Cyprus Under Venice

Venice emerged when the Goths invaded and the people of Veneto fled to the lagoon. Legend claims the city was founded in AD 421 on the 25th April, St Mark's Day. Trade links with Byzantium were forged, and the city prospered on its salt trade. The first doge, elected in 697, was a Byzantine magistrate. In 828, the Venetians brazenly stole the relics of St Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria for their basilica.

The Venetian Republic (697-1797), traditionally known as La Serenissima, was primarily a maritime republic. Before long, Venice dominated trade in the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, as well as commerce between Europe, North Africa and Asia. It provided supplies and shipped Crusaders to fight the Saracens in the Holy Land; in the Fourth Crusade, which culminated, in 1204, with the conquest of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople.

In Cyprus, Venetians were based on the island before Venice formally took over in 1489. White Venetians were made up of Venetians who were already settled on the island and who owned or managed large agricultural tracts and paid annual taxation.

Caterina Cornaro's family maintained close ties with the Kingdom of Cyprus from the 14th century onwards and owned the sugar mills in the area of Episkopi in Limassol. 

Caterina arrived in Cyprus at the end of 1472 and ruled the island from 1474 until 1489. In 1489, she was forced to give up the administration of the state to the Venetians and returned to Venice and made her home at Asolo where she lived until 1510. 

Nicosia was the administrative centre for the Venetians. It was the largest town and the commercial and administrative centre, and like Famagusta, developed into a large urban centre. At that time, Nicosia had a population of some 30,000 inhabitants.

Urban councils were set up in the town, and the city had two councils. One represented the top echelons of urban society, that is the nobles and the bourgeoisie, and the other, the lower classes. 

The town's economy was linked to trade, but also to a range of crafts, such as weaving, the production of woven goods, and dye processing that operated in the town and were linked to agriculture.

In 1567, the Venetians decided to fortify the city of Nicosia. The new walls were in the shape of a star, with eleven bastions. The heart-shaped design of the bastion was more suitable for the new artillery and for better control by the defenders. The walls had only three gates, Kyrenia Gate to the north, Paphos Gate to the west, and to the east Famagusta Gate, which is the largest and was named Porta Julia.

As well as Cyprus, Venice governed the Peloponnese, Crete and most of the Greek islands.

The lion, has stood on a column in St Mark's Square in Venice since around the 12th Century and is recognised worldwide as a symbol of the city. The winged lion is the traditional emblem of St Mark, the patron saint of Venice.

Sources: A Guide to the History of Nicosia (Leventis Municipal Museum), Eyewitness Travel: Venice and the Veneto