Latins of Cyprus_EN

THE LATINS OF CYPRUS 10 Although most Latins perished, the Franciscans did manage to return and establish in 1596 the Holy Cross Friary in Nicosia and the Convent of Our Lady of Graces in Larnaka; these establishments were also used for the accommodation of European merchants, seafarers and travellers. At the same time, a small Latin community timidly began to form in the early 17th century, mainly in Larnaka, initially by Venetians, as the Most Serene Republic of Venice had entered into a peace agreement with the Ottomans in 1573. Contributing to the increase of Larnaka’s secular Latin population was the presence of the consulates, which offered protection and employment opportunities to various Europeans. Later on, during the 17th century, the Latin community was slightly strengthened by Capuchin monks, Armenian Catholics and Greek Catholics (Uniates). In 1646 the Franciscan brothers established the Terra Santa School next to the Holy Cross Friary, the oldest school still operating in Cyprus, at which thousands of students from all the communities of the island were educated, as were non-Cypriots who were sent there as boarders of the school. From the 18th century and, mainly, the 19th century onwards, the island’s Latin population increased with the arrival of European bankers, diplomats, doctors, landowners and merchants, who mainly resided in Larnaka’s Frankish quarter. The newly-arrived came from France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Malta and Dalmatia, while some of them were Levantines. In 1844, sisters of the newly-formed Order of Saint Joseph of the Apparition settled in Larnaka, where they founded a convent, housing the first hospital and pharmacy of the island. They also founded Saint Joseph’s School, the island’s first school for girls which, in the 145 years it operated, accommodated and provided an excellent education to thousands of schoolgirls from all the communities of the island, l Old post-card showing Saint Sophia’s cathedral in Nicosia, which was turned into the Selimiye mosque by the Ottomans.