Observations on the site of SalamisÉtienne Coche de La Ferté

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… If one takes the direction of the Great Forum, south of the Marble Forum, one first meets the Granite Forum, partly cleared by the English hills, and which lies buried at a depth not exceeding much more than 2m., and often not even that. It also offers interesting possibilities to the excavator. However there are no compelling reasons to prefer it to the other monuments. The basilica of Constantia which one finds next and whose pavement is barely below ground level, would no doubt still have information to provide to Christian archaeology. But it is the Great Forum or Limestone Forum that seems to us to constitute the most prestigious complex at Salamis. Ruins largely cleared and which were almost at ground level, a region of rich and important buildings (cistern, porticoes, temple) indicating perhaps the centre of the Roman city, are arguments which favour the choice of this place for undertaking extensive research. Around these ruins and in all directions, but especially towards the North, East and South, slight irregularities of ground, large stones, mosaic tesserae, sometimes a section of wall indicate the presence very accessible of remains no doubt very dense, in this district which must have been among the most populous and most beautiful of the settlement. However the dimensions of the main buildings, the extent of the ruins still buried which surround them, suggest here works of large scale, unless one confines oneself to soundings which the location of the area to be explored would make rather hazardous. If from the Great Forum one goes to the shore, one notes along it the presence of numerous sherds and fragments of Roman tiles, of marble pieces of different colours, of dressed stones, of slabs, of wall bases sometimes submerged, some of which allow the restoration of the shape of dwelling rooms. The villagers of Enkomi relate that the sea has at this spot engulfed part of the town, but that houses were still visible in the time of Richard Cœur de Lion. They say also that at the great spring tides, statues normally submerged became visible near the beach and distant from it by a line of reefs in shallow water, sometimes at about forty metres. We have been unable to verify the accuracy of this fact nor to obtain a confirmation officially; the regional representative of the Antiquities Service does not consider it implausible. Finally it is necessary to draw attention to the fact that the spoil earth would possibly present a delicate problem; that of knowing where it will be possible to transport them. This question must be settled in agreement with the forestry administration. Perhaps it will be possible to leave at least temporarily part of the spoil at the edge of the sea. Certain planted plots will in any case have to be sacrificed if one wishes to avoid long and costly [handwritten: [illegible]] of earth. There are sectors where the plantings are recent and grafted higher than bushes; for these, the approval of the forestry services will no doubt easily be obtained. In sum, the site of Salamis offers attractive prospects: an important town with a few landmarks such as, monuments opulent and for the most part shallowly buried, a centre of art which pa- … continues