Podocataro Bastion, Nicosia: Pilides's excavation (2000)

Despina Pilides excavated the Podocataro Bastion of the Venetian ramparts of Nicosia in 2000, for the Department of Antiquities¹. The report dates the earliest defences to the 16th century AD and describes them as overlaid in the Ottoman period by layers of unfired brick and red earth. Below those layers three apparent unfired-brick walls were uncovered. Unfired-brick structures set perpendicular to the walls formed rectangular platforms with semicircular cuts, which the report suggests were probably gun emplacements. The report lists Italian imports, lead balls, numerous coins, Turkish pipes and a large stone lion's paw among the finds¹. The excavation was reported in BCH 2001.