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Defence
The defence of
the island was of pressing importance, because the invention of
gunpowder in the fourteenth century had rendered obsolete all
the castles of the Lusignans. Against the new artillery the
mediaeval walls of masonry were useless. Fortification had to be
made of thick ramparts of earth, not only to withstand the fire
of the attack but also to provide a wide platform for the cannon
of the defenders, from which they could sweep with fire the
ditch and the sloping glacis beyond it. The Venetians,
therefore, had to rebuild the fortresses that they decided to
retain. The remainder, including the Castles of St. Hilarion,
Buffavento, and Kantara, were dismantled and partially
destroyed. The object of this destruction was to render useless
any place which might otherwise serve as a stronghold in any
possible rising of the population against their alien
rulers.
As the defence
of the island was to provide a secure base for naval action and
for maritime trade, the first object of the Venetians was the
fortification of Famagusta, which was undertaken by the two
earliest governors, Nicolo Foscarini and Nicolo Priuli. The
mediaeval fortifications of Famagusta consisted of the
sea-castle, built at the beginning of the Lusignan period, and
the wall round the town built by King Henri II after the fall of
Acre. The Venetians cut a ditch, hewn out of the solid rock, and
replaced the mediaeval wall on the west and south of the city by
an earth rampart faced with masonry, flanked by round towers at
intervals. At the south-west corner was built the great ravelin,
or bastion to protect the main entrance, and at the south-east
corner, where the wall meets the sea, the tower of the
arsenal.
At Kyrenia
castle, the Venetians built a massive wall some 20 feet outside
the existing mediaeval wall and filled up the space between the
two walls with earth to form an artillery platform. This was
done on the west, south and the east sides of the castle, the
northern front facing the sea being left unaltered, as it was
not exposed to artillery attack. In this reconstruction the
inner harbour was abolished and converted into a dry ditch. The
old mediaeval castle of Jean d’Ibelin was thus encased, except
on the north side, by the Venetian ramparts, which remain to
this day.
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