Our Boat, the Dragonfly, was waiting for us in the Harbor of Girne at 9 am this Morning
Finally, after months of planning and preparations, the day has arrived. Today, we sail from Cyprus to Turkey. It will take 6 hours to cross the 60 miles wide Strait of Kyrene. The sea is flat. The strong northerly which wiped the sea two days ago stopped blowing. On the way, we may meet one or two ferry boats bringing trucks to Cyprus. But the sea will be mostly empty. Two thousand years ago, when Augustus was Roman Emperor, the sea was filled with hundreds of sails – grain freighters heading to Rome. The Kyrene Straits were “passage oblige” for ships coming from Alexandria. On average they weighted 300 tons and were 30 meters long – very similar to the Dragonfly – of course without AC and cabins. The crew slept on deck but they had a chef!
After three Days we said Good Bye to Cyprus - behind Girne afe the Kyrene Mountains
On Saturday, we had the chance to see one of these ancient ships – the 2’500 years-old Kyrene ship. It is exhibited in the Maritime Museum inside the old Venetian Castle at Girne’s harbor. The fortress is well maintained and worth visiting. A good example of military architecture of the early Renaissance. Three of its rooms are used to house the Kyrene ship found in the waters north of Kyrene in 1965. Only the Uluburun ship is older. We will visit it at the end of this trip in Bodrum.
The remains of the Kyrene Ship are well preserved and protected
by raisin which has to be replaced every three years
It was fascinating to finally see the original and how it was built. The ribs were nailed together with hand-made iron nails – admired the blacksmith who made them with such precision. Their size and shape is very consistent. Equally fascinating were the original amphorae coming from the Greek islands of Kos and Rhodes. Their origin can be derived from the stamps on their handle. Every island and every town had its own stamp. Wonder whose idea this was – a true stroke of genius!
The Amphorae were stacked onto a Layer of Sand and tied together to keep them stable
The amphorae carried wine and are a testimony to the diversification of the ancient economy a good 200 years before Alexander the Great. The boat was probably on the way to Kyrene to load copper hides, the 12 kg heavy standard ingot for the metal from Cyprus. Trading did not only include wine, olive oil, wheat or metals. There was also a broken jar full of dried almonds. They survived the 2’500 years in the sea quite well. Maybe the salt water acted as a preservative.
The 2'500 Years-old Almonds survived their Stay at the Bottom of the Sea pretty well
We did not have enough time yesterday to visit the Saint Hilarion Castle high above Girne. Built during the Arab raids in the 7th century, it acted as a look-out for hostile ships. We tend to forget that the Arabs acquired naval and maritime know-how when they overrun Syria and captured the Levant in 634 AD. The people on the Phoenician coast built ocean going vessels for centuries and knew how to handle them.
The Saint Hilarion Castle is one of the 3 Byzantine Look-Out Castle in the Kyrene Mountains
Thus the Arabs were able to immediately assemble a fleet and attack Constantinople by sea twice in 674 and 717 AD. There are more of these look-out castles on the Anatolian side. We originally planned to visit one of them, the Softa Castle, tonight. But we got stuck for more than two hours at customs. Seems that the local custom officers had not handled a sailing yacht like ours before. Anyway, we safely arrived in Turkey near Anamur. A short swim and early dinner will close the day. Softa Castle will have to wait for tomorrow.
The Byzantine Softa Castle near Cubukkoyagi had to wait until tomorrow
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