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The grey granite column which stands in the middle of the major square of Nicosia
is thought to have been brought from the ruins of Salamis by the Venetians.
Originally it bore a lion on its top. Its base is decorated with Venetian coats of arms
and there is a Latin inscription which reads:
FIDES INCORRUPTA NON PULCHRITUDO NON HUJUS UBERAS SPECETUR INCOLAR
(translation will follow)
The Ottoman Turks overturned the column after the conquest of Nicosia in 1570.
In 1915 the British reerected it this time with a copper globe at its top.