GLOSSARY
Ahmediye: richly ornamented old Turkish velvet
Alas: checked cotton cloth used as shepherds’ cloak
Alatzia (Turk. alaca): a cotton or silk and cotton fabric, in colorful stripes or checkered.
alatzia: a cotton or silk loom-woven fabric, multi-colored, striped or checked. Although the term is Turkish, alaca, in Cyprus denoted a local, usually cotton fabric, used for making traditional garments.
It is worth mentioning that during the anticolonial struggle of 1955-1959, alatzia became the preferred material for garments of the island’s Greeks, and a symbol of their resistance against British colonialism. The promotion of alatzietina (made of alatzia) textiles, was part of the “boycott” on British goods, a systematic effort to weaken Government finances by refraining from buying British goods. Thus, it was suggested to produce and use loom-woven cloth, made of the first-class local cotton, instead of the imported manufactured textiles. Following EOKA’s instructions, the Greeks of Cyprus, especially young girls, were dressed in alatzia woven by the hands of their mothers. This tendency also led to the revival of looms in Cypriot households. Within the framework of this “Passive Resistance”, Cypriot textiles became the only material used for the official uniform in schools, and alatzia festivals were organized in various parts of the island; in one of them, which took place in Solea, 137 looms participated in the weaving contest and 20,953 cubits of alatzia were produced (see more details and references in: Hamatsou 2012, 134-135).
Bibliography:
Hamatsou, A. 2012, “ ‘Politicization’ of Dress: Dress as a Means of Resistance in Early Modern and Contemporary Cyprus”, in: Ενδυματολογικά [Endymatologika]/4, Endyesthai (to Dress): Historical, Sociological and Methodological Approaches, Conference Proceedings, Athens, April 2010, Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, 131-135.
Alla Cipriotta: (Ital.) Cypriot type
Alla Turca: (Ital.) Ottoman style
altın sırma: gold or silver gilt thread
Amalia type dress: women’s dress linked with the name of Amalia, Queen of Greece (1836-1862), adopted in the urban centers of Cyprus by mid-nineteenth century
Anterin: (Turk. entari): a long robe with sleeves and a low neckline. Usually the anterin was worn by females over the shirt, was fitted at the waist and flared from the hips. In front, below the low neckline, it was closed with buttons as far as the waist. Anterin was also worn by men over the shirt, but it presented some differences in its cut
Anteri (Turk. entari): The garment which was known under this name was a loose robe worn over the shirt with a sash around the waist, and under outer garments, coats made of costly fabrics, usually lined with fur. Anteri formed an essential component of the Oriental dress, which, during the period of Ottoman rule, had become prevalent among the well-to-do, not only in Cyprus but throughout the Empire. Members of the high clergy wore the same type of apparel with a different headdress. Women’s dress comprised garments similar to those of men: the anteri was worn over the shirt and long baggy trousers (salvaria), and was bound at the waist by a large sash or girdle fastened by silver buckles. The front of the overcoats was left unfastened so as to let the anteri underneath be seen; thus it is easily recognized in visual representations of the period; furthermore, it is mentioned in written sources. In the lists of property of deceased persons in Nicosia and Larnaca, anteri is very often recorded as a garment of both men and women, also among the belongings of priests. According to these sources, anteri was made of a surprising variety of fabrics, which were either local or imported, and differed in quality and colour.
Both the name and the origin of anteri have been a matter of dispute. According to researchers from Turkey, entari constituted the main element of Turkish clothing culture, inherited from their nomadic ancestors, who lived in the northern part of Central Asia. It is admitted, however, that, in addition to influences by the Central Asian nomadic lifestyle and religious beliefs, Turkish clothing was influenced by the interaction of the Turks with other cultures and from adapting and absorbing new ideas drawn from them (Koç and Koca 2011, 14). After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Turks expanded into Europe and ruled over a vast territory for six centuries, until the decline of the Ottoman Empire. The cultural diversity of a multi-ethnic society is also reflected in the dress of the people. Nevertheless, the basic principles of the traditional Turkish attire are believed to have been preserved until the late 18th century. As it appears during this period, entari formed the middle layer over the shirt and şalvar, and under the kaftan and a short jacket. Dressing in layers is regarded a most important characteristic of the diversity of Turkish clothes.
As far as the name is concerned, the term entari in the context of Turkish clothing was first found in written sources dating from the 16th century, and literary references document the use of this word by the Ottomans from the 16th until the 20th century. Furthermore, according to Turkish researchers, there is nothing to indicate that this term, which was widely used in different regions of the Empire, is of Turkish origin (Koç and Koca 2012, 142). According to Ahmed Vekif, entari acquired its name from a town in Syria. As for the type of the garment, according to Greek researchers, anteri is of Byzantine origin and derived from sfiktourion, a clerical dress of similar morphology, which the Turks adopted, adapted to their clothing and changed its name. In the Orthodox world, anteri survives to this day as a priests’ garment (see more details and references in Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 97-101).
Although many styles of the entari have developed with time, all of them show similar characteristics and the overall model is the same. According to Turkish researchers, “The true appearance of any entari may be seen only when it is worn over the body accompanied by other pieces of clothing. In other words, the entari is given its form by its wearer, and it may be said that when the entari is worn its appearance is the outward reflection of the inner elegance and beauty of the person wearing it.” (Koç and Koca 2012, 142-143).
Bibliography:
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 1996: Η Αστική Ενδυμασία της Κύπρου κατά τον 18ο και τον 19ο Αιώνα, Nicosia.
Koç, F. and Koca, E. 2011: “The Clothing Culture of the Turks and the Entari (Part 1: History)”, Folk Life: Journal of Ethnological Studies 49, No 1, 10-29.
Koç, F. and Koca, E. 2012: “The Clothing Culture of the Turks and the Entari (Part 2: The Entari)”, Folk Life: Journal of Ethnological Studies 50, No 2, 141-168.
Arakçin: white linen cap worn under a turban or fez (see also terlik)
Astarin (Turk. astar): cloth lining
Balık sırtı (Turk.): fish bone motif or scale pattern
Başlık (Turk.): cap, headgear; bridal headdress, crown; special headdress worn at circumcision; money paid by the bride-groom to the bride’s family
Beyaz (Turk.): white colour, light (of day)
Bez: cloth, linen
Bilezik: bracelet
Bindallı: purple velvet embroidered with silver thread (bin = thousand; dallı = ornament- ed with branches); gold-embroidered festive dress or wedding gown
Bocassino, buccassini (Ital.): type of cloth dyed red with the root of madder (rizarin) mixed with ox-blood
Botana: white cotton cloth (Ital. botane, French botanes, boutanne)
Burma sarık (Turk.): turban with thick coils
Camedan: double-breasted waistcoat, usually of embroidered velvet
çarşaf: a baggy and loose Muslim women’s outdoor overgarment, covering their entire body; it began to be worn during the 18th century in the Ottoman Empire, replacing the ferace
çelenk: crest, garland, aigrette, plume as head ornament
Cepken dikme yelek (Turk.): sleeveless waistcoat with applied braided decoration
Cepken, cebken (TCy): stout jacket, the sleeves of which are slit, leaving the arms free; a short jacket worn by men and women over the şalvar and the entari during the final period of the Ottoman Empire
çividi: indigo blue colour
çizme bağı (Turk.): strings made of goat hair, tied round the top of boots
çorap: stocking, sock
Dilli potin (Turk.): tab front shoes (dil = tongue, dilli = talkative)
Dimi şal (Turk.): type of woven fabric, fustian; see also dimido and şal
Dimito (Greek): dimity, a strong cotton fabric woven on the loom with four heddles
Dival or düval (Turk.): gold and silver thread embroidery over cardboard, on rich material
Divişli sakgo: jacket of western style; probably related to divit (Turk.), a pen-case, often combined with an ink-holder, worn in the girdle by scribes; in Cyprus such persons were educated men dressed in western style; see also sakko, sakgo
Doulamas (Turk. dolama): long robe, fastened in front, with narrow sleeves, for the least important palace servants, kind of jacket, dolman; a long red gown with black trimmings (worn by janissaries at Larnaca in the 1760s)
Duvak: bridal veil
Episarkion: a fluid sleeved tunic (Byzntine)
Feretzes (Turk. ferace): a full cloak hanging very low behind, with long straight sleeves and a square cape; a long and baggy outer vestment covering the entire body and worn out of doors by Turkish women
Fermeli, Fermeni (Turk. fermene; from the Albanian fermel’é): men’s short sleeved waistcoat, richly decorated with gold braids; it is recorded as fermeni in Greek Cypriot documents
Fermeli (Albanian fermel’ e): it is a richly embroidered waistcoat with long sleeves sewn to the back and hanging free at the front. In the 18th/early 19th-century lists of belongings of deceased persons, recorded by the Church, this garment is mentioned only once in Larnaca and is characterized as “frantzerziki” (Frankish?). In a synod letter of the Church of Cyprus, dated 1797, Christians are ordered to wear simple and decent clothes, and are threatened with heavy punishment if seen wearing “the gold-embroidered devil’s fermeni”, deemed inappropriate for pious Christians. This document is an indirect proof that this luxurious garment was actually worn in Cyprus by those who could afford to possess it (see references in Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 88, 94, 275). It seems, however, that it was rare, as only one example from Cyprus has been preserved and now belongs to the National Historical Museum in Athens. It was donated by the Patriotic Association of Cypriots in Athens on the occasion of the Cypriot Exhibition in Zappeion, in 1901. The fermeli is made of red felt, and its long sleeves and edges of the openings are richly trimmed with braids forming a variety of spiral motifs. The opening at the front is further adorned with an attached gold-woven band with additional decoration of scroll patterns. The fermeli is accompanied by a sleeveless waistcoat also made of red felt and similarly decorated with gaitania of metallic thread, an attached gold-woven band with garlands of floral motifs and gold twisted braids, all forming a variety of volute patterns (Cypriot Costumes 1999, 209-212).
In Greece the fermeli, worn over a waistcoat, formed an essential part of the costume with foustanella, which was the characteristic dress of the fighters of the Greek Revolution of 1821, and was later established by King Otto as a national costume. In Greece the fermeli is preserved in many examples and is depicted in various representations of well-known fighters of 1821. As far as Cyprus is concerned, there is an interesting watercolour made by Benjamin Mary in 1844, which depicts a Cypriot, George Savva, who participated in the Greek War of Independence and served as a colonel in King Otto’s army. George Savva wears the Greek cap on his head and a heavily embroidered fermeli over a shirt and waistcoat. Around his waist he bears his arms – two pistols and a sword (Severis 2000, 101, fig. 90).
Bibliography:
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 1996: Η Αστική Ενδυμασία της Κύπρου κατά τον 18ο και τον 19ο Αιώνα, Nicosia.
Cypriot Costumes 1999: Cypriot Costumes in the National Historical Museum. The World of Cyprus at the Dawn of the 20th Century. Collective work published by the National Historical Museum, Athens, and the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, Athens.
Severis, C. R, 2000: Travelling Artists in Cyprus 1700-1960, London: Philip Wilson Publishers.
Fessin (Turk. fes): fez, soft felt cap
Fesin (turk. fez): The fez is considered to be North African in origin, recalling the name of the town Fez in Morocco (Lewis 1968, 101-102; Koçu 1969, 113-114). In the Ottoman Empire. The fez was the headgear which was introduced since 1828 by Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839), within the framework of his dress reforms, an important aspect of his general reformative policy. The general form of the fez, which replaced the traditional turban, was a square cap of red cloth, ornamented with a silk tassel. Mahmud himself set the pace; every Friday he proceeded in his state caique to the mosque, wearing the European-style uniform and the fez (Allom [1839], plate on p. 5).
According to one view, the idea of using the fez was passed to the Sultan by the admiral of the Mediterranean fleet, who first introduced it as a head-cover to his sailors. Another view argues that the army of Muhammad Ali, Governor of Egypt, was already wearing the fez. Initially fez makers were brought from Tunisia. Soon, however, fez factories were established in Istanbul and other parts of the Empire. Craftsmen specialized in making moulds for fezzes, and other groups were busy with cleansing, reshaping and pressing of fezzes (Jirousek 2000, 240, note 43; Norton 1997, 154-155).
According to the Law of 1829, with the exception of the ulema (who were permitted to wear the robe ant the turban), for all civilians it was compulsory to wear the fez, which thus replaced all other forms of headgear and became a homogenizing status marker. The fez, combined with frock coat and trousers, found prompt acceptance mainly by the official and upper-middle classes, both Muslim and non-Muslim. It gradually became fully acclimatized and had been adopted in many countries of the Ottoman Empire. It was not, however, an exclusively Muslim headgear, as it gained favour among Greeks, Armenians and other Christians (Norton 1997, 158).
As far as Cyprus is concerned, in late 18th and early 19th lists of properties of deceased people in the urban centres of the island (Nicosia and Larnaca), the term fez is used to denote a headdress of both sexes. Two fezzes are recorded as belonging to a female in a list of 1790, while in a dowry of 1835 are included three specimens, one of them defined as “fesin parpareshikon”, i.e. from Barbary in North Africa.
In the belongings of deceased men, fezzes are recorded alone or accompanied by a turban or headscarf. Eight dozens of fezzes, found in the workshop of a calico-printer, most probably denote merchandise.
According to the Archives of the French consulate in Larnaca, “fez ou bonnets de France à imitation de cette de Tunis, fez ou calotte de Tunis et de France à imitation” were imported to Cyprus between the years 1776 and 1780. Travellers, however, inform us that workers and the rural population did not wear the plain fez, but wrapped it in a turban or various other kerchiefs, thus differentiating themselves from the upper classes. This habit, which was also noticed in other parts of the Empire, was at the same time a response to hot climatic conditions (for the use of the fez in Cyprus see Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 144-146). Before the island’s occupation by the British (in 1878), the fez was obligatory, as in other regions of the Ottoman Empire. Beneath the fez was often worn a white cotton cap to absorb perspiration. The kerchief, which used to be tied around it, remained in use by older Cypriots as a utilitarian accessory throughout the 20th century (Papantoniou, I. 1996, 154: Greek Regional Costumes, Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, Nafplion, 154). Although worn by people belonging to many different nations, the fez was conceived as a symbol of Ottoman identity.
The fez has also been part of women’s costume. As a headdress of females, it is found in Cyprus in combination with the newer-type dress, which came to the island from the liberated Greek mainland as a variation of the national costume known as “Amalia”. It is seen in mid-19th century portraits of women belonging to the upper class, like Mariou Pieraki and Iouliani Vondiziano (see cards of portraits). The Cypriot fez had two black silk tassels: a short one, which was fixed to the crown of the red fez in a radial pattern, and a second, longer one, which fell to the shoulder on the side. The fez was also decorated with fiora, flowers made of fine lace and tiny pearls.
A century had hardly passed since the reforms initiated by Sultan Mahmud II, when the fez was officially abolished in favour of the hat, within the framework of the dress reforms imposed by Mustafa Kemal. In order to join the civilized nations, the citizens of the newly founded Turkish Republic should adopt the appropriate western-style attire, and a new head-covering with a brim, the hat. The Hat Law, which was promulgated on 25 November 1925, banned the fez and required all men to wear hats. In fact, by this time, the ruling class had already adopted European dress, but the red fez with tassel, the last bastion of Muslim distinction, remained on their heads (Lewis 1968, 267-270; Norton 1997, 157-162).
Similar phenomena were observed in Cyprus. Even by the end of the 19th century, under British rule, a time when the upper classes had fully adopted the European dress, the favourite head-dress was still the fez. This fact is reflected in photographs, which show elderly people wearing the fez in combination with European attire, while younger men appear in modern costumes and hats.
Bibliography:
Koçu 1969, Allom [1839], Jiroussek 2000, see in Turkish Cypriot Dress
Lewis, B. 1968: The Emergence of Modern Turkey, London, Oxford, New York (2nd edition)
Norton, J. 1997: “Faith and Fashion in Turkey”, in N. Lindisfarne-Tapper and B. Ingham (eds), Languages of Dress in the Middle East, Richmond, Surrey, 149-177.
Papadimitriou, E. 1991: Cypriot Costumes, Athens: Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, Folk Art Museum of the Society of Cypriot Studies
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. and Damdelen, A. 2012: Turkish Cypriot Dress. The Aziz Damdelen Collection, Nicosia: Ministry of Education and Culture – Cultural Services
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 2009: Tanning in Cyprus from the 16th to the 20th Century. From Traditional Tanneries to Modern Industries, Publications of the Cyprus Research Centre L.]
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 1996: Η Αστική Ενδυμασία της Κύπρου κατά τον 18ο και τον 19ο Αιώνα [Urban Dress in Cyprus during the 18th and 19th Centuries], Λευκωσία: Πολιτιστικό Ίδρυμα Τραπέζης Κύπρου [Nicosia: Bank of Cyprus Culrural Foundation].
Salvator, L. (1873) 1983: Levkosia: The Capital of Cyprus, London: Trigraph
Fistanlı entari: long dress, woman’s dress, skirt, petticoat
Fiyonklu potin: shoes decorated with a bow-tie buckle (fiyonk: bow-tie; potin, botin: boot)
Fragkopodines: European-style leather boots, ‘Frankish’ boots worn by men mainly in the towns
Fragkopodines (also found as frangopodines; “Frankish boots”): these were made of imported leather and accompanied the best costume in feasts and weddings. These boots had the left foot distinguished from the right, like all proper shoes, and they also had proper nails instead of rizes. Waterproof boots or shoes were made from calf’s skin (vidello).
Frenk çizmesi (Turk.): ‘Frankish’ boots worn by men mainly in the towns
Gavuşturma sakko (TCy): double-breasted jacket (Turk. kavuş = to meet, to come together
Gelin başlığı (Turk.): wedding crown; gelin = bride
Gelin köşesi (Turk.): bridal canopy richly decorated with draperies and flowers
Gelinlik (Turk.): wedding-dress, fit for a bride
Gölgelik (Turk.): white headscarf which farmers used to wear for protection from the sun (gölge= shade)
Gömlek (Turk.): man’s shirt, chemise
Gunna (Lat. gunna; Slavik guna, both of Celtic origin): fur, furcoat
Taking into consideration the climate of Cyprus and the rather poor financial and social condition of the local population, one is surprised to find among the articles imported by local merchants, both Turks and Rayas, a considerable variety of furs. According to documents preserved in the National Archives of France, during the six years from 1776-1781, the following numbers of furs for making overcoats (“Fourrures pour pelisses”) were imported through the port of Larnaca by local merchants. Furs are defined with both the French and the Turkish name, the latter distorted by the French who recorded it (Pouradier Duteil-Loizidou 1991, table I):
Furs for overcoats in numbers:
Hermine dit cakoun: 1776:1, 1777: 7, 1778: 20, 1779: 7, 1780: 7, 1781: 18.
Fausse hermine, yalan cakoun: 1776: --, 1777: 36, 1778: 66, 1779: 28, 1780: 10, 1781: 19.
Marte têtes et pâtes, zerdava cafatsi et pachatsi: 1776: --, 1777: 12, 1778: 12, 1779: 5, 1780: 3, 1781: 4.
Marte zibeline, samour: 1776: --, 1777: 3, 1778: 2, 1779: --, 1780: --, 1781: 2.
Loutre, soussamour: 1776: --, 1777: 3, 1778: --, 1779: --, 1780: 1, 1781: 1.
Renard roux du Nord, asak nafé: 1776: --, 1777: 9, 1778: 2, 1779: --, 1780: --, 1781: 1.
Renard blanc, carsak nafé: 1776: --, 1777: 7, 1778: --, 1779: --, 1780: 7, 1781: 7.
Renard commun, nafé: 1776: 1, 1777: 38, 1778: 42, 1779: 16, 1780: 15, 1781: 46.
Fouine têtes et pâtes, sansar cafatsi pachatsi: 1776: --, 1777: 32, 1778:, --, 1779: --, 1780: 5, 1781: 2.
Blaireau cuchen, idem: 1776: --, 1777: 11, 1778: --, 1779: --, 1780: --, 1781: 1.
Chat noir, syah kedi: 1776: --, 1777: 12, 1778: --, 1779: --, 1780: 11, 1781: 4.
Petit gris, sinjap: 1776: --, 1777: 108, 1778: 79, 1779: 110, 1780: 48, 1781: 83.
Ventre de petit gris, satranche: 1776: --, 1777: 108, 1778: 161, 1779: --, 1780: 51, 1781: 124.
Agneaux nains: 1776: 112, 1777: --, 1778: --, 1779: --, 1780: 17, 1781: 47.
The ermine, stoat (Turk. kakım or kakum), was a valuable fur; its beauty consisted in its whiteness; in representations it is easily recognizable from the distinctive black spots with which the furriers of the Levant used to decorate the ermine. Presumably “fausse hermine” (false ermine) was an imitation made from a cheaper fur. This is reflected in its price, 14 piastres per piece, while that of genuine ermine was 100 piastres in 1776. Félix Beaujour mentions that sometimes the skin of a white rabbit was used as a substitute for ermine (Beaujour 1800, 323). The merchant Arvanitakis possessed two ermine coats, which cost five times more than his single false ermine (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 124).
Zerdava was the beach martin’s fur. Its name changed according to the part of the animal body that was used for its manufacture, head or feet (Turk. kafa = head; paça = lower part of the leg).
The samur, the sable (Martes zibellina) and the susamur, the small otter, were also expensive furs. The sable, which lived only in the forests of Siberia, was held in the greatest esteem because of its soft skin and bright black colour.
Furs made from the red fox of the North (probably Turk. arsak), the white Tartar fox (karsak, corsac) and the common fox, especially from the belly of the animal (Turk. nafe = fur from the belly of an animal), were also imported, although the local fox was often used for overcoats.
The marten fur (sansar, Martes foina), also arrived in pieces of heads and feet (kafa and paça).
Blaireau (badger), defined with the unrecognizable word “cuchen”, the black cat (Turk. siyah kedi), the European squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris, Turk. sincap) and its belly (Turk. satranç = checkered), as well as young lambs, provided the raw material for fur coats.
Sincap (petit gris), a grey variety of squirrel from Siberia, was particularly popular among the Turks in Constantinople. The skin of its back was of a very fine ashy grey colour, and the belly as white as ermine.
The “Agneaux nains” might be the “agnelins” which covered the kalpaks, the headdress of the nobility. These were often made of the skin of abortive lambs, black or grey, with short curled wool. A pair was needed to fur a cap.
The reference to specific parts of the animal’s body reflects the very old practice to divide the prepared skins into various pieces, which differed in price accordingly, and then to sew and assemble them into furs. In the archival sources it is not mentioned from where the different kinds of furs were imported to Cyprus. It is well known, however, that in the whole Ottoman Empire furs constituted the main article of Russian commerce and that Constantinople was the chief centre of commerce for it. Furs were brought to the capital of the Empire from the Black Sea from several regions (Akerman, Ocsacow, Casan, Astracan), but the finest species came from Siberia. Thessaloniki, in Greece, was also involved in this trade, as, in the 18th century, it exported Russian furs to Syria and Egypt. From the reference “Fourrures pour pelisses” in the table of import trade in Cyprus, we can presume that the fur coats were locally made of parts put together. Local manufacture is also indicated by the reference in a document of 1805, to a furrier from Thessaloniki, who worked in Nicosia at that time. Another furrier is mentioned by name in the same document (“tzortzis gounnaris”).
According to written sources and representations from the period of Ottoman rule, about 15 different types of furs were worn in the urban centres of Cyprus by those who could afford to buy them. The variety and quantity of furs in Cyprus reflect their wide diffusion in the Ottoman Empire. Fur was a symbol of affluence and luxury, hence of social differentiation and also of power. Valuable furs were bestowed on the appointment of officials or archbishops, and were offered as honorary gifts to consuls. Such furs were extremely expensive, costing between 500 and 1500 piastres. They were considered a luxury, which was confined to members of the upper class. These comprised Turkish high officials but also Greek Orthodox Christians who occupied a high post, like that of the Dragoman, members of the high clergy, notables and rich merchants, as well as European consuls and merchants in Larnaca.
Bibliography:
Beaujour, F., A View of the Commerce of Greece, Formed after an Annual Average, from 1787 to 1797, Translated from the French by Thomas Hartwell Horne, London, 1800.
Pouradier Duteil-Loizidou, A., “Etat général du commerce de l’ île de Chypre”, Epeteris tou Kentrou Epistemonikon Erevnon, XVIII, 1991, 301-335.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E., Tanning in Cyprus from the 16th to the 20th Century. From traditional tanneries to modern industries, Nicosia, 2009, Publications of the Cyprus Research Centre –L-.
Hacı şalı kuşak/guşak: sash brought from Mecca (hacı = hadji, one who has performed the rites of the pilgrimage at Mecca; şal = homespun woollen cloth; see salin; kuşak)
Harba (TCy): a cloth embroidered in silk and gold thread
Henna: (sheuná as pronounced in Cypriot dialect) an orange-red dye extracted from the leaves of Lawsonia inermis
Henna: In the 1760s, Abbé Giovanni Mariti refers in detail to henna (Turk kına), the deep orange dye extracted from the leaves of Lawsonia inermis, which was especially popular among Turks and Maronites: “The Cypriots cultivate a plant which they call henna; … The leaves, dry or fresh, when boiled in water produce a fine orange dye, with which the Turkish women and a few Greeks stain their nails and the palms of their hands, with the idea that it refreshes the body. They dye their hair with it, as an adornment. And so tenacious is the dye, that it is not easy except by a long lapse of time to efface it. The Venetians when they were lords here used to dye their horses’ coats with this colour; now, so far as regards animals, this custom is confined to white greyhounds and horned cattle.” (Mariti (1769) 1971, 12).
About twenty years later (1785), the traveller Antonio Mondaini (Namindiú) in his account of Cyprus refers extensively to the same plant, which he saw in the garden of the Dragoman of the Serai (Hadjigeorgakis at that time), in Nicosia. Apart from many citrus trees, he saw “some small trees of Elhenna in blossom which spread their fragrance so appreciated by the orientals… The ancient Greeks called it Cupros and some people say it has given its name to Cyprus…. the Arabs call it Kinna, the modern call it Elkenna and the Greek Cypriots Scienna. Dioscourides and Pliny praise it…. The Orientals are very fond of the flowers and leaves of this tree. They like it first for its perfume and second for its dye used by both men and women. These leaves, grounded into powder and then mixed with clear water, form a paste which when applied on beards or hair, give it a beautiful natural red colour.” (Severis 2007, 299-300).
In 1873, in his description of the people of Nicosia, Greeks, Turks and Armenians, the Archduke of Austria Louis Salvator, noticed about women that “If their hair is getting grey, they dye it red with sheuna, as the Turkish women do their nails. The dye is applied in the evening and the next morning the hair is perfectly red.” (Salvator (1873) 1983, 58).
As far as Turkish Cypriots are concerned, the application of henna was part of the preparation of the bride for the wedding, one of the most important customs in the life of the Muslim women. Henna-painted fingers shown in early to mid-20th century wedding photographs betray the attachment to traditional wedding customs. Later, the preservation of the henna by “modern” brides dressed in white, reflected the gradual transition from tradition to modernity. Henna was also included among the presents offered by the groom to the bride in traditional weddings. Part of the traditional wedding ceremony was the bride’s bath (nikâh hamamı) in a public bath, where elderly women treated their hair with henna. The toilet of the bride was an elaborate ceremonial. It was at late night that the groom’s kına (henna) for the bride and other women present was brought by the best man to the bride’s house, accompanied by music; it was placed in a copper tray with a lit candle in the middle; the guests put money in the kına tray for the best man. First the groom had kına put on his fingers then on his hand; kına was also put on the hands of the best man. Until dawn, the bride had to sit on a chair with her head covered; her hands were again painted with henna and songs with symbolic meaning were sung (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou , E. and Aziz Damdelen 2012, 68, 69, 317, 324-327).
Henna has been cultivated since very ancient times and it is mentioned by Theophrastus, Dioscourides and Pliny. It is regarded indigenous to Cyprus and many believe that the name of the island is derived from this plant (kypros) (Tsintides – Hadjikyriakou – Christodoulou 2002, 307).
Bibliography:
Mariti, G. (1769) 1971: Travels in the Island of Cyprus (μετάφρ. C.D. Cobham), London: Zeno.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. and Aziz Damdelen 2012: Turkish Cypriot Dress. The Aziz Damdelen Collection, Nicosia: Ministry of Education and Culture – Cultural Services.
Salvator, L. (1873) 1983: Levkosia: The Capital of Cyprus, London: Trigraph.
Severis, R.C. 2007: Letters Historic and Entertaining of the Past and Present Conditions of the Island of Cyprus Written by Namindiú. La Manon in Provence, Year 1785 (translated by S. Béraud), Athens: Adventure.
Tsintides, T.C. – Hadjikyriakou, G.N. – Christodoulou, C.S. 2002, Trees and Shrubs in Cyprus, Lefkosia: Foundation: Anastasios G. Leventis – Cyprus Forest Association.
Hettayin (turk. hatayi) is a stiff raw silk fabric with metallic thread
Hicaz: Hedjaz, the area in Arabia where the Prophet Mohammed’s tomb is located, a place of pilgrimage for Muslims
Hırka (Turk.): woollen, or wadded and quilted jacket; the outer vestment worn by a dervish
Holla: black pigment applied around the eyes
Holla: kohl, soot used for painting the eyes black (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. and Aziz Damdelen 2012, 68).
The luxuriously dressed lady, the portrait of which is painted on the wooden case of an 18th-century grandfather clock exhibited in the House of Hadjigeorgakis, in Nicosia, has her eyes painted black with holla.(see card…)
This black dye did not escape the notice of Louis Salvator, who referred to it in his description of the people of Nicosia: “The lashes and brows of children’s eyes are painted black, by what is called Holla mavri, by the Turks as well as Greeks, more frequently by the former.” (Salvator (1873) 1983, 58).
Bibliography:
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. και Damdelen, A. 2012: Turkish Cypriot Dress: The Aziz Damdelen Collection, Nicosia: Ministry of Education and Culture-Cultural Services.
Salvator, L. (1873) 1983: Levkosia: The Capital of Cyprus, London: Trigraph.
Humayın (TCy): white fabric used for headscarf
Itares (Turk. idare): fine cotton yarn, silk-cotton fabric with warp of fine cotton yarn
Kaftanin (Turk. kaftan): a sleeved long outer gown made of heavy silk cloth and worn over the entari; worn particularly by men at the Ottoman court and usually offered as a robe of honour; women also wore the kaftan
Kakkoumin or kakkoumogouna (Turk. kakım, kakum): the fur of the ermine or stoat, snow white with black spots (often imitated by furriers with added black spots)
Kalpakin (Turk. kalpak): high fur cap worn by dragomans, doctors etc. (non-Muslims); kettle-shaped headdress worn mainly by Armenians
kalpakin (turk. kalpak, fur cap): All over the Ottoman Empire, the kalpak was the typical headdress of Greek non-Muslim subjects (reaya), particularly of the Greek nobility, as well as of Armenians, Jews and Tatars. It was worn exclusively by non-Muslims. Kalpaks were either two-pointed and made of sable fur surrounding a leather cap or in the shape of a mitre (kettle-shaped). The latter type was made of fine black lambskin stretched upon pasteboard forms (White 1846, 187). It was considered an Armenian invention and was worn by Phanariotes (the Greek aristocracy in the Phanar quarter , in Constantinople), the nobles of Chios and Livadeia, the rulers of Moldovlachia (for further information on this type of headdress, see Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 140-142). James Dallaway, F.S.A. late Chaplain and Physician of the British Embassy to the Porte, referring to the shores and islands of the Archipelago, offers the following information: “The rayahs are known by a head-dress called kalpak, made of lamb-skin, and inimitably ugly, differing entirely from a turban; and sometimes a samour or black fur cap, which is principally worn by dragomen and physicians.” (Dallaway, 83).
The appearance of the kalpak and its use in Cyprus during the 18th and 19th centuries, is described by several travellers. When Pococke visited Cyprus in 1738, he noticed that “those who value themselves on being somewhat above the vulgar, dress like the Turks but wear a red cap turned up with fur, which is the proper Greek dress, and used by those of the islands in whatever parts of the Levant they live” (Cobham, 268).
According to Giovanni Mariti, who lived in Cyprus from 1760 to 1767, “Dragomans dress like Turks, but wear on their heads a qalpaq, or tall cap of marten or other skin, instead of the turban” (Mariti 1971, 136 (Mariti, London 1971: Zeno).
In 1806, Ali Bey mentioned that the protégés (natives who placed themselves under the protection of some European consul), were “distinguished by a tall black cap of bear’s skin, called calpac. I have however seen Greeks who were not protégés wearing the calpac unnoticed by the Turks” (Cobham 1908, 397).
Two kalpaks made of sable fur and telâtin are included among the personal items of Hadjigeorgakis Kornessios, Dragoman of Cyprus from 1779-1809. The telâtin, known also as Juchten (in German) or Jufti (in Russian) or cuir de Russie (in French), is a tender and impermeable Russian leather made of calfskin. It was also frequently made from deerskins, particularly reindeer. The skins were tanned with birch or willow bark, and their impregnation in birch oil gave them a characteristic aroma. They were dyed in a peculiar red colour (see references in Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2009, 68-69). [The red telâtin is clearly visible on the top of the headdress -consisting of a red cap surrounded by sable fur- which Hadjigeorgakis wears in his portrait.
Bibliography:
White, C., Three Years in Constantinople; or Domestic Manners of the Turks in 1844, v. I-III, London 1846, Henry Colburn.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 1996: Η Αστική Ενδυμασία της Κύπρου κατά τον 18ο και τον 19ο Αιώνα, Nicosia.
Dallaway, J., Constantinople ancient and modern, with excursions to the shores and islands of the Archipelago and to the Troad, London 1797.
Cobham, C.D. 1908: Excerpta Cypria: Materials for a History of Cyprus, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mariti, G. Travels in the Island of Cyprus (trans. C.D. Cobham), London 1971: Zeno.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 2009a: ‘Traditional Craftsmen in Cyprus during the Period of Ottoman Rule, through Lists of Property of Deceased Persons,’ in M.N. Mi- chael, M. Kappler and E. Gavriel (eds), Ottoman Cyprus. A Collection of Studies on History and Culture, Wiesbaden, 231-57.
Kannavitsa: a thick fabric for making sacks, (ital. canavaccio)
Kapottos (Ital. capotto; Turk. kaput): capote, heavy overcoat, coarse woolen cloak, military cloak
kapottos: (Ital. capotto, Lat. cappa, French capotte, Turk. kapot, kaput). Kapottos is a thick overcoat made of sheep’s or goat’s wool. In the list of property of the Dragoman Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios (1794) is recorded a shop or workshop “kapotareon” in Larnaca; i.e. a workshop in which heavy, woolen overcoats were manufactured and sold. An idea of the appearance and use of kapottos is offered by a late 19th-century presentation of peasants from Karpasia; the man in the picture has this heavy overcoat thrown over his shoulders (Deschamps (1897) 2005, 171). An excellent example of kapottos was included in the Exhibition organized by the Patriotic Association of Cypriots in Athens in 1901, and is now exhibited in the National Historical Museun in Athens (Gaggadi et al. 1999, 47, 142-143).
In the late 18th/early 19th-century lists of property of deceased people in Larnaca and Nicosia, the kapottos is recorded in several cases, while the same overcoats are mentioned in the Codex XXVI of the Archbishopric of Cyprus as gifts offered to Ottoman officials (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 128-129). At the same time (e.g. in 1781), according to documents of the French consulate in Larnaca, “cabans ou capotes de Salonique” were imported to Larnaca and tax was paid according to their weight (Pouradier Duteil-Loizidou 1991, 324, tabl. I). In the ports of Eastern Mediterranean, famous for their high quality were the capes from Zagora (in Greece), which were so densely woven as to be waterproof. They were exported from the port of Thessaloniki, a fact which indicates that the above-mentioned reference (“capotes de Salonique”) most probably indicates the port of export rather than the place of manufacture. “Capotto Zaghura”, apparently capes from Zagora, were included among the dress items of European merchants who lived in Larnaca during the 18th century, according to documents of the State Archive of Venice (six cases were recorded from 1760 to 1795: Hadjikyriakos 2017, Appendix I, 131).
In Cyprus, where animal husbandry was developed and sheep’s and goat’s wool was most appropriate for the manufacture of thick overcoats, local production is mentioned in later sources, such as in the report of Vice-Consul White of March 20, 1863, according to which this local manufacture was particularly important. About ten years later, in 1873, Louis Salvator, in his chapter on the Bazaars of Nicosia mentions: “Following the Manufacture Bazaar in the direction of the Paphos Gate, we come into the Makri Bazaar (Long Bazaar), in which we find first some shops with Rumelian fishers’ cloaks…” (Salvator (1873) 1983, 54), while Samuel Baker (1879, 430) informs us that the thick woolen “capotes” were manufactured only in Nicosia. According to another source (Kyriazis 1950, 69), about the middle of the 19th century, the rooms of the buildings that occupied the north and eastern side of the courtyard of the church of St. Lazarus in Larnaca were given to capotes manufacturers who came from Thessaly (Greece); the same craftsmen also used the rooms that existed around the church of Faneromeni in Nicosia. The manufacture of capotes in Nicosia is also ascertained by Agni Michaelidi, who mentions that kapottarides (makers of capottos) used to come to Cyprus from mountain regions of northern Greece; they brought with them thick woolen textiles which were woven on the loom in their country, and with them they used to sew capottos for shepherds and peasants. They stayed in Cyprus from autumn to spring (Michaelidi 1981, 268; Michaelidi 1985, 165-166). This last reference refers to the early 20th century. However, the record in Hadjigeorgakis’ list of property ascertains the presence of capotto manufacturers in Larnaca, at least by the late 18th century.
Bibliography:
Deschamps, E. 1898: Au pays d’Aphrodite, Chypre. Carnet d’un Voyageur, Paris. Dixon, H. 1879: British Cyprus, London.
Pouradier Duteil-Loïzidou, A. 1991: ‘État général du commerce de l’île de Chypre 1776- 1781,’ Επετηρίς του Κέντρου Επιστημονικών Ερευνών XVIII, 301-35.
Hadjikyriakos, I. 2015: “The Venetian Fabrics, their Trade and Use in Ottoman Cyprus: The List of Fabrics”, στο: I. Hadjikyriakos και M.G. Trentin (επιμ.), Cypriot Cultural Details (Proceedings of the 10th Post Graduate Cypriot Archaeology Conference), Oxford-Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 211-222.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 1996: Η Αστική Ενδυμασία της Κύπρου κατά τον 18ο και τον 19ο Αιώνα, Nicosia.
Salvator, L. (1873) 1983: Levkosia: The Capital of Cyprus, London: Trigraph.
See the above mentioned references also in:
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, Katastichon Periousias tou Dragomanou tis Kyprou Hadjigeorgaki Kornesiou (The List of Property of the Dragoman of Cyprus Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios), Nicosia 2020, A. G. Leventis Foundation.
Karakalemin (Turk. karakalem): pencil, pencil drawing, black design (in calico-printing)
Katibi or paşalı kavuk: type of turban, worn from the 18th century by functionaries and civilians
Katifes (Turk. kadife): velvet
Kavadin: long-sleeved outer garment, open at the front, worn by men and women; robe similar to kaftan; it was also a symbol of power and high rank
Kavuk: quilted turban, type of headdress
Kazakin (Turk. kazak): (knitted) pullover
Kermesoutin (Turk. keremsud): silk cloth
kermesoutin: the fabric kermesüd, keremsud /germesüd /germsüd is characterized as “ghost fabric, because it is known only by its name, while the technique of its manufacture remains unknown. The raw material it was made of could be cotton or silk. A silk fabric with the same name was manufactured in Aleppo. As far as its use is concerned, it is known that it mainly formed the outer cover of fur coats (Reindl-Kiel 2017, 156-157). In the list of property of the Dragoman of Cyprus Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios (1794), a white kermesoutin is recorded as the cover of an ermine fur coat (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2020, 303, 305, 493-494, 498). The fabric kermesoutin or germesoutin appears in several other sources of the 18th and 19th centuries:
In documents in the State Archive of Venice, dated between the years 1749 and 1796, the ghermesut is mentioned either as a fabric in different colours, or specifically for its use for covering the outside of fur coats, in all cases in the possession of members of the European community in Larnaca. In these archival references, the fabric’s recorded place of origin is Aleppo. The term ghemesut is also mentioned in two 19th-century merchants’ transactions, one French and one American, as a silk or silk and cotton fabric manufactured in Constantinople or in Aleppo (see details in Hadjikyriakos 2017, Appendix I, 54-56). In the Archive of Ali Paşa Tepedelenli, an entari made of this fabric is included, wheareas in the publication of the Archive, the Romanian term ghermeşut is explained as a fabric made of linen and silk (Panagiotopoulos, V., Dimitropoulos, D., Michaelaris, P. 2007, …. 2009, vol. D, w. ghermeşut). The same fabric, which was fashionable by mid-18th century as an expensive silk textile of Anatolia, was also used for garments of the Romanian elite (Anton-Manea 2018, 32, 35). A common feature in all the above-mentioned references is the presence of silk in the composition of the fabric.
In the lists of property of deceased people of Nicosia, dated to the late 18th / early 19th centuries, is included a koritsas, a priest’s overcoat made of kermesoutin (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 133), while in a Cypriot dowry contract of 1835, is included a bride’s dress (foustanin, Turk. fistan), made of ash grey kermesoutin. The recorded value of the dress is 75 piasters; the kermesoutin in this case is explained as a striped fabric with flowers and leaves (Kyriazis 1936, 132).
Bibliography:
Anton-Manea, C. 2018: “The Garments of the Elite in the Middle Ages (15th-18th Centuries)”, in: C.-C. Ilie and A. Marasoiu (eds), Clothes Make the Man. Six Centuries of Clothing History: Garments, Costumes, Uniforms, Accessories, (Exhibition Catalogue, National History Museum of Romania), Oneşti: Magic Print, 30-35.
Hadjikyriakos, I. 2015: “The Venetian Fabrics, their Trade and Use in Ottoman Cyprus: The List of Fabrics”, στο: I. Hadjikyriakos και M.G. Trentin (επιμ.), Cypriot Cultural Details (Proceedings of the 10th Post Graduate Cypriot Archaeology Conference), Oxford-Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 211-222.
Reindl-Kiel , H. 2017: “The Empire of Fabrics: The Range of Fabrics in the Gift Traffic of the Ottomans” in: B. Karl and T. Ertl (eds), Inventories of Textiles-Textiles in Inventories: Interdisciplinary Studies on Late Medieval and Early Modern Sources and Material Culture, Wien, Göttingen: V&R Unipress, Vienna University Press, 143-164.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 1996: Η Αστική Ενδυμασία της Κύπρου κατά τον 18ο και τον 19ο Αιώνα, Nicosia.
Kesme çarşaf: two-piece veiled garment (kesme = cut, faceted)
Ketses (Turk. keçe): felt, mat, made of felt
Kıyafetname: special albums illustrating costume
Klos (French cloche), guloş, gloş (TCy), kloş (Turk.): cloche or bell-shaped (type of skirt)
Klosin: the fringe of the fabric.
Kontohin, kontosin (Turk. kondoş): overcoat with a wide range of variation, also lined with fur to be used as a robe of honour; robe with straight sleeves and a collar; gold-embroidered overgarment, long or short
Koumahin, koumasin (Turk. kumaş; Arab. gumash): tissue, fabric, cloth (also factory-made cloth), thick silk or cotton fabric
Kouroukla: thin cotton cloth, headscarf made from fine cotton cloth with stamped designs
Kuşak, guşak (TCy): girdle, men’s sash, cummerbund
Lipates (Turk. libade): short overcoat, short quilted jacket with decorative patterns; a broadcloth coat worn in rainy weather
Loxa (pl. loxes): a gore set into the side of a garment (e.g. of a sayia) in order to increase width
Mandilaris = the craftsman who makes the block-stamped kerchiefs
Mandilin (Lat. mantelium): kerchief, headscarf
Mandilin tis koxas: sash or kerchief around the waist (lat. coxa)
Mantos (Lat. mantum, Ital. manto, Byz. mantion): woollen or silk shawl, also covering the head
Mestia (Turk. mest): soft-soled indoor footwear made of Morocco leather
Miskalin (Arabic miskel): a weight equal to 1 1/2 drams, used for weighing precious stones, gold and silver but also laces and ribbons
Mitanin (Turk. mintan): heavy outer shirt, jacket
Morikon (Turk. mor): purple
Mücevveze: a special headdress reserved for the Sultan and the highest dignitaries
Nalın: high-heeled sandals (pattens) worn by women in the hamam
Namaz örtüsü: headscarf of a type which Turkish Cypriot women used to wear when praying (örtü = cover, wrap)
Pasmas (Turk.basma): block-printed cloth, calico
Pasmatzis (Turk.basmacı): calico-printer
Piníshin or piníhin, πινίσσιν, το, πινίχιν, το (Greek); (Turk. biniş): riding overgarment; long ample sleeved cloak, sometimes lined with fur, worn by dignitaries; also a long overcoat for urban women (as recorded in written sources in Cyprus) pinislíkin, πινισλίκιν, το (Greek): see Turk. binişlik pipi (TCy): hair style (see also kahgül)
Pinislikin (Turk. binişlik): valuable fabric for making overcoats (biniş)
Pipilla = crochet or needle lace
Ploumia tis voufas: woven embroidery
Podines: top-boots
Podines - Tsagkaropodines: The traditional peasants’ boots (podines, tsagkaropodines), which came up to the knee, were the most widespread leather article in traditional Cypriot dress. The upper part of these high boots consisted of he-goatskin. More specifically, the front part and that of the heel were made of the thick skin of he-goats who were two years old. Sheepskin was used for the lining (astarin), because it absorbed perspiration from the foot. For sticking the leathers together, a glue was prepared from asphodel (Asphodelus ramosus) or narcissus bulbs. The roots of the asphodel were dried in the oven and ground; then they were mixed with ground vetches or maize and made into a paste, which was locally known as tsirishin and used as glue by the bootmakers. For sewing the podines, bootmakers used a hair taken from the neck of a black pig and dipped in its blood to become tougher; the hair passed through holes opened beforehand with a sharp-pointed awl. The soles, which were over 2cm thick, were made of pieces of tanned ox-hide. The edges of the sole were protected by thick iron nails, known as rizes, made by traditional blacksmiths. A horseshoe-shaped reinforcing piece of iron was nailed to the thick heel.
The leather rizopodina, as the hobnailed high boot was called, is best described in a popular riddle, as follows:
The he-goat built a tower [i.e. the upper part of the boot],
the ox laid the foundations [i.e. ox-hide for the sole],
the pig pulls the rope [i.e. the pig’s hair used for sewing the soles],
in the iron court [i.e. the sole covered with iron nails].
Boots were made by a craftsman called tsagkaris (also found as tsangaris; boot-maker), while shoes, particularly those of Western style, were manufactured by the skarparis (from the Italian word scarpa = shoe, common, simple flat shoes in Cyprus). Shoe-making was one of the crafts which traditionally developed in monasteries. The boots made by the craftsmen of Kykkos Monastery were renowned for their perfection. The village priests were often bootmakers. One such priest-tsagkaris was photographed by the poet George Seferis during his visit to Cyprus in 1954. Tsagkaropodines or rizopodines could be worn on either foot, since there was no distinction between right and left in manufacture; this was to prevent the heel from being worn in the same place.
Pomaniko = triangular inset of cloth added to the underarm of the sleeve, to give more width and thus facilitate movements
Poukla/poukles: buckle, a pair of usually silver buckles for fastening the belt
Pourountzoukin (Turk. bürümcük, bürüncük): raw silk crepe; light fabric half silk and half cotton, with white cotton stripes running down the whole length on a yellow silk ground
Poyatzis (Turk. boyacı): dyer
Prosiasma: way of arranging the folds in the traditional vraka
Raso (lat. rasum, ital. raso): a smooth silk fabric, the Venetian respective of atlas, satin.
Rizári(n) or (a)lizarin, (Greek) or robia di Cipri: dye extracted from the roots of Rubia tinctorum (madder), used for dyeing in dark red colour; see (a)lizárin
Routziettin: ankle-length, thickly pleated cotton skirt, dyed in crimson colour. It was typical of the Karpasia area
Sadakor: raw silk cloth
Sakkos: western-style jacket, loose jacket
şal: loom-woven homespun woollen cloth, shawl; şali: cashmere, fine woollen cloth
Salta: a kind of short jacket, worn by the working classes
Salvaria (Turk. şalvar): A pair of voluminous trousers gathered at the ankles
Samourin (Turk. samur): sable (Martes zibellina); fur of the small black sable from the forests of Siberia
sarık: a long band of material forming a turban wrapped around the kavuk, turban
Sarka: woman’s sleeved jacket, a main component of the Amalia type costume in Cyprus
Sarka: it is the basic garment of the Amalia costume (see …), which appears to have been established on Cyprus shortly before the middle of the 19th century, and was associated with the name of Amalia, Queen of Greece. Though it was a variation of the Greek national costume, in Cyprus it acquired a local character. The sarka corresponds to the kondogounin of the Amalia costume. The term sarka, which denotes the main component of the Amalia ensemble in Cyprus, was not used in Greece. The sarka is a short jacket with a deep round, square or V-shaped opening on the breast, and long, normally flaring sleeves. It was made of velvet, felt or –more rarely- other thick or lighter figured fabric, usually in a dark colour (black, blue or lilac), and was richly ornamented with gold applied or embroidered decoration (e.g. with gold chartzia, twisted thread), which enhanced the beauty and elegance of this garment. Paintings, photographs and a large number of preserved examples help us to form a good idea of the morphological and decorative variety of the sarka in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This elaborate felt or velvet jacket was made by professional tailors in Nicosia.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 1996: Η Αστική Ενδυμασία της Κύπρου κατά τον 18ο και τον 19ο Αιώνα, Nicosia., 56.
Sartamarka (Ital. salta-mbarca, saltare +ambarca or salta-Marka, san-Marco): sailors’ over- coat, men’s waistcoat worn with şalvar, also in Cyprus, as recorded in written sources; salta: a kind of jacket; it was also worn by women in the 19th century over the entari
Sayia: woman’s sleeved garment, worn over the chemise; it is open in front, closed with a sash tied around the waist
Sayia: In the lists of properties of deceased Christians recorded by the Church of Cyprus, this term is mentioned in four cases dated to the late 18th century (1779-1788), and denotes a man’s dress item made of silk fabrics in white or dark red colour. The recording of “19 sayies with their anteria”, suggests the combination of these two over-garments. The name sayia recalls the French sayon or the Italian saia, saio. Sayon is explained as a mantle or a long woman’s dress open at the front along its entire length. According to another view, the name goes back to sagos, relative to the Latin term sagum, which refers to a thick military Spanish overcoat. In Byzantine times, sayion was a luxurious garment for kings or high officials, which was later known as the sakkos of high priests. In the 18th century, Muradja d’ Ohsson mentions that in the Ottoman Empire persons of high social status used to wear red overcoats made of an expensive Venetian fabric called saya. In dowry contracts from Athens, dating to the second half of the 18th century (1750-1780), sayia appears as a woman’s dress worn over the shirt and also combined with anteri (see references in Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 108-109).
The Cypriot sayia is explained by A. Sakellarios (Ta Kypriaka, B;, 1891, 774) as a garment worn by men but also by women, equivalent to the anteri. Men used to wear it under the tzouppe, and women under jackets like the sarka or korytzas. This explanation is supported by the data found in the above-mentioned lists of properties, which indicate a rather light garment made of silk fabrics, like atlas. In Greek traditional costumes the sayias is a sleeved cotton coat (Roumlouki) or a pleated sleeveless dress (Thessaly) (Papantoniou 1996, 165). In Cyprus the sayia survived as a woman’s dress and forms a most characteristic traditional garment, mainly in the regions of Karpasia and Paphos. It is a sleeved garment made of alatzia, cotton striped cloth. In Karpasia the sayia was also made of white cotton cloth, and was richly decorated with sewn-on embroidery and tiny beads. Sayia has a deep square opening at the chest, and this continues as a vertical opening to the lower end; sayia is worn over the shirt and underwear, baggy pantaloons with embroidered lower parts.
Bibliography:
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 1996: Η Αστική Ενδυμασία της Κύπρου κατά τον 18ο και τον 19ο Αιώνα, Nicosia.
Papantoniou, I. 1996: Greek Regional Costumes, Nafplion, Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation.
Σακελλάριος, Α. 1890, 1891: Τα Κυπριακά, ήτοι γεωγραφία, ιστορία και γλώσσα της νήσου Κύπρου από των αρχαιοτάτων χρόνων μέχρι σήμερον, 2 τόμοι, Αθήνα (νέα έκδοση Λευκωσία 1991).
Seiriti (Turk. şerit): braid, ribbon, band
Sikke: conical hat worn by dervishes; headdress special to any dervish order; religious garment
Sintzapin (Turk. sincap): fur of the ashy grey Siberian squirrel (petit gris)
Skoufomata, pl. of skoufoma: bands to fasten the fez or red cap to the forehead, headscarf covering a woman’s hair, often under another which hangs over it
Stivalia: female boots; they were usually black in colour and made by shoemakers. In their typical form the toe box was round, and the heel low and curved, made of overlaid pieces of sole leather. Their shaft widened upwards, reaching up to the middle of the calf. They were fastened with 13 round leather buttons, arranged in a vertical row at the side of the shaft. Each boot consists of six pieces: two at the front, covering the toes and the upper part of the foot, one at the heel counter, two at the sides of the shaft and a strip bearing the buttonholes. The joints were machine-sewn, decorated with stitches and rows of small holes. Two leather strips, sewn vertically along the entire front and back of the shaft, protruded at its upper end. Prokkouthkia (small nails) were employed at the heels. The stivalia were accompanied by a small metal hook with an elongated shaft, curved into a loop at its back end. The hook was used to fasten the boots (For the manufacture of stivalia, see Ionas, I. Paradosiaka Epaggelmata, Nicosia 2001, 471, 477).
Bibliography:
Ionas, I. Paradosiaka Epaggelmata, Nicosia 2001
Taïston: loom-woven silk or silk-cotton cloth with puckered stripes along the warp
Takke: skullcap of linen for wearing under the turban; small skullcap, hat worn by boys at circumcision
Tellin, pl. tellia (Turk. tel): thin metal wire or thread, tinsel
Terlikin (Turk. terlik): indoor shoes for both sexes, made of soft leather or material, without heels and slightly raised at the end, slippers; cloth skullcap worn under a headgear, e.g. the fez, to absorb sweat
Tizlikkin (Turk. dizlik): knee-breeches
Tizlikkin (Turk.dizlik): men’s knee-length trousers or drawers
Toulpanin (Turk. dülbend)see also kouroukla: fine muslin, turban elbise: clothes, dress, garments
Tozluk: gaiter, anything used as a protection against dust
Trebiye: hat made of embroidered felt; terbiye: bringing up, training, correcting, punishment
Tsagkaris, τσαγκάρης, ο (Greek): bootmaker
Tsagkaropodines (Turk. çangar çizmesi): peasant top-boots
Tsaktziria (Turk. çakşır): men’s trousers secured round the waist in folds and sewn to light leather boots at the ankles
Tsarikia (Turk. çarık): rawhide sandals
Tsemberin (turk. çember): headkerchief
Tsevres (Turk. çevre): embroidered kerchief, double-sided embroidery, surroundings, circle, circumference
Tsitseklin (Turk.çiçekli): fabric with flower patterns (Turk. çiçek = flower, blossom)
Tsizmes (Turk. çizme): high boot, top-boot
Tsoha (Turk.çuha, çufa): broadcloth
Ttalapoulouzin (Turk. tarabulus/ trabulus): striped silk sash (originally from Tripoli, Lebanon)
Ttarposin (Turk. tarbuş/tarpuş): fez, skullcap, tall pointed cap; Persian serpoş tavuk [ayağı: chicken foot (lace pattern)
Tzaktziria, τζαξίρια, τα (Greek): trousers secured round the waist in folds, and sewn to light leather boots at the ankles; see Turk. çakşır
Tzoha (Turk. çuha = broadcloth) is the most often recorded fabric, in various colours, white, morikon (Turk. mor = violet, purple), alikon, alkioulin (al = crimson colour, vermilion, flame scarlet, gül = rose). Broadcloth is also recorded as iglezikon (English), which, in those times, was three times more expensive than the common felt. In some cases broadcloth is mentioned as the material intended to be used for specific overcoats, e.g. tzouppellikin (Turk. cüppelık), cloth for making tzouppe, or pinislikin (Turk. binişlık) cloth for making pinisin (Turk. biniş). Ahmeties (Turk. ahmediye) the richly ornamented old Turkish velvet, is mentioned once. A piece of the woolen fabric salin (Turk. şali = camlet) completes the list of fabrics. The above mentioned references indicate that the red colour, in different hues, had the greatest frequency in the garments of the Dragoman’s family.
Tzouppes (Turk. cübbe, cüppe): a long robe with full sleeves, often lined with fur like the kaftan; it was worn by both sexes
uçkur/uşkur: belt, girdle, broad band for holding up breeches or drawers, a waist- string
üsküf keçeli külah: special hat worn by janissaries, a high cap whose rear part fell in the form of a covering on the back, a ribbon ornamenting it at the base where a metal case for the officer’s spoon or plume was also fixed
Vourka (Turk. dağarcık): shepherds’, hunters’ or peasants’ shoulder bag made of tanned goatskin
Vraka (Celtic brac(c)a): baggy trousers, usually densely pleated, the main garment of a man’s traditional costume. The central part of the vraka, called sella or vakla, is long and, when loose, hangs behind.
vrakin, pl. vrakia: woman’s undergarment in the form of long drawers tied around the ankles; in some regions (Karpasia, Paphos) with decorated podinaria or povratzia (the lower parts)
Vrakozonin: cord around the waist, securing the vraka
Yaitanin (Turk. kaytan/gaytan); braid, cotton or silk cord
Yaşmak: veil worn by Oriental women; two transparent veils covering the head and the lower part of the face
Yelekkin (Turk. yelek): waistcoat
Yelekkin (French gilet, provengian gilekou, Turk. yelek): this garment, a waistcoat or vest, is frequently recorded in the late 18th/early 19th-century lists of belongings of deceased Christians, both in Nicosia and in Larnaca. Yelekkin usually belonged to men, among them priests, exceptionally also to women, e.g. in two cases in Larnaca; these were made of cotton in white colour, but for the same type of garment also other cotton or silk fabrics, like alatzia or sam alatzia, or felt were used. Although their native name is not mentioned, such garments are occasionally recorded by travellers, e.g. by Henry Light in 1814: “The men were dressed in a white canvass vest over a waistcoat of the same material…” (Excerpta Cypria, 422). Apparently, Light refers to the combination of yelekkin (sleeveless waistcoat) and zimbounin (jacket with sleeves). The term yelekkin goes back in time and is also found in other countries: In 18th-century dowry contracts from Athens, yileki denotes a woman’s garment made of high quality felt and worn over the shirt. The Turkish yelek worn by ladies of the Court was a long garment open at the front, tight on the chest, where it closed with buttons, and loose in the lower part down to the feet; its cut was similar to that of the entari. In the early 17th century, women of the upper class in Istanbul are depicted to wear a combination of two different types of entari and a sleeveless jacket, the yelek. Among the garments of sultans, which date to previous centuries and are included in the Topkapı collection, is included the mintane, a short tunic or jacket, a half-length vest of fine linen or cotton. The term mettanin is also recorded as a man’s jacket in Nicosia, while in a Cypriot folk song this is described as a gold-embroidered vest made by tailors in the capital. It is worth mentioning that the meitani in Chios is described as a sleeveless vest, crossed over the chest and richly decorated with braids. The same term is also used in other regions of Greece (e.g. in the Peloponnese and Macedonia) to denote a festive, luxurious waistcoat; in the traditional costume of Crete the composite term meitanoyeleko described the combination of two vests, meitani and yeleki. The mintan seems to have been widely distributed; as a garment for women, it formed part of local costumes in urban centres of SE Europe, e.g. in Serbia, and is described as a short sleeveless underjacket (see references and more about yelekkin and mentanin in Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 88-94). A more elaborate type of festive man’s waistcoat was called sklavouniko. The numerous examples preserved in ethnographic museums and private collections express the great variety of types, combinations of fabrics and colours, as well as of the rich decoration of everyday and particularly of festive waistcoats. (see cards)????
Bibliography:
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. 1996: Η Αστική Ενδυμασία της Κύπρου κατά τον 18ο και τον 19ο Αιώνα, Nicosia.
Cobham, C.D. 1908: Excerpta Cypria. Materials for a History of Cyprus, Cambridge. [Turkish Costume] Collection of 50 Coloured Plates, ca. 1857. (Gennadius Library, Athens).
Yemeni: a patterned headkerchief made of a block-printed fabric and borders decorated with lace, pipilla
Yemeni: square patterned head-kerchief of thin-woven cotton cloth; yemenia: a kind of light leather shoes
Yiamourloukkin (Turk. yağmurluk): raincoat; kind of waterproof overcoat recorded in written sources
Ypokamison (lat. camisia): chemise, sleeved undershirt made of cream-coloured woven fabric. Its construction is based on different pieces seamed together. The shirt was made in different types/variations for both sexes
Zerdevas, ζερδεβάς Turk. zerdava): beech martin; martin’s fur
Zimbounin: sleeved dress; sleeved waistcoat (French jupon, Ital. jiubonne)
Zostra: wide silk or woollen sash wrapped around the waist. Zostres were imported in Cyprus not only from Syria and Palestine but also from North Africa and Chios