Dom Pedro II (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed the Magnanimous was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years.
Before his exile, the emperor visited Europe twice. The letter in which he refers to Cyprus is from his second European trip, during a cruise of the East Mediterranean. The letter begins on the 7th of November, 1876, when he is sailing from Rhodes towards Cyprus, and speaks of his impressions of Rhodes.
In the evening, as the ship approaches Cyprus, he notes that the island looks ‘whitish’, the sunset is beautiful and nothing can be seen but the light of a lighthouse. The emperor picks up his pen the next morning to continue the letter; by now he has visited Famagusta and is back on the ship. He interrupts the letter to visit Salamis but is unable to disembark. In the afternoon, he picks up his pen once again and recounts more details about Famagusta, evoking Walter Scott’s historical novel set during the Third Crusade: The Talisman. It is unclear if he visited Famagusta again after failing to disembark in Salamis, or if he is filling in details from his earlier interrupted account.
