or LIMISSO, a town of Cyprus, in Mariti's the south of the island. Of the ancient city nothing but ruins now remains; though it was a celebrated place, even under the government of the dukes. King Richard, the conqueror of the last of these vassals of the empire, razed it in 1191, and it was never afterwards rebuilt. This city originally was the same as AMATHUS, or Amathonte; so famous, as Pausanias tells us, for its temple erected in honour of Venus and Adonis. Amathus was the residence of the first nine kings of the island; and, amongst others of Onelitus, who was subjected afterwards by the arms of Artabanes, the Parfian general. This city, erected into an archbishopric in the time of the Christians, has produced a number of personages celebrated for their knowledge and the sanctity of their lives. In the neighbourhood there are several copper mines, which the Turks have been forced to abandon. The following lines, in the tenth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, prove that they were known in the time of that poet:

Copta viri forma, non jam Cytherea curat Littera, non aut repetit Paphon aequore cinetam, Psecojamque Guidon, gravidamque Amathunta metallis.

The place where the new Limassol now stands, formerly had the name of Nemosia, from the multitude of woods by which it was surrounded. Richard, king of England having destroyed Amathonte, Guy de Lusignan, in the 12th century, laid the foundation of that new city which the Greeks called Negopoleor. The family of Lusignan, who continued to embellish and fortify it, built there palaces, and Greek and Latin churches; and made it the seat of a bishop. When the the island was taken by the Turks in 1570, the Ottoman army entered this city on the 2d of July, and ravaged it without mercy. It was then destroyed by the flames; and at present it is only a wretched place, in which one can scarcely distinguish any remains of its ancient edifices. It is governed by a commissary and a cadji; the latter judges cases only provisionally, before they are carried to the superior tribunal of Nicolia. The harbour is very commodious; and being sheltered from impetuous winds, it affords a safe and calm asylum to vessels when overtaken by a storm. The carob tree is here more abundant than anywhere else; and it is from the port of Limassol that the greatest quantity of its fruit is exported. The inhabitants export also salt, procured from a lake near Salines. Cotton, wheat, barley, and mulberry trees, are both plentiful and well cultivated in this part of the island: the ground also produces all kinds of garden stuffs. The best Cyprus wine is made from the vines that grow on the hills of Limassol. All the wines of the country are collected in this city to be transported to Larnie, where there are the largest cellars, and which on that account becomes the natural centre of commerce.