When looking at paintings or photographs, notice the colour of the vraka worn by Christians and Moslems. During the Ottoman era, the Moslems wore the white vraka and light or colourful attire. They also wore a white scarf around their fez and, being the ruling class, they were the only ones allowed to wear the colour yellow, the insignia of the ruling class, and the colour green, the holy colour of Islam. On the contrary, the Christians wore dark colours, black vraka and a black scarf around their fez. Women wore darker colours, all Christians following the advice of their Archbishop: keep your clothes dark, keep your scarves dark, do not provoke the Ottomans. Later on, during the early British period, both communities wore the blue vraka as well.
PNT-00700 > H. Sperling (1844-1904), Peasant of Carpasi (man), Watercolour, 41x23cm, ca. 1880
PNT-00918 > Tristram James Ellis (1844-1922), Sweetseller in Nicosia, Watercolour, 39x30cm, 1879
PNT-00195 > Tristram James Ellis (1844-1922), At the Marina, Larnaca, Watercolour, 26x36cm, 1878
PNT-00328 > Arthur Legge (1859-1942), Bazaar, Watercolour, 25x29cm, 1928
You can see this exhibits up close, along with many others, in the exhibition rooms of CVAR.
