Church of Cyprus

Church-owned icons, frescoes, mosaics and portable antiquities; the Byzantine Museum collection began in 1936 with 112 icons gathered at Panagia Phaneromeni. No overall figure was read. (1936)

Stylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016, p. 90-91

1. 1889
   The Archbishop of Cyprus disposed of the landowner's share of the Tamassos excavations, through Eustathios Constantinides, a substantial portion going to Sir Henry Bulwer's collection (mostly now in the Fitzwilliam Museum).

   TamassosEustathios ConstantinidesHenry Ernest Gascoyne BulwerKiely & Merrillees 2012

2. c. 1900
   Illegal excavations at Lambousa near Lapithos revealed two hoards of early Christian artifacts, sent to the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art respectively; the Church counted this a loss of Orthodox heritage.

   Lapithos-LambousaStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016, p. 90-91

3. 31 March 1920
   The Holy Synod adopted a regulation to collect, protect and preserve Christian art monuments: a committee, a fund against illegal looting and excavation, and a Christian museum with a specialist Byzantinist as director (published in Apostolos Barnabas).

   NicosiaStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016, p. 89-90

4. July 1929
   Archbishop Kyrillos III asked the people of the island not to harm monuments; in March 1930 he asked the Academy of Athens for an expert in Byzantine art to study and catalogue the monuments.

   NicosiaKyrillos IIIStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016, p. 91

5. 1931–1935
   Georgios Soteriou, invited by the Church via the Academy of Athens, surveyed the Byzantine monuments of the island (August 1931 and two later trips); his album The Byzantine Remains of Cyprus appeared in 1935.

   CyprusGeorgios M. SoteriouStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016, p. 90, n. 27Stewart et al. 2014

6. 1936
   Collection of the Byzantine Museum began with 112 icons gathered in three rooms of Panagia Phaneromeni, Nicosia; Bishop Leontios of Paphos circulated instructions against uninformed icon cleaning and repair; Soteriou drew a display plan.

   NicosiaLeontiosGeorgios M. SoteriouStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016, p. 91

7. 3 August 1989
   Autocephalous Greek-Orthodox Church of Cyprus v. Goldberg, Indianapolis: Judge Noland held the four Kanakaria mosaics belonged to the Church of Cyprus, which had never sold or given them away; Peg Goldberg's due diligence found inadequate. Father Pavlos Maheriotis testified for the Church; Thomas Kline was counsel for Cyprus.

   IndianapolisPeg GoldbergThomas R. KlineHofstadter 1994

8. November 1991 – 1993
   An icon of St John Prodromos was withdrawn from a Sotheby's sale after the Church of Cyprus protested; its lawyers produced affidavits from old men about its place in a northern church; consignor Yanni Petsopoulos; High Court order (April 1992) put it with an art shipper; returned to the Church in early 1993 (Hofstadter reports, from two unnamed sources, an alleged £8,000 payment to Petsopoulos, which is his allegation).

   LondonYanni PetsopoulosHofstadter 1994

9. 2008
   Klaus Gallas, as described by the source, worked with the Church on repatriation of religious items smuggled from the north.

   Klaus GallasStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016, p. 167

10. 9 October 2013
    Six post-Byzantine icons seized in Augsburg (von Culmer gallery) returned to the Church under an out-of-court settlement (Bishop Porphyrios; lawyer Engbers).

    AugsburgPorphyriosEnno Engbers

11. 16 November 2018
    The Kanakaria St Mark mosaic, traced by Arthur Brand to a British family in Monaco, was handed over at the Cypriot embassy in The Hague for a 'modest fee'.

    The HagueArthur Brand

12. July 2024
    Bishop Christophoros of Karpasia publicly accused Dikmen's heirs of still holding and trading Cypriot material (an allegation by the Church; no heir named).

    Christophoros of Karpasia

• Four sixth-century mosaic fragments from Panagia Kanakaria (Christ child, an archangel, St James, St Matthew)

  from Panagia Kanakaria, Lythrangomi1989Hofstadter 1994

• 38 thirteenth-century fresco fragments from Lysi (St Themonianos)

  from Lysivia Menil Collection1986Carr & Morrocco 1991

• Icon of St John Prodromos, consigned to Sotheby's 1991

  from a northern Cypriot village churchvia Yanni Petsopoulos1993Hofstadter 1994

• 112 icons collected at Panagia Phaneromeni, the start of the Byzantine Museum

  1936Stylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016, p. 91

• Antiquities in an Estate: A Practical Guide for ExecutorsArticle
• Licence No. 7070: How Cypriot Antiquities Left the Island LegallyArticle
• Navigating the Grey: The UNESCO 1970 Convention and the Ethics Antiquities CollectionsArticle
• Returning or Donating Cypriot Antiquities: How It WorksArticle
• Selling Cypriot Antiquities in the US: What the Law AllowsArticle
• Looting in Occupied Northern Cyprus after 1974Compendium