Nicosia: Two Stolen Byzantine Frescoes Finally Returned to Cyprus / Православие.Ru

Nicosia, March 19, 2012

Two famous byzantine frescoes dating back to the 13th century were finally returned to Cyprus inside two big containers in a specially chartered flight. They were initially found in the small temple of Saint Effimianos located in the occupied city of Lysi.

The frescoes had been removed from the walls of the temple in Lysi and sold abroad by Turkish antiquity smuggler Dik Dikmen in 1983. The Christ Pantocrator that was on the dome and the Holy Virgin Mary Praying on the arches of the church are some of the most precious frescoes that were stolen but finally “repatriated”.

The frescoes were carefully transferred from the Airport of Larnaca to the Archdiocese of Cyprus, and will be put in a chapel in the Byzantine Museum of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation.

Greek Reporter