§ 1.577  [I. FROM GAETA TO ALEXANDRIA]
On the 17th of June 1394, on the eve of Corpus Christi, I, Nicola de Martoni, a lawyer from the town of Carinola, wishing to visit the Holy Sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ [578] and other places overseas, embarked with the noblemen Sir Antonatio de Aspello, from Suessa, and Sir Cobello de Dyano, from Teano, and many other pilgrims, on a ship of Mellus Maltacia, from Gaeta, along with four other ships bound for Alexandria, on the way to the holy city of Jerusalem.

§ 1.578  On Thursday, the Feast of Corpus Christi, there was a violent storm with gale force winds and heavy seas. We passed the island of Ventotene (Ventutera), about thirty miles from Gaeta. It is six miles in circumference and there is an abundance of fish which attracts fishermen from Ischia and Gaeta.
On Saturday 20 June to sunset on the Tuesday all we saw was sky and sea. The sea was very rough and waves swept over the deck of the ship. As the sun went down on Tuesday all the pilgrims and sailors saw the mountains of Sicily, except me, because of my bad eyesight.
On Wednesday, the Feast of John the Baptist, the sea grew calm and we headed for the island of Marettimo, which is near the town of Trapani. I could see it clearly as it looked like a high mountain, like the Massique in Carinola.
The island of Pantelleria
Heading towards Sicily, the island of Pantelleria is to the north. It is twenty miles in circumference and populated by Saracens, although it is now under Genoese control. (Saracen was the late Roman and Greek name for Arab and subsequently Muslim.)
The island of Gozo (Gocze)
On Friday 26 June, towards evening, we came to the island of Gozo, which is about thirty miles round. It is ruled by Artale Alagona of Aragon.

§ 1.579  There is a castle with about forty dwellings. They have vines and an abundance of silk worms and cumin and all sorts of meat. You can get ten kilos of beef for a carleno. A goat costs four grana and a kilo of lamb two grana.
The island of Malta (Mante)
Three miles from Gozo is the island of Malta, sixty miles around, also ruled by Artale Alagona. There is only one town and several with villages numbering four thousand dwellings. There is plenty of everything they need, as on Gozo. We could see the mountains of Sicily sixty miles away. For a long time we steered clear of them, for fear of the ships and galleys of the Catalans, who were laying siege to the Sicilian town of Catania.
On Friday 26 June we left Malta and Gozo and took to the high seas. Three Genoese ships, one of which had a Genoese captain, left us without warning and headed off to Alexandria. We remained in fear of Catalan ships and for eight days we saw only the sky and the sea.
Methoni and Koroni (Modona et Corona)
On the following Friday, 3 July, towards evening, the mountains of the island of Sapienza came into view. There is nothing there except a castle on the heights protecting Koroni and Methoni three miles away. Koroni is forty miles on from Methoni. They are under Venetian rule. In the past they belonged to our King of Italy, who gave them to the Venetians in return for patrolling the sea to protect the lines of supply to the rest of Romania from Saracen raids. The Venetians used this pretext to keep control of the territory.

§ 1.580  At dawn on Sunday, 5 July, near the island of Citrini (Kythira), we came across four ships sailing six miles away. We all got our weapons ready for fear they were pirate ships. But they changed direction and headed west.
The Island of Citrini
Kythira lies ten miles from a mountain called Cape Maleas (Capud Sancti Angeli) on the mainland at the southernmost point of the Peloponnese. A hermit lives in a church on the mountain. On Kythira is a city governed by the Venetians.
It was on Kythira that Paris, son of the Trojan king Priam, landed when he came to take back Priam’s sister Exione (Hesione), who had been abducted by the Greeks. This was against the wishes of Hector and his other brothers, who predicted the destruction of Troy. Paris left for Greece with several ships and landed on Kythira, where there was a temple that stands to this day. Helen, the wife of King Menelaus, who reigned over this part of Romania, which was then Greece, came to the temple. She was a jewel among women for her beauty. As soon as they saw each other Queen Helen and Paris fell passionately in love. He abducted her from the temple and took her away to Troy.
Let us leave this story to the scholars and students of Troy. The island is very fertile and you get seven crustati to the ducat.
The Islands of Ovo/Chytra/Avgo, As and Patas. (Ova, Assi et Patassi)
Between two and four miles away from Kythira are three little islands. One is called Ovo, which is about a mile round, but does not look to me any bigger than the Castell dell’Ovo of Naples. The other islands are called As and Patas. They seem about the same size as Ovo. None of them are inhabited.

§ 1.581  The Storm
I should also add that on Monday 6 July after our morning meal, a headwind sprang up that the sailors call the Borea. It blew up a sudden storm with such heavy seas that the sail and the mast seemed to plunge into the depths of the water. I was terrified by the sight and went by myself to a quiet corner of the ship's stern where I wept bitterly, the tears pouring down my cheeks. Weeping for the error of my ways and seeing all the sailors terrified, I begged God to have pity on my sins and to receive my soul that I commended to him. The storm lasted three hours and blew us back forty miles. We decided to land back on Kythira, which we had just left, and to stay there all through Thursday 9 July.
The islands of the Archipelago
On Friday 10 July we sailed between the island of Milos and other islands at the head of the Archipelago. To the south of Milos is the island of Crete (Candia), which is six hundred miles round, and has good wine. It is ruled by the Venetians. Crete can equip sixteen galleys whenever it wants and has the Labyrinth where the Minotaur lived.
Then we came to the island of Christiani (Sancti Georgii), which is uninhabited, and then Santorini, which is twenty miles in circumference and inhabited, and belongs to the Archipelago. The Archipelago is a dukedom consisting of more than three hundred islands, inhabited and uninhabited. The Duke of the Archipelago was killed, leaving his mother to rule some of the islands and the Venetians the rest. All the islands once belonged to Greece and all their inhabitants are Greek. One of them is Chios (Ssiu) where they harvest mastic. It is found nowhere else and they sell large quantities for an annual revenue of about fifteen thousand ducats.

§ 1.582  The island of Astypalaea (Stampalea)
On Saturday 11 July we sailed by the island of Astypalaea. It is thirty miles round and was inhabited until laid waste by the Turks. Only a castle and its walls can be see. Wild animals live on the island, including goats and asses.
On Sunday 12 July, before the morning meal, we sailed between many inhabited and uninhabited islands, between one and five miles apart from each other.
The island of Kos
Kos (Lango) is inhabited. It is two hundred miles round with many castles and houses and belongs to the Knights of Rhodes (also known as the Hospitallers or the Order of St John of Jerusalem). Fifteen miles from the island is the mainland of Turkey (Torchia) whose mountains are as high as Mount Marsico.
The island of Nisyros (Niczari)
Two miles from Kos we passed the island of Nisyros. It is eighteen miles in circumference and looks like the Rochetta and Falciono mountains around Carinola. There are three castles, one on the coast and the others on top of the mountain. It has many villages and an abundance of fruit, although they grow no wheat, only barley. The Knights of Rhodes rule the island now but it belonged before to Lord Antonius Assanti of Ischia. He acquired it in the following way. He was on galley with a raiding party and captured a Turkish galley with a pasha on board. He received the island of Nisyros as ransom. He was Lord of the island until his death, when his son succeeded. The son lived on the island until he died of natural causes and the Knights of Rhodes took over. They say that Fra' Dominic de Alemania, who is also a Superior and a Procurator of Rhodes, receives two thousand ducats worth of dried figs every year, so great is the island’s fig production.

§ 1.583  As we were two miles from the island, six Greeks came from the castle in their boat and came aboard our ship. They looked round and had plenty to drink, promising to come back with fresh meat, grapes and melons, which we were very eager to buy. But they never came back.
The island of Symi (Ssimie)
After Kos we came to the island of Symi which has, so they say, the best wines in the world. They keep these wines in earthenware jars as they don’t have casks or the wood to make them. The Knights of Rhodes rule the island. Every day the island sends great quantities of grapes to market in Rhodes. They are very good and cheap. We ate a lot while we were there.
Rhodes (Rodi)
On Monday 13 July before mid-morning we arrived on Rhodes. It would take a long time to describe it but in brief it seemed to me about the size of Capua. The upper city, with the castle and the church of St John, is separated from the lower town by high walls and high, solid towers.
The lower town
The lower town is enclosed by high walls. More people live here than in the upper city. There are shops and grocers and other merchants and it is close to the sea.
The windmills
The port is fairly good and has an excellent mole with ships from all parts. On the quay are fifteen mills, which are powered by the wind. Their construction is impossible to describe in words without drawing a picture. They are about twenty feet apart.
The gardens
All round the city are gardens with orange trees, lemon trees and all sorts of other fruits. Every garden has a large well and a windmill that draws the water with a wheel fitted with buckets.

§ 1.584  The water runs down a channel into a big tank like a wine press that, when it is full, waters the garden in the evening. I have to say that in my opinion they are the loveliest gardens in the world. In every one there is a mansion and other houses and in some there are beautiful guest houses with rooms and chambers fit for a count. There are so many gardens that I think they extend three or four miles around the city.
The good climate
In addition I would say the city has an excellent climate and I have never seen so many old men with long beards aged between eighty and a hundred and twenty. In fact I saw more old men than young in the squares.
The priests
The people of the island are Greeks and follow the Greek religion. The clerics, who are called papas, all have beards and their long hair tied up and wear tall broad hats without hoods. They only marry virgins and the lay people are very happy to give their daughters to them. They are all Christians in the town. The main church is the cathedral and is quite sumptuous.
The church of St John of Rhodes
The church of St John is inside the castle and although small is highly venerated. It is said that that it houses many relics, including a cross made from the bowl that Our Lord Jesus Christ used when he washed the feet of the disciples. Two other crosses were made from the same bowl and they are in other churches. There is also a thorn from Christ’s crown of thorns. I will describe the relics in detail later as I saw them all on my way back.
The Inn of the Grand Master
Inside the castle is a great inn with many large rooms and chambers where the brothers live, among which are beautiful and highly decorated rooms for the Grand Master of the order when he is in residence. There is also a hostel for pilgrims

§ 1.585  and the sick, including a large infirmary with doctors always on duty and everything else necessary for the patients.
The church of St Antony
Outside the castle is the church of St Antony belonging to the order of St John, a vaulted building with a large courtyard unique of its kind and closed with a gate. Inside the walls are fifty-one tombs, vaulted and arched like those in St Mathew of Caleno, in which only the brothers of the order are buried. Nobles and soldiers are buried in the church of St John of Rhodes. Others are buried in St Antony’s according to their last wishes. But most of the brothers are buried in these tombs, since they bestow absolution of sin and punishment, even to deathbed penitents.
Saint Antony and his miracle
In the church of Saint Antony there is a statue of the saint famous for a miracle. Possessed by the devil, a man struck it in the face with a spear - the wound is visible to this day. He immediately flared up with St Antony’s fire, burning his body as if it was wood. The poor sinner, seeing himself on fire, threw himself into the sea nearby but the more he plunged in, the more he burned until he was entirely consumed. The metal of the spear hangs in front of the blessed statue and there are many silver icons and offerings of ships and food in the church.
The church of St Nicholas and a statue
At the end of the mole is the church of St Nicholas. I was reliably told of a great wonder. In ancient times there was an statue so incredibly enormous that one foot stood at the end of the mole, where the church is, and the other half a mile away at the end of the mole with the windmills.

§ 1.586  The statue stood square and upright and was so tall that, however big they were, ships could come into the harbour between the legs of the statue with their masts and sails up. From the top of the statue you could see a hundred miles, it was so big. Later it was destroyed.
The name of the statue
The statue was called the Colossus, which is why the people of the island, to whom St Paul sent so many letters to convert them to the holy Catholic faith, are called Colossians, after the statue.
There is nothing more to say about Rhodes. On the evening of Sunday 18 July we left the island and set sail for Alexandria

§ 7.628  [Parts 2-6, Alexandria and the Holy Land, omitted]
VII. CYPRUS
Famagusta
I arrived in Famagusta on 27 November. It used to belong to the King of Cyprus, a fine island five hundred miles around. Now the Genoese occupy Famagusta. It is a big city, I think about the size of Capua, and has handsome streets and houses similar to Capua’s, but about a third is uninhabited and the houses are in ruins, dating from the time the Genoese took over. The city has finer battlements than I have seen anywhere else, high, with a wide rampart-walk and tall towers all round. They are diligently guarded day and night by the Genoese for fear of the King of Cyprus. There are seven hundred armed soldiers in the pay of the Genoese and keep guard with tight discipline.
The citadel
The citadel is impressive and almost totally surrounded by the sea, apart from a quarter or so on the city side, where the moats are stone clad on both sides and filled with sea water. As a result the citadel is impregnable.
The harbour
Famagusta has a good harbour sheltered on all sides from the wind. In front of one of the city gates is a wooden quay, a stone’s throw in length, where vessels tie up and are loaded with merchandise.
The population of the city and the bad climate
The Genoese live in one part of town and the Greeks in a larger part, for the population of the island is Greek. They make a lot of fine camlet cloth (made of camel or goat hair). A law of Famagusta, and of the whole island, is that no woman may leave the city without permission of the Governor or she will be summonsed by his court on her return to the city. Permission is rarely given.

§ 7.629  The reason apparently is that the men cannot get by without the women spinning and making wool for camlet, as they live on practically nothing else. There is another reason for keeping people in the city, which they are too embarrassed to talk about. The city has the worst climate. The death rate is high at all times of year, more among the Genoese than the Greeks. While I was there, a little over a month, the new Governor, who had arrived from Genoa, died, along with many others. I was afraid all the time I was in the city, especially as I was separated from my companions and had no help or advice as to my personal safety or getting back home.
Church of Saint Nicholas
The cathedral of Famagusta, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, has a handsome nave with many chapels on either side. The bishop is Genoese. In former times, when the city was under the King of Cyprus, he had an annual income of four thousand ducats. I was told that his income is now less than two thousand, as he lost all jurisdiction over the island after the Genoese took the city. I can well believe he is poor for one day, after hearing mass at the cathedral, as I was short of money, I thought I would ask the bishop for charity for the love of God. I went up to him reverently, like a pilgrim and said: “Father, your Excellency, these words are from the bible: I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed. I ask you as a father to come to the aid of a poor pilgrim with a charitable donation.” He replied that he was poorer than I was and swore that he did not have enough to live on himself.
This is where I later attended matins on Christmas Eve, and high mass and the other Christmas services.
The food market
The house where the Governor lives used to belong to the King of Cyprus when he ruled the city. It is quite impressive with a large forecourt, many buildings and a beautiful garden. Between it and Saint Nicholas Cathedral is a large market hall the size of Capua’s, selling bread, a lot of oil, and other produce, just like Capua. Every day people sell cloth and many other things. It is in the middle of the city.

§ 7.630  The friary of Saint Francis
The friary of Saint Francis in the city has a handsome cloister, a dormitory, many rooms and other apartments, and a fine garden with plenty of water from wells and cisterns. The guardian told me that they have a hard life and do not receive many offerings.
The church of Saint Stephen
The church of Saint Stephen in the city has a hostel, but is poverty stricken at present. I heard high mass in the church on the feast of Saint Stephen and saw his bones and many other holy relics. The church has the finest crucifix I have ever seen, decorated and worked all over with the purest gold.
The monastery of Our Lady of the Wayside
The monastery of Our Lady of the Wayside is in the city. The church is very beautiful and highly venerated with a vaulted nave and chapels on either side, and fine paintings and murals. There is a beautiful cloister, with orange trees and other fruits, and a dormitory and several other houses for the brothers. In the church I saw the following relics:
The head of Saint Ursula in a beautiful silver case.
The tibia of Saint Leo, the pope.
The head of Saint Cufinus
The head of Saint Sosus
A fragment of the Holy Cross.
The monastery of Saint Dominic
The monastery of Saint Dominic in the city has a fine church and nave, a beautiful cloister with a garden, a dormitory and other houses for the brothers, although several are in ruins. At present all the friars of Famagusta live very poorly.

§ 7.631  The town of Famagusta
Outside the city there used to be a large lower town with a big population. I estimate there were two thousand households, and among them many fine churches. But now the town is totally destroyed, to the extent that there is not a single house intact or anyone living there. The churches include Our Lady of the Grotto, which many worshippers both Latin and Greek visit out of piety.
The layout of Famagusta
Part of Famagusta is on the sea while the greater part is inland and surrounded by excellent moats engineered on both sides. The whole city, including the ramparts, is built on solid marble rock and impossible to excavate. On the sea side is a large and handsome arsenal like that of Naples. In former times, a hundred years ago, the city was founded and built in a place called Constantia, four miles from Famagusta. It was named after King Constus, the father of Saint Catherine, who built it. It was two miles from the sea and did not have a harbour. After Acre was lost, the last town in Syria to be lost by the Christians, all those who escaped fled to the island of Cyprus. It was then that the ancient city of Constantia was transferred to present-day Famagusta.
Women’s dress
As a result all women, in Famagusta as well as the rest of the island, wear a black veil over their heads that obscures their faces. The custom derives from the pain and grief of losing Acre and the other towns of Syria. Most of the population of Famagusta came from Acre.

§ 7.632  The bad climate
Between Famagusta and the ancient city of Constantia is an extensive marsh that looks like an arm of the sea. They say that the marsh is the cause of the bad climate that causes the death of so many men of Famagusta, exacerbated by their excessive enjoyment of women.
Where Saint Catherine was born
As Our Lord Jesus Christ allowed me to see the actual locations of all that happened to Saint Catherine - her prison in Alexandria and the glorious martyrdom she suffered in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ on a wheel between two pillars, which I have already described in full, as well as the great mountain where her glorious body was carried by the holy angels and the monastery, where her precious body was later taken - I wanted to see where she was born. And so, on 5 December, I went to ancient Constantia, four miles from Famagusta. It was a sizeable city, built by the emperor Constus, the father of Saint Catherine, but now it is completely destroyed. I found what seemed to be the site of the castle, apparently a sizeable building, in which was the exact room, now in ruins, where Saint Catherine was born. Nearby is a much venerated chapel, where people from Famagusta regularly go to worship.
The great cistern
In the centre of where the castle used to be is an ancient cistern, which I think must be the biggest in the world. It has a vault supported by thirty-six pillars, with vents above for the water to flow in from the mountain. It ran all through the year on an aqueduct, like the one near Scauri on the territory of the castle of Traetto or Garigliano.

§ 7.633  Where Saint Catherine was betrothed as a bride of Christ by an angel
In Famagusta I was told a story about Saint Catherine, that I cannot remember for the moment if it is included in her Life. As she grew up to be the most beautiful and clever of all women, her father and mother wanted to find her a husband. Saint Catherine, possessed by divine love, said: “I do not wish to take a husband unless he is as handsome, clever and rich as me.” Her mother the empress, seeing that her daughter’s mind was made up, said: “My daughter, you are asking for something I cannot help you with, a man who is as handsome, clever and rich as you. On an island not far from here lives a hermit who serves God. Go and ask him if he knows of any man as endowed with as much nobility, beauty and wisdom as you.” Saint Catherine replied: “I am prepared to do this,” and went to find the hermit. When she asked his advice on the choice of a husband he said: “I cannot recommend any man to be your husband, with the exception of one, who is as clever, wise, handsome and rich as you.” Saint Catherine said: “Who are you talking about?” The hermit replied: “Our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then Saint Catherine said: “I wish him to be my husband and Lord and only him will I serve.” While she spent the night there, an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and betrothed her with a ring on behalf of Our Lord Jesus Christ and received her as bride of Christ.
And so on 6 December I went to the island where Saint Catherine was betrothed by the angel as a bride of Christ. It is two bowshots from Famagusta near the port and is about an acre in size. It has a much venerated church of Saint Catherine.
Leaving Famagusta for Nicosia
Wishing to visit the Holy Cross of Cyprus, on which the good thief was crucified, I left at dawn on Wednesday 9 December for Nicosia, where the King of Cyprus lives.

§ 7.634  For a reasonable price I rented a cart to take me. The owner, who was Greek, sat me down next to him and had me drive the oxen. He got upset with me several times because I drove poorly and used the whip too much. I did not know what to do, as I had never done it before. After putting up with his criticism all day, we came to a farmhouse, where I slept on a mat on the floor. In those parts there are no beds to be had, even for ready money, and virtually everyone sleeps on the floor. The island is so overrun with fleas that it is impossible to sleep at night as they keep pigs inside the house. I got up early and, giving up the cart, continued my journey to Nicosia on foot. I had no wish to put up with any more criticism from the carter, who never stopped criticising me for whipping his oxen and driving his cart badly.
Nicosia
On Thursday 10 December I walked all day and arrived in Nicosia as the sun went down. As far as I could tell the city is about the size of Aversa. Down the middle of the city runs a little stream that you cross on stepping stones when it is not raining. When it does rain, there is a lot of water, so there are several stone or wooden bridges for people to cross. In some parts of town there are not many inhabitants but several fine houses. The palace of the King of Cyprus is rather beautiful. It has a courtyard as big as that of the Castel Nuovo in Naples and many fine buildings around it. Among them is a large hall, at the head of which is a fine throne with many beautiful pillars and ornamentation. I think there are few thrones like it, if any. Around the room runs a gallery with decorated columns. I was bold enough to go up to the entrance of the King’s apartment and, if the door had been open, I would have gone in and discussed matters with him. In the courtyard is a well with good water, which many townspeople fetch for their own use.

§ 7.635  The King lives most of the time in Nicosia after he lost Famagusta. He loves hunting and has twenty-four leopards and three hundred hawks of all kinds, and takes some out to hunt every day.
Saint Sophia
Nicosia has an archbishop and the cathedral is dedicated to Saint Sophia. It is a beautiful building with a vaulted nave painted blue with gold stars from the choir to the high altar. The annual income of the cathedral used to be twenty-five thousand ducats but the King of Cyprus has appropriated many of its entitlements.
The monasteries and the state of the town
In Nicosia there are some very fine monasteries and holy places, like Saint Francis, Saint Dominic, Saint Augustine. All the monasteries have two cloisters, one large and one small, with orange trees and other fruits. In the town are many gardens and orchards and fields planted with forage, wheat and barley. Indeed I saw next to the monastery of Saint Augustine, inside the city walls, a field planted with wheat and barley. And I saw the gardens of Saint Theodore, also inside the walls, planted with cabbages and various other vegetables. It all looks like Alife with its orchards and gardens inside the town. They have plenty of bread and wine. The wine is generally pleasant and stored in jars as they do not have casks. I would have liked to stay there for a month or so, as bread and wine were plentiful, but could not because there are no hotels with beds for foreigners. Had a good woman called Ambrosa, who was from the West, not found me a room with a bed, for the love of God, I would have had to sleep on the floor while I was there.
The Holy Cross of Cyprus
I wanted to see the Holy Cross of the Good Thief, called the Cross of Cyprus. After the morning meal on 15 December I left Nicosia and took the road without a guide to the mountain of the Holy Cross.

§ 7.636  I walked all day and in the evening, very tired and apprehensive, I came to a farmhouse that was still a day’s walk from the church of the Holy Cross. I hoped to pay for a bed for the night to rest and gather strength but could only get a mat on the floor. I slept very badly because I was bitten alive all night by the accursed fleas. So I got up very early, hired a donkey, and in the intense cold came to a farmhouse on the lower slopes of the Holy Cross mountain. I bought something to eat and set off up the mountain. It was eight miles to the top and was in fact several mountains one after the other. They are all covered in trees they call zibini, mountain pines, which produce a lot of cones without any seeds. They grow abundantly, and provide roof shingles and firewood. With how much foreboding, toil and sweat, weakness of heart and body, I climbed those mountains to the church, God only knows! I got there by evening. The church is small but much venerated. On the right is a small chapel, in which the cross hovers in mid air without being attached to anything, a wonderful miracle. In the cross is a small piece of the wood of the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in a silver case. After I had seen, examined and adored the cross, the monks who lived there showed me the following relics:
A long bone of Saint Agnes
An arm of Saint Blaise
A nail hammered into the hand of Christ
A rib of Saint George
A stone used to stone Saint Stephen
And a piece of the cross
Leaving the Cross of Cyprus
After I had reverenced the relics, I asked the monks, as the abbot was away, if they would let me sleep there that night. I said I was very tired and it was a long and arduous way back and I was not sure that I could find my way down to the farm where I started from that morning.

§ 7.637  Such was their ungodliness that they refused to let me stay the night, saying that the abbot kept the keys to the rooms. And so, in low spirits, I set off. I was more exhausted by the way down than the way up. By the will of God, my comfort, I kept going with frequent drinks of water from the many streams flowing down the Holy Mountain and at sunset arrived back at the farmhouse, so exhausted that I thought my spirit would take leave of my body. There I met the abbot of the monastery, which owned the farm. I complained vociferously to him about the mean-spiritedness of his brothers in refusing to put me up. The abbot was not pleased with this and took me to his house. For the love of God he gave me bread and wine and a mat to sleep on that night and wood for the fire because of the extreme cold. And so I spent the night there.
Leaving the farm
At dawn on 16 December I took leave of the abbot and set off for Famagusta. I walked with a poor pilgrim from Saint Elijah of the Benedictine abbey of Monte Casino, whom I befriended as a brother pilgrim. We walked all day in the pouring rain until in the evening we came to the farm where I could not get a bed at any price. A good Greek farmer let me sleep on the straw in a corner of the stable where he kept his oxen and asses. It was the best of beds.
Back in Famagusta
On the morning of 18 December I got up early and set off for Famagusta. I went past pans producing quantities of salt, and came to the castle of Baffa in the territory of the King of Cyprus that produces quantities of sugar. Walking all day I came across many farms destroyed by the Turks and abandoned. In the evening I came to a tavern by the side of the road run by a poor woman with five boys, two of whom were in diapers. I offered her money to make up a bed for me where I could rest my weary limbs. She made me a little bed next to the fire [638] where she slept with her two babies and told me to go and sleep next to them. Seeing that the bed was not big enough for me and it was filthy from the babies, I refused to sleep there and spent the night on the floor, very cross. I got up in the morning and continued on my way to Famagusta. I arrived there on 28 December.

§ 8.638  VIII FROM CYPRUS TO RHODES
Leaving Famagusta
There was nothing in the world I wanted more than to get home. I found a Genoese pinnace in the port of Famagusta that was due to sail to Rhodes with pilgrims from Galicia and Hungary. I gave the captain two ducats to take me to Rhodes where I hoped to find Sir Antonatio and take passage with him back home. And so, on the morning of Thursday 7 January, I left Famagusta on the pinnace. We crossed the Gulf of Antalya, which is susceptible to storms at any time of year but we had good weather, thanks be to God.
Kastellorizo (Castro Ruczo)
On Sunday evening we arrived at Kastellorizo, which is held by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes. The castle is built on a mountain and there are two hundred households. It is a mile across the sea to the mountains of Turkey.
Where Nicholas of Bari was born
Nearby on the Turkish coast is a ruined castle called Myra (Ssammira), where Saint Nicholas of Bari in Apulia was born.

§ 8.639  The people of Kastellorizo have many vineyards on the mainland. They went across to cultivate them as there was a truce with the Turks at that time.
Unable to enter the port of Rhodes.
On Monday night we did not enter the port of Rhodes, although we were only a mile away, because our captain was afraid of pirates. In the morning we could not get in because the wind was against us and also because the captain suspected that the pinnace of Martino Vincenzio, the Catalan pirate, was in port. Our captain turned away from Rhodes and headed to the island of Kos, wishing to get to Greece. Ah, God, how cross and depressed I was to be going away from the city where I hoped to find Sir Antonatio, for I had run out of money! It was the will of God, who always comes to the aid of the unfortunate, who hope in Him, that we were not far from Kos when an empty boat from Symi came towards us. It took me on board along with some German pilgrims, who were also on the pinnace from Famagusta, and undertook to take us to Rhodes for a ducat each. It took us to the island of Nisyros, which I described earlier. That night we slept on the beach in the terrible cold. The castle is more fortified than one can describe and the wine is excellent.
Symi (Ssimie)
On Wednesday morning we left Nisyros for Rhodes in great fear of Turkish ships sailing between the islands, as we were not able to get into the port that day. Late in the evening we sailed to Symi, which belongs to Rhodes and is about sixty miles in circumference. It was too late to land so we spent the night in great fear and cold in the lee of a cave by the shore. Symi has the best wine of all the islands. Jars of it are shipped every day for sale in Rhodes.

§ 8.640  Rhodes
On the evening of Thursday 24 January we were overjoyed to land in Rhodes. I immediately found Sir Antonatio at the house of the Reverend Father in Christ, Fra' Dominic de Alemania, Preceptor of Naples and a fount of kindness. Fra' Dominic was informed of my situation by Sir Antonatio and, thanks to him, put me up in his house and entertained me at his table day and night for the whole month I was in Rhodes. He gave me a bed in his own room along with Sir Antonatio. Fra' Dominic extends many kindnesses to all foreigners coming to Rhodes, pilgrims and others. He always gives money to the needy and charity to the poor.
Works of charity of Saint John’s hospital.
The works of charity of Saint John’s Hospital, or rather the priors, are as follows. On three days every week they serve dinner to fourteen poor people in the great hall with the knights and other brothers. Each of them is served meat and four loaves and they take what is left over for their evening meal. No-one is ever left with less than half of the food given to them. On three other days of the week they distribute bread to all pilgrims and poor people who come to the hospital, one loaf each, about a hundred thousand in total. Many of the poor of both sexes lend their children to each other to carry and so get more free bread. This happens all through the year.
The ironwork of Tilos (Piscopia)
Fifty miles from Rhodes is the island of Tilos, whose inhabitants have the good fortune, by the grace and blessing bestowed by Saint Nicholas, that all their iron tools of whatever kind, never rust or get worn. They prize their tools highly and make valuable gifts of them. I was reliably informed of this by Fra' Dominic and several other people.

§ 8.641  While I was in Rhodes I saw the following relics several times in the company of Fra' Dominic and other pilgrims.
Relics of Saint John
In the church of Saint John:
an arm of Saint Stephen
an arm of Saint George
an arm of Saint Leo
an arm of Saint Blaise
a hand of Saint Clare
the head of Saint Euphemia
one of the thorns from Christ’s crown
a hand of Saint Agnes
a cross containing hair of Our Lady and Saint Agnes
money for the betrayal of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Relics of Saint John
In a beautiful chapel of Saint John
an arm of Saint Catherine
bones of Saint Theodore
bones of Saint Titus and several other saints encased in a beautiful icon
a thorn of the crown of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of his glorious passion. I have it on good authority from several witnesses - so you should believe it - that every year on Good Friday at the hour when, for our salvation, Our Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross and gave up his spirit, this thorn flowers and turns green and comes into leaf in full view of everyone. It stays like this with flowers and leaves for half an hour.
A silk and gold tapestry, woven by Saint Helena in memory and honour of the passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, depicting Our Lord on the cross surrounded by angels.

§ 8.642  Relics of Saint Catherine
Fra' Dominic de Alemania commissioned the building of the church of Saint Catherine inside the city. It has an excellent hostel with many rooms and good beds, which welcome all the pilgrims going to Jerusalem and other holy places overseas, including the nobility, since Rhodes lacks enough inns for pilgrims. I saw the following relics in the church.
a piece of the sponge used to give Our Lord Jesus Christ bitter gall and vinegar to drink as he hung on the cross and said: “I am thirsty.”
a piece of the stick to which the sponge was fixed.
a piece of the holy purple robe of Our Lord Jesus Christ
a piece of the pink robe of Our Lady his mother
a piece of another purple robe of Our Lord Jesus Christ
a piece of the incorruptible coat of Our Lord Jesus Christ *
a fragment of the cross of our Lord *
a piece of John the Baptist’s finger *
a piece of bone of Saint Christopher *
a piece of bone of Saint Theodore *
a piece of bone of Saint Anastasia (These relics are enclosed in a large jasper case.
In Saint Catherine’s church are many venerated and beautiful icons containing twenty-five relics, all of whose labels I could not read. Those I could are as follows.
a piece of bone of Saint Thomas
a piece of bone of Saint Prosper
a piece of bone of Saint Helena
a piece of bone of Saint Theodore
hair of Saint Agnes
a piece of the veil of Our Blessed Lady
a piece of bone of Saint Marcellinus

§ 8.643  Fra' Dominic said that he was given all these relics by the emperor in Constantinople, who is his dear and lasting friend. They come from churches, which are reputed to have many beautiful relics and bodies of saints, men and women, from the time of the emperor Constantine, who built the city to look like Rome.

§ 9.643  IX. THE CYCLADIC ISLANDS
Leaving Rhodes
On Monday 1 February we left Rhodes with many noble pilgrims from France coming from Saint Catherine’s monastery on Sinai. We boarded a ship from Messina called Zono della Muta, paying five ducats a head to go to Venice. Sir Antonatio and I had a little cabin on the poop deck, just big enough for two, for which we paid a supplement of four ducats. In the cabin we stowed a good supply of wine, hardtack and several other things given to us by Fra' Dominic, which would have easily lasted us and our two servants until Venice, were it not for the misfortune that happened to us and that I will talk about later.
Kos
On Tuesday 2 February, forced off our direct course round the headland of Nisyros by a head wind, we headed for Kos and arrived in the harbour in the early evening. Sir Antonatio and I immediately went onshore in a little boat going to fetch water as we wanted to see the island and also the house of the very learned philosopher and doctor Hippocrates, who was from Kos. The town is on the sea and I guess about the size of Carinola,

§ 9.644  but the houses are in poor condition. The governor lives in the castle. He is a Knight of Saint John. The castle is between the sea and a lake that is about a third as big as the lake of Carinola. Water flows from the sea into the lake under the bridge of the castle so it is completely cut off and difficult to break into.
The house of Hippocrates
The house of Hippocrates is about twice a stone’s throw outside the town. I think it used to be inside because the town was larger then. First we came to a fountain next to the house, with excellent water, which Hippocrates built and is now called the Fons Hippocratus. It seems the house was a large complex like a castle with many buildings. Now they are in ruins and some of them have been turned into stables.
The daughter of Hippocrates turned into a serpent and what happened to the monk who promised to kiss her.
Among the buildings is a big, deep cave. While I was in Rhodes, Fra' Dominic told me a remarkable story about it that he assured me was true. He said that the daughter of Hippocrates had changed into a serpent and lives in this cave. She often comes out and appears to people as a beautiful woman. She always asks for a man to kiss her while she is in the shape of a serpent, in return for which she promises many treasures and great riches and says she will take him as her husband. One day, not long ago, a Knight of Saint John came to live on Kos. It is the custom that every Knight who goes to Rhodes has to live for a year on Kos to help defend it, as it is near Turkey, or find someone to serve in his place. This Knight heard how the serpent came out of its cave and he went to see it while it was in the shape of a beautiful woman. The woman told him that if he agreed to kiss her as a serpent, she would give him many treasures and great riches.

§ 9.645  The Knight said he would and the woman said to him: “Look, I will show you how I will appear to you. Decide if you have the courage to come tomorrow and kiss me on the mouth and if not, tell me.” He told her to show herself in whatever shape she turned into. The woman did this. She turned herself into a gigantic, vile, horrible serpent and then back into a woman. She asked the Knight what he was going to do. He replied that he was ready to do it and that he would come back the next day. The following morning the Knight got ready and mounted his horse and returned to the woman, who was now in the shape of a big, horrible serpent. Fearfully, he got down from his horse and went to kiss it. The serpent grew more terrible and vile. The terrified Knight jumped on his horse and fled. The serpent chased after him with a great roar as far as the castle, where the Knight escaped with his life. He lived for three days until he died of fright. They say on Kos that from time to time the serpent can still be seen outside the cave.
The island is one hundred and fifty miles around and is very rich in crops and animals. It brings an annual income to the governor of ten thousand ducats a year.
Leaving Kos
On Wednesday night we left the port of Kos. That day we passed several of the islands of the Archipelago, of which two were inhabited, one called Kalymnos (Lu Calamo) and the other Leros (Lu Erro), that were under the jurisdiction of Kos.
Naxos and Paros (Nicosia et Paris)
On Thursday we sailed past several islands, whose names I do not know, and about noon came to the island of Naxos, a beautiful land, the seat of the Duke of the Archipelago. Many of the islands’ rulers are subject to him and all are under the rule of Venice. That day we came to Paros. It has a large population. It is said that it gets its name from Paris, the son of Priam King of Troy, who was cast away here to be brought up by shepherds, because when he was born it was prophesied that Troy would be destroyed because of him.

§ 9.646  On Friday we passed many islands, two of which were inhabited, one called Siphnos (Ciphanu) and the other Kythnos (Fermia), fifteen miles apart. They are under the jurisdiction of the Duke of the Archipelago.
The pirate ship that discovered us in the harbour and what happened next.
On the same day, Friday, in the late afternoon, our helmsman brought us into the harbour of Kythnos, unfortunately for us, as will become evident. We stayed several days because of contrary winds. While we there, a pirate ship came in belonging to Francisco del Casi, a Catalan. A head wind prevented him from coming near and he moored in another harbour not far from us, separated by a sandy beach. Three soldiers among us pilgrims went to their ship to ask about their intentions towards us. They replied with fine words and promises, saying that they intended no harm. For three days they repeated this promise while they waited for the wind to change so they could capture us. Eventually, one evening they deployed thirty crossbowmen on the shore to watch the beach so that no-one could escape from our boat to the town of Kythnos, in the hills eight miles from the harbour. They seized two of our sailors, who went to the town for help and were returning to the ship. Seeing what happened and realising they wanted to take us, we had serious misgivings.
We escape from the ship
With threats and persuasion Sir Antonatio worked on our ship’s captain to give us a small boat. We got on board with the minimum of baggage in the evening as the moon rose.

§ 9.647  Along with the captain, helmsman, bosun, paymaster and other sailors we set off very nervously as the little boat was so overloaded it threatened to sink at any moment. We came to a harbour a fair way from them, picked up our bags and abandoned the boat. We fled into the hills in fear on circuitous, difficult, and rocky paths, constantly stumbling and falling. I was carrying a bundle of belongings and clothes, mine and Sir Antonatio’s, that weighed as much as a sack of grain. All that night we fled through the mountains in search of Kythnos town and safety while they came after us. O God! How frightened and sweating and trembling I was, with that heavy load on my back! I wondered in amazement where such a puny body, unused to such heavy toil, found so much strength. I concluded it was thanks to God and not my own doing.
Kythnos [Fermia]
At about mid-morning we arrived at Kythnos town, solidly built on a rock, which is all I can say about it. It is governed by Giovanni da Bologna. Not long before we arrived he had gone from Kythnos in a galley to the Duke of the Archipelago in Naxos. Along with Sir Simon de Mediolano, who escaped from the boat with us, we were given a room with two beds, where we stayed while we were on Kythnos. The governor’s uncle, his son and several other good men looked after us very well for those days. After they looted it, the pirates gave our captain back his ship and the other pilgrims went back on board, having agreed with him to take them to Methoni for four hundred ducats. God help them because they put themselves in great danger.
Leaving Kythnos and our Lenten meal on the beach
Continually thinking of how to get back home, we decided to go via Athens, which Venice had recently taken into its empire after the death of Duke Ranieri of Florence, whose dukedom it belonged to.

§ 9.648  Then we planned to go through Romania to Corinth and from there, with the help of the Duke [of Cephalonia], who was a friend of Sir Antonatio, to Venice or somewhere else on the way home. So we found a little boat to take us for ten ducats to Athens, eighty miles from Kythnos.
On 22 February, Shrove Monday, we had our morning meal in Kythnos and went down to the port where our boat was waiting. In the evening we had a carnival meal on the shore of little fish and various other things we brought with us. As soon as we had eaten we boarded the boat and in the middle of the night headed for Kea (Cie), which belongs to Giovanni da Bologna. We slept a while in the harbour and then set off again at night, very afraid of Turkish vessels. We made for the port of Athens, five miles from the city, but could not go in because of contrary winds. So we went to another port twenty-three miles from Athens and disembarked in the evening of Shrove Tuesday 23 of February.
The man and woman changed into marble statues
On a hill not far from the port are two marble statues of a man and a woman. It is said that he used to be a real man who pursued the woman in order to take her virginity. She fled into the hills, refusing to let him have his way. Seeing she could not escape him, she begged God to turn both of them into marble statues. Her prayer was heard and so they remain to this day.

§ 10.649  X. ATHENS CHALCIS CORINTH
Lenten meal on Tuesday in the port of Athens (Acthenae)
On Shrove Tuesday we kept the vigil of Saint Matthew the Apostle, according to my calendar, and had our carnival meal on the beach. We had bread, cheese, and egg and cheese pies given to us in Kythnos. With what sighs, with what despair in heart and soul, did I eat that meal, thinking I was in permanent exile without any hope of a vessel to take me home. I thought of the despair of my household and all my relatives and friends to whom I could send no news of my plight. I thought of carnival meals at home with so many different dishes, plenty not only for my household but also for the needy and poor of the neighbourhood. Over those days the drops of wine I drank were fewer than the tears that flowed from my eyes, constantly giving due praise to God, so that he would let me complete my journey and save me from the clutches of pirates.
Leaving the port
Far from home and in fear of the Turks who roamed around the area we hired for a ducat two pack animals and a horse from some local fishermen to take us to the city of Athens, twenty-four miles away. We set off at dusk and walked the whole night in the rain across hills and lonely valleys until we arrived in Athens on the morning of Wednesday 24 February.
Athens
From the evidence of ancient buildings and the works of scholars and writers, Athens was a great city with great buildings, as we saw from the many columns and marble blocks lying around where the city used to be. It stretched as far as the sea and was twenty-four miles in circumference at the time of the Emperor Hadrian, who ruled it. Then it was destroyed by the Trojans and reduced to the area around the castle. The city lies between two hills six miles apart on a fine plain twelve miles long with many good olive groves.

§ 10.650  Now the city has about a thousand households.
Fountains where students in Athens used to drink
I wanted to visit the antiquities of the city and asked some locals to be my guide. First we went to two fountains where students had to drink the water to acquire knowledge. By this the writers meant that the source of knowledge from which they should drink was the study of the great philosophers like Aristotle and others who lived in the city. Both fountains were beautifully worked and sculpted in marble. We then went to Aristotle’s school. It is built of marble, twenty feet long and sixteen feet wide. It was roofed with marble architraves and entablatures above them. The whole building around and overhead was decorated with various reliefs in gold and other beautiful colours. Traces of decoration can be seen at both ends of the room. Outside the door are porticos with columns supporting marble architraves and entablatures, sculpted and painted in gold, where Aristotle used to stroll to relax when he was tired of studying. We then went to where Hadrian’s palace once stood, now in ruins (Temple of Olympian Zeus?). Twenty columns survive, eighty feet tall and wide enough for four men together to put their arms round. Long, thick marble architraves span the columns to support what was a great building.
Entrance to the castle
Nearby is what used to be the entrance gate to the castle (The Arch of Hadrian?). It is made of marble, beautifully carved, as beautiful as the entrance to the tower of Capua but not as tall in my opinion. Outside the city is a great bridge with a large barracks. Soldiers used to run out from both sides and do battle in the middle (Olympic Stadium)
The castle and its great hall
We then went up to the castle, which is built on a marble outcrop.

§ 10.651  Inside is a great hall with thirteen tall columns (Propylaea?). On top of the columns are thirty foot long marble architraves and entablatures. It is a beautiful sight.
The great church of Athens and its beautiful buildings
Then we went into the great church inside the castle, dedicated to Saint Mary. (Parthenon) It is built of big marble blocks joined with lead and is as large as the church in Capua. Around the church on the outside are sixty great columns. Each is higher than ladders used for the harvest and wide enough for five men together to put their arms round. Long, thick architraves sit on top of the columns and support the portico of the church. The human mind cannot imagine how they could construct such a large building.
The column marked by Saint Dionysius
One of these columns bears a sign. It is the one Saint Dionysius was chained to at the time of the passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. When all the buildings in the world began to shake in the earthquake Saint Dionysius proclaimed: “Either the world is coming to an end or the Son of God will suffer,” and traced the sign of the cross on the column with his fingers. The cross is still to be seen on the column.
As far as I could gauge, the entrance to the church is twenty five feet wide and thirty feet high. The doors belonged to the city of Troy. When it was destroyed, they were brought to Athens and became the doors of Saint Mary’s church.
The first altar
The church has two naves, one after the other. In the first is the first altar in the world, made by Saint Dionysius after his conversion to the Catholic faith.
Jasper columns
The choir of the church is impressive. Around the altar are four columns made of jasper, wide enough for two men to join hands around and twelve feet high. On top of these columns is a fine baldaquin over the high altar. Nearby is a large cistern into which quantities of water pour when it rains.

§ 10.652  The icon of the Virgin Mary painted by Saint Luke
In a little chapel nearby, to the right of the altar, is a painting of Our Lady the Virgin Mary by Saint Luke the Evangelist. It is decorated with pearls, gems and many other precious stones and closely guarded under lock and key. Around the church are eighty marble columns supporting long marble architraves and entablatures above which a frieze runs all round the church. In a crack in the wall a light glows that never goes out. It is thought that the body of a saint is buried inside.
The relics
On that day the custodians of the church showed us the following holy relics.
The head of Saint Macarius of Jerusalem.
An arm bone of Saint Denis of France.
An arm of Saint Cyprian.
An arm of Saint Justina
A bone of the Holy Maccabees.
A book of all the gospels in Saint Helena’s hand on gold illuminated parchment in Greek, considered a priceless treasure.
A statue
Outside the walls of the castle are two great columns said to have supported a marvellous shrine containing a statue so powerful that, in those days, if enemy vessels approached, however far out to sea they appeared, the statue sank them. But if they were well-intentioned the statue did them no harm (Athena Promachos).

§ 10.653  Leaving Athens
We could not travel overland to Corinth because of a serious dispute between the Duke of Cephalonia and the Despot of Morea, a brother of the Emperor of Constantinople, about the hereditary lands of Lord Ranieri, Duke of Athens, who was father-in-law to both the Duke and the Despot. The Duke had a large army of Turks with him, having made an alliance with the Turkish Sultan against the Despot. And so we set off on Friday 25 February to the island of Evia (Nigropont), which belongs to the Venetians, in the hope of finding a ship to Venice. We rode the whole day on donkeys because we could not find any horses for hire in Athens. Late in the evening, after nightfall, we arrived at the castle of Sykamino (Zucchamino), occupied by the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem.
Turkish threat
On that day Turkish cavalry scoured the land around the castle, capturing people and animals. In the afternoon, as luck would have it, we went down a road that the Turks had been down about an hour earlier. God willed that the man in Athens who had hired us donkeys palmed us off with inferior animals, which is why we took longer than we should, because otherwise we would have fallen into their hands. Often the proverbs are true that say many setbacks can sometimes turn out for the best.
Sykamino castle
While we were in the moat near the lower slope of the castle, some of the knights, on the alert after the Turkish forays and who had seen us from a distance, charged down at us and we were afraid they were Turks. That evening we reached the castle where the governor graciously received us out of respect for Fra' Dominic de Alemania, of whom he knew Sir Antonatio to be a very dear friend.
Chalcis (Nigropont)
On the morning of the following Friday, 26 February, the governor lent us horses to go down to the sea three miles from Sykamino and gave us an escort.

§ 10.654  We boarded a little fishing boat that took us to Chalcis. We were graciously received by noblemen of the city, partners in a newly built inn. We were given a fine room with two excellent beds for Sir Antonatio, Sir Simon and me and other beds for our servants. O God! How potent and benevolent in God’s eyes is the kindness of hospitality, for Our Lord Jesus Christ himself often obtained lodging with Saint Julian in the shape of his precious followers.
Chalcis
The island of Evia is three hundred miles in circumference and is separated from the mainland, the Dukedom of Athens, by a channel twelve yards wide or so. The city of Chalcis is situated beside the channel at one end of the island. It is smaller than the city of Suessa but heavily populated with Latins and Greeks. The island has several castles and villages with fourteen thousand families in all. The main church is beautiful and dedicated to Saint Mary. In former times the city was three times the size but destroyed in war. Now it is reduced to a site next to the channel. Outside the city are dwellings and ancient buildings. They include the large and handsome church of Saint Francis where the friars live from their own resources. A custodian told me that the church has now an annual income of about a thousand ducats. Not far from the church is a convent of nuns dedicated to Saint Clara.
The ancient castle
In the middle of the channel that separates the island from the mainland is an ancient and tall building said to be the castle of Morgan le Fay, Lady of the Lake, the mother of Pulzella Gaia, the Merry Maid. Sir Gawain is supposed to have been held captive there. [Jealous of her dragon-daughter’s fling with Gawain, Morgan imprisons him in a bewitched castle to have her way with him.]

§ 10.655  The bridges
Two wooden bridges cross the channel on either side of the castle. People going from the mainland to the island pass over them and through the castle. The bridges and the gates are closely guarded by armed sentries. There are two ports. The water flows like a river from one port to the other, sometimes one way and then the other.
The mills
There are three mills in the channel, ingeniously constructed so that they grind grain whichever direction the water flows. Each of them brings in fifty ducats a year. Sometimes the current is so strong that the mill-wheels break. The city is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has fine walls and many towers all around. It boasts rich and noble men and beautiful women. I think all the women have inherited from the fairies who lived in the castle their good looks and lovely clothes, in the Italian fashion.
We waited six weeks for the ship to arrive from Venice, our hearts and minds full of anxiety and without any news of its arrival. And so, having taken the advice of the Governor of Evia and armed with letters of recommendation from him, we decided to go back to Athens and from there find transport back home.
Leaving Chalcis
After the morning meal on Friday 2 April we left Chalcis on a little boat and arrived at sunset in the port of Sykamino, eighteen miles away. We disembarked and went up on foot to the castle, three miles from the sea. We were very nervous as the castle is close to another called Oropos (Ripos), manned by Albanians, who were robbers and committed all sorts of crime whenever they could.
Leaving Sykamino by night
We got to the castle and had something to eat. At dusk we left again. We walked all night with fear and fatigue across rugged, rocky mountains and valleys, on rough and tortuous tracks, constantly afraid from one valley to the next of meeting Albanians or Turks who were in the habit of lying in wait for plunder in these parts. We walked all night in fear and fatigue and great danger but with the help of God arrived without incident .

§ 10.656  Athens
In the middle of the afternoon on the Saturday before Palm Sunday we arrived in Athens, hoping to find my Lord Luigi di Prata, archbishop of the city, but he was in Corinth with the Duke of Cephalonia. We met with the bishop his deputy and some of his household, whom he had sent to take possession of and administer the property of his church. We had no alternative but to stay with them that night as we could not find an inn.
Leaving Athens
On Palm Sunday 4 April we heard mass and received palms in the little and impoverished church of Saint Dominic, where there are only two friars. We left Athens with pack animals that we hired to take us to the castle of Megara, which the Duke of Cephalonia had recently taken over for his wife, the daughter of Duke Ranieri. It is twenty-three miles from Athens. We walked on foot or on horseback the whole day in fear of brigands and Turks ever on the lookout for loot. In the late afternoon, fifteen miles from Athens, we came to the castle of Eleusis (Lippissinox). It used to be a great and distinguished city, as was obvious from the ruined buildings and columns. Water came into the city from the mountains on aqueducts with pillars and arches. When it was still intact the city was ten miles in circumference.
Metre castle (Megara)
About two hours after sunset we reached Megara. We were not allowed in as it was zealously guarded for fear of the Despot of Morea, who claimed it from the Duke, his brother-in-law, for his wife, who was also a daughter of Lord Ranieri. And so we spent the night in a little church outside the walls beside the moat. Still fearful, we kept watch all night.

§ 10.657  Leaving Megara
Megara is in fertile plain and has eighty homes. On the morning of Monday 5 April we found a small boat hardly big enough to take the five of us. We paid five bezants to go to Corinth and left after the morning meal. We rowed the whole day and at dusk arrived at the port of Corinth, fifteen miles from the city. In the port were two other boats from Megara, whose sailors told us that we would not be able to get into Corinth (Acrocorinth, the acropolis of ancient Corinth) without risk to our lives at the hands of the Despot’s men. He had recently laid siege to Corinth with a great army of about twenty thousand, claiming the city for his wife, the elder daughter of Lord Ranieri. The Duke, seeing that he could not resist the might of his brother-in-law, made an alliance with the Turks against the Despot. And so one night about forty thousand Turkish cavalry headed for Corinth and made a surprise attack on the Despot’s camp, destroying it along with the army and taking three thousand knights prisoner. The Despot himself barely managed to escape. But after the Turks left, the Despot’s wife still had a large force that patrolled Corinthian territory day and night, so hardly anyone could get through without being captured.
Leaving the port for Corinth
Asking round the port, we found a man from Corinth who knew the hidden paths that would take us safely into Corinth. We paid him and two other sailors to come with us and show us the safe way up. We set out on foot with them on byways through arid ravines and hills, avoiding dangerous tracks and places in fear and silence, thinking we would come across the enemy at any moment. We walked the whole night with how much toil, fear and anxiety, only God knows - and we who endured this trial!

§ 10.658  In truth I thought several times that my spirit would leave my body but thanks be to God we came to the top of the mountainous rock and the city of Corinth. We arrived at the gates about midnight and slept outside for the rest of the night.
Corinth
The next morning, Tuesday 6 April, we entered the city of Corinth and paid our respects to the Duke. With him was the archbishop, who took us into his house, for there were neither inns to be found nor bread for sale. With the help of the archbishop, we obtained permission from the Duke to go on one of his brigantines that had come to Corinth to bring his wife back to his island of Cephalonia. That morning the sailors, who had brought us up and were going back to the port, were captured not far from the city, which showed the danger we had been in the night before.
Ancient Corinth
Many remarkable things are told in the West about Corinth, which are not true. But I shall tell the truth and clear up any misunderstanding. It is true that the city used to be great and famous in the time of King Alexander. Then it was in a different place, namely on the plain between the hill where it now stands and the port. From the evidence of ancient buildings it appears to have been a great and remarkable city, about ten miles in circumference. All the houses were roofed with lead and other types of metal. When it was besieged by the Romans, who then ruled the whole world, it caught fire and was completely burnt to the ground. As a result, the lead and other metal on the burning houses melted and flowed through the streets down to the port. And so the great and celebrated city was destroyed. It was the favourite of all King Alexander’s cities and he would give it to no-one.
New Corinth
The city is now on top of a mountainous rock surrounded by rough-built walls. Sir Antonatio and I walked all the way round, which we reckoned was about two miles.

§ 10.659  The houses inside the walls are in poor condition and there are many open spaces. I think that in all the empty space you could not sow more than three bushels of grain. The city has about fifty homes. On a mound inside the city is an ugly-looking castle that is difficult to get into.
The port of Corinth
The city is near two ports, fifteen miles from one and four miles from the other, where the old city used to be. The distance between the ports is six miles. They are separated by a strip of land now called Examilia (Sexmilia). King Alexander once wanted to dig a canal from one bay to another so that Corinth and the whole of the Peloponnese, which belonged to him, would become an island. He was not able to dig a canal because the ground is very rocky but you can still see the ditches from that time. Instead he had a massive high wall built from one port to the other so no-one could cross to attack Corinth. In some places the wall is still standing and in others it is in ruins. These were and are the true facts about Corinth.
It is also true that it has the best currants and raisins and good figs, of which we ate our fill with the Archbishop of Athens.

§ 11.660  XI. FROM CORINTH TO ITALY
Leaving Corinth
On Wednesday 7 April the Duke, intending to send his wife the Duchess to his island of Cephalonia, ordered all his men, soldiers and civilians alike, to arm and prepare themselves to escort her to the port, for fear of the Despot’s men.
The church of Saint Paul, where he was held prisoner
First we visited the little church of Saint Paul, where he was held prisoner while he wrote his letters to the Corinthians. He was chained to a pillar on which you can see the cross he scratched with his own finger. We went apprehensively down to the port with the Duke’s men and the Duchess. She and her retinue boarded one brigantine and we another.
At sea
We headed towards Patras, a hundred miles from Corinth, down the gulf between the Despotates of the Morea and Arta. Its width varies between two and six miles.
Aigio (Posticza)
In the middle of the afternoon on Thursday 8 April, we came to a town called Aigion in the Despotate of Morea on the Peloponnese coast, a bowshot from the sea. It is prosperous, the size of Carinola and has a handsome castle belonging to the Despotate. It is now the possession of a man called Burdus, who seized it along with some other towns of the Peloponnese, with his Navarrese army.
Tolofon (Vetranicze)
On the coast of the despotate of Albania, is a town called Vitrinitsa (Tolofona), which is now held by the Grand Turk, the Sultan. It used to belong to his mother-in-law Dominica de Sola, who possessed several towns in the despotate. Because of the many provocations and injuries she endured from the Despot of Morea, she gave her only daughter in marriage to the Sultan, along with all her lands. The Sultan, who was an enemy of the despot, married her to get the land, which was next to that of despot, in order to raid his territory and do battle with him. We were told that the Sultan then did away with the wife because she was not worthy of him.

§ 11.661  This is how the Sultan acquired the territory and the reason why the Turks always go through it on the way to attack neighbouring territories.
Lepanto (Nepanto)
On the late afternoon of the same day we came to a fine castle called Lepanto, that belongs to the Despotate of Arta. At that moment a sudden squall blew up with such a rough sea that if our brigantine had not been decked over the waves would have swamped it. We ran before the storm and danger to the port of Patras, which we reached that day at sunset. The town itself is two bowshots from the sea.
Patras (Patrax)
At dusk we entered the town of Patras. We could not find anywhere to stay, neither an inn nor in the Franciscan friary of Saint Nicholas. But the archbishop of Patras, who was a friend of Sir Antonatio, welcomed us into his beautiful palace. It has a hall twenty-five feet long, whose walls are painted all round with scenes of the destruction of Troy. The archbishop is a Franciscan. The city and several other towns are subject to him in temporal and spiritual matters. In former days he received an annual income of twenty-five thousand ducats but now it is only fifteen thousand.
Leaving Patras
On Good Friday we found a ship from Corfu that had come into Patras. We agreed a fare of five ducats to take all five of us to Corfu. We went to the Good Friday service and paid visits to various churches, as is the custom on that day among Catholic Christians. Among them was the church of Saint Andrew, half a mile outside the city, which is the seat of the Archbishop and has a fine vaulted nave. We also went to another church, where the Apostle Andrew, who preached the faith of Christ in those parts, was arrested and imprisoned.

§ 11.662  At dusk we went down to the shore and, after a nap to gather our strength, boarded our boat and set off for Corfu.
The river that crosses the sea
On Holy Saturday we came to the island of Oxeia (Coczolara). We had dinner on the ship because we were fasting before the Blessed Easter of the Resurrection of the Lord. In the late afternoon we crossed a bay into which flows the Achelous (Cathoschi) river. It flows so fast through the sea for twenty miles that its water does not mix with sea water. While we crossed it we took it up and drank it, marvellously sweet. The water stayed fresh for a bowshot across the bay.
The island of Lefkada (Lucate) and the castle of Santa Maura (Sancta Mafra).
In the mid-afternoon on Easter Sunday we reached the island of Lucata (Lefkada), a hundred miles from Patras, on which there is a small castle by the name of Santa Maura belonging to the Duke of Cephalonia. It is three miles or more across the gulf to the mainland and the large province of Albania, ruled by the Despot of Arta. Lefkada was formerly joined to Albania by a narrow tongue of land. Then, because the Albanians used to make incursions, it was dug through so that now the castle is surrounded by water and the Albanians from the mainland can no longer cause trouble. Simon of Genoa and Ciccarello of Naples, governor of the castle, honoured Sir Antonatio with many gifts.
Leaving Santa Maura
At dawn on Monday we left the castle of Santa Maura and headed to Corfu, where we could find our passage home. A contrary wind caused us to put into a fairly good port on the Albanian coast.

§ 11.663  Around the port was a lovely forest of oak, laurel and other tall trees, home to many wild animals. We stayed in port three days because of the unfavourable winds. Every night in the harbour fish, big and small, made an incredible noise with their fighting and racketing and chasing each other so we could not sleep on the shore. I think it was a sign of the ill luck that befell us on our journey.
Leaving port
At dawn on Thursday 15 April we left that port. When we were four miles out to sea a Garbinus (south westerly wind) came up and the sea got rougher. We had not gone far when the wind whipped up the waves against us, with peals of thunder and flashes of lightning and hail and torrential rain. We begged the captain to take us back to land, for it seemed dangerous to sail on in such a rough sea. He refused, saying that the storm would not last long and he wanted to get to a port ten miles away, where he trusted that we would be quite safe.
The great storm
The gale whipped up the sea and it looked as if our little boat would be plunged into the depths. The waves grew higher and higher and tossed the boat from the trough up to the crest and from the crest down to the trough. The crew realised we were in serious danger and wanted to head back to land but could not because of the violence of the storm. It grew worse and worse, the waves battered the boat and the sail and often came over the side. Stricken with fear we commended ourselves unceasingly to Almighty God, begging the captain and the crew to run us aground on land if they could and not to let us perish so cruelly. The captain and crew told us that they could do nothing to escape our mortal danger. They could not head for the shore because of sandbanks and reefs and they could not steer out to sea against the headwind.

§ 11.664  Seeing they were near to death, according to the Greek custom, they took out bread, blessed it and gave themselves communion. What did I, poor Nicholas the lawyer, and my companions think of but death? “Ah God! I said to myself, I hoped to die at home and for my body to be honourably buried in my robes in my chapel of Saint Catherine, where my parents and my sons are buried. But now I see I am to die a bitter and obscure death far from my country and my body, after my soul has left it, washed up on the shore by the waves to be eaten by wild animals. If only I had died on the high sea so its depths would be my grave! Who will announce my death to my wife so that she puts on black and leads the life of a widow? Who will tell the Archdeacon of Carinola, my brother, so he executes my will according to my wishes? Oh how bitter is the life of those who wait! They will wait for me, day after day, and no-one will come with definite news of the end of my life.” Weeping bitter tears, all my senses were numbed. I was devoid of all courage. Even the light in my eyes was dimmed. I begged God to have mercy on my sins, to receive my soul that I commended to him, and to snatch it from the mouth of the lion and the net of the hunters.
Driven aground
Sir Antonatio, despite his fear of the sea, helped with the boat and encouraged the crew. As a result of his concern they turned the boat towards the shore. With the strength of the wind and the force of the waves behind us they succeeded in steering it to the shore through a narrow gap between two reefs, where we ran aground. A sailor immediately jumped out with a rope and made us fast. One after the other we disembarked safely holding on to the rope. Since I am not very tall it was harder for me to get out than for the others and I was up to my chest in the water. So, with the help of God and Our Lord Jesus Christ, who does not want the death of a sinner but that he should reform and live, we were all rescued from mortal danger.

§ 11.665  Note
I want to say one thing to all those who read and hear about these dangers and trials, that they should not be frightened or put off if they are thinking about undertaking this holy and precious journey. They do not always happen to pilgrims and, when they do, are good for the soul. So it is said: “who does not work does not eat,” and “he does not deserve sweetness who has not tasted bitterness.”
Let us not cease to strive for our salvation in honour of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who chose to be crucified in Jerusalem for our salvation and suffered death with such agony and abuse.
Our boat was so battered by the waves on the shore that it broke up. Men from a castle belonging to the Despot of Arta, called Preveza, two miles from the coast, came and dragged it out of the water.
The castle
The governor of the castle, who was from Naples, took pity on us and sent a servant with a horse. We got to the castle in fear of Albanians in the vicinity. The governor let us sleep in a hay loft for three days until our ship was repaired.
Leaving the castle
As soon as the boat was repaired we left the castle of Preveza (Arevesse) on Monday 19 April. At sunset we docked in the port of the castle of Fanari, belonging to Venice.
Fanari Castle
The castle is on mound on a hill, making it three times as high as the great tower of Carinola castle and unassailable by anyone. We slept at the port until midnight, when we left and sailed six miles along the Albanian coast to the castle of Bargha (Parga), belonging to the Despot of Arta.
Corfu (Gorfo)
In the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday 20 April we arrived at the port of Corfu.

§ 11.666  It is a fine island, a hundred and sixty miles around. It used to belong to the King of Naples and now belongs to Venice. The city is built on a corner of the island and to my mind the size of the city of Teano. But most of the houses are run-down and the streets are narrow. It is close to the sea and has two gates. There are two castles inside the city on tall mounds a bowshot from each other. From the outside they look strong and well guarded. The town outside the citadel has a large population, and is where the taverns and inns are found.
At dawn on Monday we left Corfu and at sunset arrived at the port of Sazan (Casopoli), where there is a church dedicated to Saint Mary, a stone’s throw from the sea. It has a much venerated icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary that produces miracles every day. It used to be a large town but was abandoned so they say, because of a plague of snakes. It is now completely ruined. There were many walls and several towers, which the Venetians demolished.

§ 12.666  XII. THROUGH ITALY TO CARINOLA
We left Sazan at five in the morning of Thursday 6 May and arrived at the port of San Cataldo in the region of Apulia, a hundred and twenty miles from Corfu, where there is a fortress belonging to Sir Raymond de Nola. On the same day we sailed six miles from San Cataldo to Lecce (Liccium). It is a big city, the size of Aversa, as far as we could tell. They say it has four thousand homes. It has fine walls with more than a hundred towers and a stone-walled moat all around, a large and beautiful castle and lovely gardens.

§ 12.667  On Monday 10 May Sir Raymond de Nola sent horses and his steward to fetch us to the town where he lived, San Pietro Galatino, ten miles from Lecce. Like the gracious lord he is, he received us with great honour and did us the favour of giving us an armed escort and paying our expenses throughout all his lands. So on 13 May we left Lecce for Oria (Hoyra). From there we travelled to Grottaglie, ruled by Sir Mala Carne de Grottaglie. On the next day we went to Palagiano (Paleano), the next to Altamura. From there we were escorted to Minervino by fifty cavalry provided by Sir Raymond. From Minervino we went to Lavello, Rocchetta, Grottaminarda, and Flumeri. We left Flumeri late in the day with thirty horsemen and twenty-five foot soldiers of Sir Raymond and walked all night for fear of the Bretons in Apice. At dawn we came to Benevento. We left there with the Vice-Rector and an escort of soldiers, passing through Appolosa (Pollosa) and Montesarchio to arrive at Arienzo (Argentium) in the evening. On Wednesday night we left apprehensively with twenty-five foot soldiers and reached Capua at dawn on Thursday, 27 May. We left Capua on the same day and as we reached Carinola many men of the town, out of kindness and their love for me, came out to Santa Croce to meet me. On the whole way into town it was amazing how many people came to welcome me. I do not say this out of empty self-glorification, for all self-praise is repellent, but to commend them for the love they showed me.
And so I came into town with them with immense joy, looking forward to the comfort of my dearest wife. I did not know that she had died at dawn on Holy Saturday 10 April, the hour of the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

§ 12.668  Oh how bitter was that day! My wife Constantia, whom I loved above all for her goodness, was gone. She loved God more than anything, and her family and the poor of the neighbourhood. She often went to mass, always fasted twice a week, and gave alms to the poor on all the saints’ vigils. She welcomed pilgrims into our home with the utmost charity, giving them food and a bed, not only those who came to the house but others she sent her servants to look for in the town. She arranged for the newborn babies of the poor to be baptised. She asked me to make a list of the names of all the children she had baptised. There were almost two hundred. Prayers or the Our Father were never far from her lips. So I hope that for all this and her great charity, her soul reigns with Christ.
When I got to my house and found my wife was not there, all spirit and sense were numbed by intense grief. I felt I could live no longer on this earth, all the more since I was sure she died from the immense grief I caused her by my belated return.
But considering that we are all born for this, as Boethius says: “It is the eternal and immutable law that nothing created endures,” and that she was cared for in her illness by several doctors until she died, and that her body was placed with all due ceremony in my chapel on Holy Saturday, with a large number of mourners and my lord Bishop in all his vestments with his retinue, I give praise to Almighty God who called her to his kingdom with such a fine memorial.
This is the end of the story
Praise and Glory to Christ.
For the one who wrote this work
Let a place be kept in Paradise

§ 12.669  This work was rewritten and copied at the La Rocca Spa of Mondragone by Ciccio Grosso di Balsorano on the instruction of Roger de Celano, who lives there, in March 1397 in the reign of his Serene Highness our Prince and Sovereign Ladislaus of Hungary, King of Jerusalem and Sicily etc.