Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
A museum that opened this week in Cyprus showcases priceless early Christian artworks, many of which were recovered after being stolen from churches in the north of the war-split island.
The Byzantine Museum of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation opened on March 18 in the capital Nicosia after five years of extensive renovations. It features mosaics, icons and wall frescoes representing some of early Christianity’s finest and rarest works.
Many of the exhibits were looted by smugglers after a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup, and trafficked on the black market.
Over the years, Cypriot authorities have doggedly tracked down and reclaimed numerous stolen works, putting them in museums they hope can be temporary, if peace talks one day allow the island to be united again.
“The looting, the destruction was on a great scale,” said the museum’s director, Dr Ioannis Eliades. “We have calculated that more than 20,000 icons have been stolen and disappeared from the churches.”Many of the exhibits were looted by smugglers after a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup, and trafficked on the black market.
Over the years, Cypriot authorities have doggedly tracked down and reclaimed numerous stolen works, putting them in museums they hope can be temporary, if peace talks one day allow the island to be united again.
“The looting, the destruction was on a great scale,” said the museum’s director, Dr Ioannis Eliades.
“We have calculated that more than 20,000 icons have been stolen and disappeared from the churches.”
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
