After 29 years, murals returned to Cyprus

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Today, after 29 whole years and steps of the Church of Cyprus, the famous frescoes dating from the 13th century AD were repatriated. and were stolen in 1983 from the church of Agios Efimianos of the occupied Lysi. 

The frescoes were removed from the church of Lysi and sold abroad by the Turkish archaeologist Adin Dikmen in 1983. It is the dome of the church, and the arch of the sanctuary, while along with the frescoes the Holy Table of the church was stolen.

From 1985 until yesterday, when the process of transferring to a specially chartered flight for their long trip to Cyprus began, the murals that are part of the Cypriot cultural, religious and archaeological heritage were exhibited at the Menil Foundation in Houston, Texas.

The aircraft with the murals, accompanied by Demosthenes Demosthenous, Director of the Center for Byzantine Icons and Monuments of the Holy Archdiocese of Cyprus, arrived at around two in the afternoon at Larnaca Airport, where they were welcomed by Archbishop Costas Katsaros, Legal Adviser.

The process of transporting the murals, which were in two large containers, took several hours. The murals were transferred from Larnaca Airport to the Holy Archdiocese of Cyprus in the afternoon, which will place them in the chapel in the Byzantine Museum of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation.

Source: KYPE / APE