Louis Salvator , 1873

Ludwig Salvator, born in 1847 in the palace of Florence, was the third son of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II, of the Hapsburg family from Austria. In 1870 he relinquished his official duties and set off on a long journey on board the cruiser “Nixe”. In 1873 he visited Cyprus where for six months he lived in Nicosia in the home of Mr. Christodoulou. In his book, entitled “Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus”, he describes in detail the city, the bazaars, the produce as well as the traditions he saw during his stay on the island.

“Levkosia first bursts upon the sight, with her slender palms and minarets, seated in a desert plain, a chain of picturesque mountains as the backround, it is like a dream of the Arabian nights realised - a bouquet of orange gardens and palm trees in a country without verdure, an oasis encircled with walls framed by human hands.

Great is the contrast between the town and its surroundings, and greater still between the objects within the city. There are Venetian fortifications by the side of Gothic edifices surmounded by the Crescent, on antique Classic soils. Turks, Greeks, and Armenians, dwell intermingled, bitter enemies at heart , and united solely by their love for the land of their birth”.

Ludwig Salvator, Archduke of Austria, Levkosia, the capital of Cyprus, english edition, 1881.