In This Manner The Rock Has Been Worked Until
It Resembled A Flight Of Steps, Which Remain In Many Places Perfect To
The Present Hour.
The entire fortress and town have been constructed
from these quarries, and there can be no doubt that when Kyrenia was
originally founded by the Dorian colonists under Cepheus and Praxander
the stones were obtained from the existing site.
There is a considerable
difference in the quality of the rock, which has been remarked by the
original builders, as a passage has been cut through the first cliff
face nearest to the town, and the desired level for wheeled conveyances
having been obtained, the workmen have discovered a superior stone as
they proceeded into the bowels of the quarry. They have accordingly
neglected much of the nearer portion, and have excavated a large square,
always pushing forward towards the west, which is now terminated by a
worked perpendicular face and a series of steps incomplete, precisely as
it remained when the last chisel relinquished the labour.
This quality of rock in all parts of Cyprus is cavernous, and the
natural caves have suggested to the ancients an artificial extension
both for dwellings and for cemeteries. The rock is easily worked by the
mason's pick, and near the town I observed an old fort-ditch which had
been originally excavated for the double object of quarrying building
stone at the same time that it served the purpose of defence. There
would be no great difficulty in connecting the ancient quarry with the
harbour by cutting a canal through the soft rock and extending the depth
of the ancient excavations.
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