One of the most egregious cases of looting of the Christian cultural heritage of Cyprus was that of Panagia Kanakaria, in the occupied Lythragomi of Famagusta.
After the Turkish invasion in 1974, many churches were looted by the invaders. One of them was the Virgin of Kanakaria, who due to the high art of her mosaics was immediately in the spotlight.
Between 1978 - 1979 rare works were removed from the walls of the temple by the Turkish archaeologist Aydin Dickman, were transported to Germany and many of them were sold to various art dealers abroad. In addition to the mosaics, in the temple there were also important frescoes of 12th , 14th and 16th century, removed from the walls.
The complaint from the State of Cyprus to international organizations
When the Cyprus Department of Antiquities was informed of the looting of the temple and the mosaics, it reported the incident to UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the International Council of Museums.
Through the mediation of an art dealer from London, the stolen medals in the form of the apostles Luke and Bartholomew were returned in 1983 via Germany.
The legal dispute with the "Goldberg" gallery
In 1988, four sections of the mosaics were found in Indianapolis, USA, in the possession of Peg Goldberg, an art dealer. In the Goldberg Gallery, the upper part of the chest of the Archangel Michael, the upper part of the representation of the Virgin and Christ and the medals depicting the apostles Matthew and James were found.
The legal battle between the Cypriot state and the Church against Goldberg started immediately. The Chicago Court of Appeals and the Indianapolis court ruled that the mosaics should be returned immediately to the Church of Cyprus as the rightful owner.
The mosaics were returned in 1991 and are now on display at the Byzantine Museum in Nicosia. In 1997, German police located works stolen from the Virgin of Kanakaria at the home of the archaeologist Dickmen.
In 2013 and after many years of litigation, 173 rare works were repatriated from temples located in the occupied part of the island, while despite the efforts of the Cypriot government and the Church, some mosaics from the temple of Kanakaria have not yet been located.
Source: Mixanitouxronou