Lapidary Museum, Nicosia

About 100 medieval architectural fragments in 1928 (not antiquities of the Ancient Cyprus period). (1928)

Stylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016

1. 1903
   Jeffery, Curator of Ancient Monuments since 1903, first set up a small 'store' museum for Venetian remains in Famagusta (permission 22 December 1903); the Nicosia museum is listed as 'initiated' in 1903 in a table of the Nicosia museums.

   FamagustaGeorge JefferyStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016

2. 9 February 1905
   Jeffery asked for funds for a medieval museum in Nicosia, a 'Musee de Cluny for Nicosia'; his plan to use the church of St Nicholas was abandoned.

   NicosiaGeorge JefferyStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016

3. 1906
   The Cyprus Museum Committee decided that medieval tombstones should be placed in Jeffery's care, to return to the museum at some point.

   George JefferyStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016

4. 1927
   Jeffery described the Nicosia medieval fragments as long neglected and moved about, not part of the Cyprus Museum, and hoped the 'little Musee Lapidaire' would become a historical collection of medieval arts and crafts.

   George JefferyStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016

5. 1928
   Musee Lapidaire completed in a small building next to the Turkish Lyceum, partly paid for by Evkaf funds, under the Curator of Ancient Monuments and the Evkaf delegates; collection of 100 architectural fragments including a flamboyant konak window.

   NicosiaGeorge JefferyStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016

6. 14 November 1928
   Draft letter from Jeffery to the Colonial Secretary: the architectural remains came from buildings used as mosques and medresses, were regarded by Muslims as almost inalienable Moslem property, and a list was deposited with the Evkaf office; the Muslim community wished the Musee to remain with the Curator and the Evkaf delegates.

   George JefferyStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016, p. 675

7. from 1974
   Stylianou-Lambert and Bounia list the Lapidary Museum among the museums in the part of the island under Turkish Cypriot management that had already been established before 1974 and that the Turkish Cypriot authorities took over to operate.

   NicosiaStylianou-Lambert & Bounia 2016