By George Lysandridis *
Today, World Heritage Day, April 18, is one of the most important days for man on the world stage. It highlights the culture with all its expressions, historical monuments, archeological sites, ecclesiastical monuments, Byzantine fortresses, as well as continuous creation of art in our tradition and customs. These are all examples of culture around the world, which demonstrate the obligation of the world community to act as a crown for their protection and development.
Today is a special day for our Cyprus, because our material and intangible culture is the basis for our identity, cohesion and competitiveness. Giorgos Seferis characteristically states "erasing a piece from the past is like erasing a corresponding one from the future". It is good to pay special attention to the word past and the connection it has with Famagusta and occupied Cyprus in general. This is an important concept, because when our parents were evicted from their homes, they left behind our cultural heritage.
Famagusta was a reference point for the prosperity and development of civilizations. The first sample is visible in the faces of important people, whose participation from key posts influenced the preservation and spread of Hellenism in a positive way. Such an example is Onisilos, who was king of Salamis in the 5th century BC. and fought against the Persians. In addition, the fact that the monastery of the Apostle Barnabas, perhaps the most important pilgrimage in Cyprus, was an element of civilization in our country, is also an element. Also, a monument of great importance is the Tower of Othello, which was the citadel of Famagusta and in which there were building interventions by the Lusignans and the Venetians.
In general, in the whole of our cultural heritage, the above archeological monuments as well as Byzantine churches with influence from each conqueror, due to their location, stand out as the most important. All this needs protection, because it must be immediately understood as a society that culture is not only the letters and the arts, but also our built and natural environment.
UNESCO's efforts are a few rays of light in the tunnel for the protection of cultural heritage. UNESCO and the Republic of Cyprus signed treaties in 1975, 1985 and 2001 for the protection of cultural heritage. This is an encouraging start, but it is not enough. That is why we want to intensify the efforts and work of UNESCO for the restoration of the churches, the places of worship of our religious identity, which were desecrated.
We must acknowledge and acknowledge that monuments are indeed the beginning, the middle and the end of a civilized nation. Therefore, we must intensify the effort to protect and promote them, so that the future citizens of our place, our children, realize that they are an integral part of a long-standing culture and nation with high intellectual development and admirable resilience to the challenges of the times.
In this context, I recently met with the Metropolitan of Constantia-Famagusta, Mr. Vassilios, and we had an extensive discussion on how the state authorities can help preserve and promote our religious and cultural heritage. I was informed about the great work of transforming the Ayia Napa Monastery into a museum, where medieval antiquities will be exhibited. At the same time, I was informed about the actions that are being wheeled, for the promotion of Panagiotissa in Protaras, a point of martyrdom of Agios Martyr Papazacharias, where very important archaeological findings were identified for the history of the wider area.
At the same time, as a minimal contribution, I continue the online campaign Annapolo - Claim - Return through which I highlight the religious and other archaeological sites located in the occupied villages of our Famagusta.
Today, World Heritage Day, April 18, is one of the most important days for man on the world stage. It highlights the culture with all its expressions, historical monuments, archeological sites, ecclesiastical monuments, Byzantine fortresses, as well as the continuous creation of art in our tradition and customs. These are all examples of culture around the world, which demonstrate the obligation of the world community to act as a crown for their protection and development.
Today is a special day for our Cyprus, because our material and intangible culture is the basis for our identity, cohesion and competitiveness. George Seferis characteristically states "erasing a piece from the past is like erasing a corresponding one from the future". It is good to pay special attention to the word past and its connection with Famagusta and occupied Cyprus in general. This is an important concept, because when our parents were evicted from their homes, they left behind our cultural heritage.
Famagusta was a reference point for the prosperity and development of civilizations. The first sample is visible in the faces of important people, whose participation from key posts influenced the preservation and spread of Hellenism in a positive way. Such an example is Onisilos, who was king of Salamis in the 5th century BC. and fought against the Persians. In addition, the fact that the monastery of the Apostle Barnabas, perhaps the most important pilgrimage in Cyprus, has been an alisverisi of civilizations in our place is an element. Its Tower is also a monument of great importance Othello which was the citadel of Famagusta and in which there were building interventions by Lusignans and Venetian.
In general, in the whole of our cultural heritage, the above Archaeological monuments as well as Byzantine churches with the influence of each conqueror, due to their location, stand out as the most important. All this needs protection, because it must be immediately understood as a society that culture is not only the letters and the arts, but also our built and natural environment.
UNESCO's efforts are a few rays of light in the tunnel of cultural protection inheritance. UNESCO and the Republic of Cyprus signed treaties in 1975, 1985 and 2001 for the protection of cultural heritage. This is an encouraging start, but it is not enough. That is why we want to intensify the efforts and work of UNESCO for the restoration of the churches, the places of worship of our religious identity, which were desecrated.
We must acknowledge and acknowledge that monuments are indeed the beginning, the middle and the end of a civilized nation. Therefore, we must intensify the effort to protect and promote them, so that the future citizens of our place, our children, realize that they are an integral part of a long-standing culture and nation with high intellectual development and admirable resilience to the challenges of the times.
In this context, I recently met with the Metropolitan of Constantia-Famagusta, Mr. Vassilios, and we had an extensive discussion on how the state authorities can help preserve and promote our religious and cultural heritage. I was informed about the great work of transforming the Ayia Napa Monastery into a museum, where medieval antiquities will be exhibited. At the same time, I was informed about the actions that are being wheeled, in order to highlight it Panagiotissa at First of all, point of his martyrdom Holy Martyr Papazaharia, where very important archeological findings for the history of the wider area were found.
At the same time, as a minimal contribution, I continue the online campaign Annapolo - Claim - Return through which I highlight the religious and other archaeological sites located in the occupied villages of our Famagusta.
* Candidate for Member of Parliament for DISY Famagusta