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"Cyprus .... a land famous in all ages. The rosy realm of Venus, the romantic kingdom of the Crusaders." Cyprus, a little world in itself.... no wild beasts or reptiles disturb the solitude. The water is sweet and cool, the wine is nectar and the food plain but good; above all, I know that my grave will be respected and that kind hands will clode my eyes."
The singular interest of the history of Cyprus is primarily due to its geographical position.
There is no country whose fortunes have been more varied, or which has reflected more
faithfully the ebb and flow of races. It has been the meeting-place of Aryan and
Semite,of West and East,of Egypt and Asia, of Christian and Moslem. Possessed in turn by great
monarchies of the East, by Greeks, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks, and Christians,it has been in the
forefront of every racial and religious struggle until, finally after a
transitional period during which it was occupied by a Christian Power of the West,
while paying tribute, as in the earliest times, to an Eastern master, it has been numbered
amongst the possessions of the British Crown.
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