for small Animals there are but a few because the Winter there is very sharp and that they have Snow continually They have a great number of Sheep big and fat as those of Cyprus As soon as you pass Cyprus there are no more Hogs to be seen because the Turks eat none but in recompence to that you shall find a great number of wild Boars in their Forests as well as Bears Tygers and other the like Animals The rest of the Country is fill'd with Partridges which are as big as Hens no Dove-Houses to be seen there nor in all the Levant but there are abundance of Pigeons Turtle-Doves Black-Birds Gnat-snappers and all sort of Birds There are also Eagles and many Squirrels to be seen They never use Spades to their Vineyards but they cultivate them with their Oxen for they are planted with strait rows of Trees far enough one from another They use no props for to support the Trees but let them creep along the earth the Wine that is produced therefrom is delicate and exceeding pleasant it 's a very surprizing thing to see the bigness of the Grape which is equal to a Prune and I easily comprehended in seeing of them why the Hebrews had so great a desire to tast them and that they pushed forwards with so much passion the Conquest of the Land of Promise after they had seen the Grape which the Spies of Joshua brought back from the neighbouring Countries These Mountains abound therefore not only in stones but in all other things necessary to support Life and I doubt not but that they are enbowelled with rich Mines There is a certain place a little above the Monastery of Caunubin where is found stones which give light like unto Flambeaux which apparently discovers that they are composed of Matter full of Sulphur and Bitumen There may also be seen in other places ground fit for the production of Iron As I continued on my Journey the Deacon Joseph Cater who was with me assured me That it was but very lately at the eating of a Goat he found all her Teeth of a silver colour This confirms that which I observed in Candia to wit That the Animals that live on Mount Ida eat a certain Herb which renders their Teeth of a golden colour which according to my judgment cannot otherwise proceed than from the Mines which are under ground CHAP. XI Of the Customs of the Maronites and of their Manner of Living THE Maronites will not suffer the Turks to live amongst them altho' they be in all the rest of Syria so that you cannot see one there they are beholding for it to the great care of their Deacons who spare neither their Purses nor their Lives to that purpose Their lives therefore upon their Mountains no other than the Christians which they call Maronites who have taken their name from a certain Abbot called Maron whom they sent to Rome to the Pope in the time that all the East was separated from the Holy See and divided into divers Sects This Abbot returned from thence with the Title of Patriarch over 'em who lived firm and constant in their Faith This same Person lead a Religious Life so that they invoke him as such in their Masses They do not inhabit great Cities and magnificent Palaces but little Villages whereof there is a great number and in divers places Their Houses are mean and little worth not but that they have noble and rich Persons amongst them but they are tyranniz'd so over by the Turks that they are constrained to shun all manner of grandeur and ostentation they make themselves poor that they may shun ill treatments and they affect also to go meanly clad Their habit differs not from that of the other Levantines which consists of a Turbant and little Vest that descends down to the knees or to the middle of the leg and sometime they wear the Spain or Abb to cover it they go ordinarily with their legs naked altho' there be some who have Drawers on according to the Turkish manner with Shoes The Arms they use are the Bow Harquebus Cimitar and Dagger they are very tall Men of a natural sweetness docible to Arms and resemble the Italians more than any other Nations They use no Tables nor Stools to sit on but instead thereof sit down cross-legg'd upon Mats or Carpets spread upon the ground and there eat and drink instead of a Table-cloth they lay a round piece of leather and cover it about with Bread tho' there be but two or three to eat They sit round and put the Victuals in the middle they eat just as the Turks do making no use of Napkins Knives nor as much as Forks but have only very pretty wooden Spoons and when they drink the Glass goes round If any one eats in anothers House 't is the Master of the House that waits and serving every one with his Glass so that he has no manner of repose at the Table They drink often however their Glasses are but small the more they drink the more honour they think they do to their Host and altho' the leather that serves for a Table-cloth be taken up yet they cease not to drink as long as there is any Wine in the Vessel These leathern Table-cloths are neatly folded up with the drawing of a small cord that is round about them

Sum increaseth Wherefore it comes to pass that if any one has not his Money ready he is obliged to take it from the Turks upon very great Interest and if he finds himself unwilling to accept of it upon the conditions he is constrained to sell his Land forthwith for as much as he can get for it insomuch that it happens oftentimes that one loseth a great Inheritance or a Tenement of 4 or 5000 Crowns value for a very small matter nay sometimes for a Crown The Dead pay their Garage as well as the Living for as the Grand Seignior esteems himself Absolute Master of the Country and of all the Estates of the Inhabitants to whom he grants only the use of them he believes that in case of Mortality all their Possessions ought to return to him and by consequence the right Heirs or Testators if they have a mind to enjoy them peaceably ought to pay him a certain Sum proportionable to the Estates they inherit Some pay ten or a dozen Crowns others forty or fifty and it amounts sometimes to an hundred or two of Crowns or more There is a Person who rangeth the Country up and down continually for to learn who are dead to the end he may raise the Tribute If any one has been lately Interred he soon perceives it and causeth them also oftentimes to open Graves for to see if there be any newly dead Moreover if any one has business necessary to be treated about with the Emir be it to demand a Favour or Justice he concludes nothing but by the force of Money No Person durst appear before this Judge without large Sums and Presents he that carries most receives most profit and 't is almost incredible how much Money he squeezeth from these poor People in a Year nay every Day so insupportable is the Tyranny of the Turks and so Miserable is the condition of them who live under their Dominion the violence is too great and I cannot believe it can be endured any long time many of them are already withdrawn and have abandoned their Lands an Houses others depart daily and go into other Countries being no longer able to endure the grand Impositions wherewith they are surcharged they chuse rather to live in the Poverty and Afflictions of a voluntary banishment than to remain with their Estates in their own Country under so insupportable a Tyranny Altho' these are withdrawn the Emir pretends he will lose upon that consideration none of the ordinary Tribute he is paid Yearly by the two Deacons two thousand Crowns for these abandoned Estates part of which they pay out of their own Pockets and the rest is paid by the People to the end he send not any Turks into those Places for to possess them but I shall no longer detain the Reader with the relation of a thing so sad and deplorable CHAP. XIII Of their Ecclesiasticks and Religious WE must now begin to speak of the Belief and Religion of these People and for your better understanding you must know they have as all others Laicks Ecclesiasticks and Religious but as we have sufficiently spoken already of the Laicks we are now to say something of the Ecclesiasticks and Religious The Clergy have their Degrees as well Sacred as not Sacred This pretty Hierarchy which hath been established in the Church is perfectly represented in the Person of the Patriarch who is subject to the Pope and that of divers Bishops and of a good number of Priests who are governed by the Bishops The Patriarch and the Bishops keep a perpetual Celibat and there are none but the Monks that are admitted to this Dignity for there are none but these that live unmarried If they take any one that has broken this Order they lock him up forthwith in a Monastery and he eats no more Bread There are two sorts of Bishops amongst-them one of which are but meer Abbots of Monasteries and have no care of Souls upon them they have neither the Mark nor Episcopal Habit but are dress'd as other Monks are and have only this Privilege That they carry the Mitre and Cross in singing of Mass The other have under their Governments the greatest Churches and wear a Vest nethermost altogether according to the Mode of the Country and over that a Spain or Violet coloured Cloth which descends down to the ground with a very great blue Turbant The Patriarch is clad in the same manner as the Bishops and 't is he alone that hath the particular Jurisdiction of all Mount Libanus excepting some places too remote from him where he placeth some Bishop for that end but as he cannot always in Person visit so great an extent of Land which is very difficult he keeps by him two or three Bishops one of which applies himself particularly to the Administration of Cannubin where the Patriarch resideth and to collect the Taxes and Revenues of the Country which amount to three or four thousand Crowns He sends the other here and there into different Places for to visit the Churches and supply their Necessities There are moreover three other Bishops without these Mountains which have also their Jurisdiction apart but yet with a dependance upon the same Patriarch one of which resides at Damas the other at Aleppo and the third in the Isle of Cyprus every one has the care of the Maronites which have a dependance on him The other Priests and with much more reason the Deacons and Sub-deacons can at leastwise if they be not Mon●● marry before they receive holy Orders which they are the rather constrained to do because the People look not favourably upon them if they be not married especially such as are young and the Bishops do with great difficulty admit them into Orders if they confine not themselves into the Monasteries or not marry The Deacons Sub-deacons and the other inferior Clerks have no other habit but such as the Laicks wear The Priests are not distinguished but by a blue Turbant which they wear a little less than that of the Bishops and as to the rest they do no ways differ from others The Religious have none of that distinction of Order and Profession that is used elsewhere they are all alike I am perswaded that these Monks are the remnants of those ancient Hermites which lived separate from Mankind and dwelled in great numbers in the Desarts of Syria and Valestine there are excellent Authors that have treated of them and I believe I have my self good proofs for to support that Opinion The first are the Places of their Abode for their Residence is not in delicious Plains or on pleasant little Hills accommodated with agreeable Prospects nor in well-peopled Cities and Places frequented by Men but they are retired to the most abstruse Parts of these Mountains separated from all Commerce and living under great Rocks so that they seem to dwell in Grots and Caverns fit rather for wild Beasts than Habitations for Men. Their poor and ordinary

hear Mass or Sermon nevertheless they run in great Troops along the Streets all Night and for the most part with Men enter into the Churches which they leave open on purpose for them This Custom is blame-worthy not only because these Women perform not their Duties towards God but also because it is against Modesty and good Manners for it would be a far more laudable thing for them to go civilly by Day to Church than tumultuously in the Night Season I should have work to do to reckon up all the Impurities of the Prelates Priests and other Ecclesiasticks of this Nation their Separation from the Latine Church their Maledictions and Excommunications they fulminate upon the most sanctified Days against it when we pray for their Welfare I shall also say nothing of their Right Pride Obstinacy Defection of Faith of the difficulty to Treat with them of their Enchantments Superstitions horrible and continual Blasphemies which cannot be heard without horror Finally St. Paul had reason to say according to one of their own Poets Those of Creet are always Lyars they are wicked Beasts Gluttons and Lazy The 8 days I staid in this Town would have been very wearisome unto me because of the excessive and continual heats if we had not received some relaxation from the Charity and agreeable Conversation of the Fathers Benedelto Benedetto and Francisco Paroschetti of our Society who resided there at that time CHAP. IV. Passage to Cyprus and Nicosia with an Account of the City of Nicosia and its Churches WE parted from Candia the 8th of August two hours before day in a little Frigat for to go on board our Ship into which we entred at Sun-rising some time after we weighed Anchor and sailed The Wind was favourable unto us in passing by the Isle which we left to the Right then we entred into the Gulph of Settalia a dangerous place for sailing and so continuing our course through that Gulph we discovered on the Left Casso and Scarpanto which are Inhabited by Greeks and Turks and depending upon the last We left also on the same hand Rhodes and all Caramania without yet being able to see them for we were too far wide that was also the reason that after we had run for three Days and three Nights without the sight of Land that we arrived on the 12th of August at Cyprus We Anchored in the Evening at Lemiso where the Inhabitants particularly the Turks made a visit to our Ship we were there 3 days on board for that there was nothing in that place worth the seeing and no Church for to do our Devotion in We parted about Twelve on the 16th for Salina whither a good Wind brought us in a short time and we arrived there two hours before Sun-setting from thence to Candia is about 600 Miles Next day very early we went ashoar and on directly to Arnique which is not past a Mile distant 't is a Monastery of Religious Franciscans who live there in a small number for the conveniency of some Italian Merchants Our Ship continued its course for Alexandretta the which obliged us to see for another Vessel to pass for Tripoly in Syria and as we could not obtain that presently we sojourned some days in that Isle That I might lose no time I left my Companion who had been constantly indisposed since we came from Candia in the hands of these good Religious and the Maronite that we brought along with us and I accompanied an honest Venetian Merchant who lived in those Parts and were going to Nicosia anciently called Lettra since Lencolto and which was sometime the Archbishoprick and Metropolis of this Kingdom 't is 24 Miles distant from Arnique I undertook this Journey for to inform my self as well as possibly I could of the Spiritual Concerns of the Maronites which are there in great numbers There are none but Turks that have liberty to enter thereunto on Horseback and to all other strong Places As for the Christians and others they are obliged to alight at the Gate and when they are within they have power to re-mount their Horses and ride to their Lodgings The Turks have made this Order out of meer vanity I entred then into the Town and that Venetian Merchant did me the favour to conduct me with him into his Lodging having refreshed my self a little after the fatigues of the Road I went to see that which was worth viewing and particularly the Churches Nicosia is a large and very fair City built after the Eastern fashion but it is ruined in divers places because of the late Wars for the Turks have taken it by force of Arms from the Venetians together with the rest of the Isle Some years ago it was so that God by his Justice was willing to punish the Sins and Schism of the Greeks in those places They adored there formerly with much veneration the Holy Trinity but now to the great regret of all good Christians you can hear but the impious Invocation of the false Prophet Mahomet They had sometime there Churches and Altars raised to the honour of good Saints but instead of them there is nothing now but Mosques amongst which stands still that grand and magnificent Temple of St. Sophie There is no sound of Bells to be heard in all the Levant for to give notice of Divine Worship according to ancient Custom and of the hours of the Day for the Steeples are either ruined or without Bells the Turks have taken them for Warlike Uses and made Pieces of Artillery of them Instead then of the confused and inanimate sound of Bells they are served with the distinct and animate Voices of Men who at certain appointed hours mount up to the tops of the Steeples for to give the Inhabitants notice This manner of observing their hours is in use in all the Levant There is at Nicosia 4 sort of Churches which I have seen all in particular The Turkish Mosques are the most considerable as well for number as for the beauties and grandeur of their Buildings altho' Christians are not suffered to enter into them yet I failed not to see through the Iron Grates that that which hath been made of the Temple of St. Sophia was the principal and most magnificent of them all 't is a large and spacious Fabrick which has many Pillars in it as may be seen in most of our Churches it had no Altars Images nor Paintings the Walls were only whited There is at the Door of this Temple a delicate Fountain which was not there in the time of the Christians the Turks wash therein the crowns of their Heads Hands and Feet before they enter into the Mosque at the ordinary hours and particularly in the Afternoon at which time these Villains invoke their false Prophet and cry without measure Halla Halla Chibir Mehemme Sur Halla that is to say God is a great God Mahomet is the Companion of God with many other Fooleries and Blasphemies Those who