LEFKE:
SOLI and VOUNI
Lefke is picturesque area of Northern Cyprus that is full of citrus fruit gardens but just like the rest of the island it has an abundance of traces from the past.Two of the most significant of these sites belong to soli and vouni who warring cities , that tried top control each other , time aftertime battleing under the rule of kings who wanted to crush their rivals . With this aim they sometimes made pacts with allies although ultimately they shared the same fate .
Research regarding soli dates back to 700 B.C. where it iscited in a list of cities that the Assyriens took tributes/racket.In this list city named si-il –lu . According to historycal source , in 580 B.C. the taking of Aepia accepted advice from his teacher solon , a philosopher from athens , which was to establish a new city near the Ksero River and transfer the river and transver the present city to the new side When establising this new city he named it Soli in dedication to his teacher. Persians later took over the rule on the island in 498 B.C. and brought soli to a standstill after five months of surrounding the city. During this time King Marion made a pact with the persians assisted in overhauling soli. Perhaps in reward for his contribution the persians built vouni palace and gave it to king Marion as a gift to have control of soli . vouni is located on the hill five miles to the west of soli.
An interesting blunder
One interesting fact is that resaerchers subsequently concluded thet vouni is actually the city of Aepia . their mistake was probably because in the ancient Greek language the word Aepia meant the same as Vouni in the new language. Both words mean ‘ The mountain hill' and vouni is of course located on the hill.The findings were gained as a result work carried out by a swedish excavation committee during 1928 -1929 where it ended the mistaken opinion that Aepia and vouni were two different cities . The swedish committee determined that the architectural features of vouni palace belonged to the period when irt was first built and is particular to persian architecture . the persians therefore must have built it .
The moment when the tide turned
The story of two warring Cities took a completely different course in 449 B.C. When Helen's army under the leadership of General Kimon won the battle with the Kiton and Marion armies , the city of Vouni
Palace for the persians and they became very close .This relationship became one of complete agreement in 391 B.C. and joined forces with the persians along with the cities of hilton and Amathus , against Evegaoras , king of Salamis who wanted to take over the whole sovereighty of the island . Soli won back its control through this agreement and attacked its old enemy Vouni in 380 B.C levelling the city . Vouni palace , which was built by the persians for king Marion , was destroyed as a result of this strange historycal war game and was never used again .
While vouni took its place among the dusty pages of history , soli continued its existence for a while . Soli perhaps lived its brightest period when it entered the Roman sovereignty .In the 4th century A.D . soli harbour was so crowded that no ships could enter it and the copper mines were subsequently closed . Intense attacks from arabian pirates then began in the 7th century and erased soli from history just like vouni.The stones of Soli's destroyed buildings were four years taken to be used in different cities . it is even said that some of these stones were used in the 19th century .
Imagining the ancient cities
Research shoved that at the foot of the hill in soli there was a theatre and a kingdom palace just like Vouni . The theatre of Soli dates back to the end of the 2nd century and begining of the 3rd century and most parts of the theatre that still exist today are verry typical examples belonging to the Roman period on the island . however they are not original for during island's British rule there was work carried out to complete the building .
The theatre is estimated toh ave had 3500 seats and consisted of a stage named ‘skene' which was made up from actors' changing rooms and corridors .
The passages were called ‘paradols' and were located in the centre where religious ceremonies and plays were conducted along with the orchestra and was connected to the ‘skene' building . There was also an auditorium where the audience were seated , its stairs having been made from carved rocks and covered with fixed stones it is assumed that the double floored ‘ skene' building was covered in marble and was decorated with statues .The part that can be seen today is the platform where the ‘ skene' building was constructed .Traces OF the tample devoted to the Egyptian Goddess Lsis and the Greek Goddess Aphrodite are found on the west of the theatre . The basilica ( public administiration room ) in soli belongs to the helenistic period and the atrium ( a garden with an open surface in the centre of the building)
i.nside the basilica is decorated with animal and flowers motifs , mosaic foolring and geometric designs .Most of these mosaic are preserved nowadays . on one of the mosaic in front of the apsit ( altar) you can see the greek words ,'jesus,protect those who dedicated this mosaic). The agora market place of the city is surrounded by a wall that is five metres in height. The exavations in the agora are not yet comleted and only some groups of buildings and a dividing road are revealed . Vouni is a city built 250 metres above the sea and it leads down to the sea via three levels . Research shows that Athena temple was on the first level and consisded of gardens and a main room containing statues and altars . it is assumed that the rooms to the southeast were used to protect the treasures of the city . The Persian-built Vouni palace is located on the middle level. It is estimated that the palace had 137 rooms and its structure changed four times since it was first built . on the lower level were the houses where the Vouni people used to live . According to the findings , these houses were built from sun –dried bricks on a stone base . there is no duobt that was is now left from the Soli and Vouni communities of 1000 years ago is not enough to imagine the magnificent times they had .
Mind you , which ruined sites can completely do that.
