The Byzantine Museum of Nicosia reopened its doors after 5 years of renovation.
The gala event in honour of this significant event was attended by President of Cyprus Nicos Christodoulidis, Archbishop George of the Cypriot Orthodox Church, Speaker of the Cypriot Parliament Anita Demetriou, Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Athena Michailidou and other senior officials.
The evening began with a welcome from Christos Koukliotis, CEO of the Foundation, who thanked all those who had contributed to the reconstruction of the museum. This was followed by speeches from the President of the International Committee for Byzantine Studies, Professor Antonio Rigo, the Swiss Ambassador to Cyprus, Christoph Burgener, Archbishop George of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus and the President of the island nation, Nicos Christodoulidis.
Dr Ioannis Eliades, Director of the Byzantine Museum, concluded the series of speeches. The President of Cyprus, together with the Archbishop, then cut the ribbon to open the Museum to all those present. The guests were given a tour of the renovated halls of the capital's main attraction. The museum will be open to the public from Tuesday 18 March. It will be open from Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 to 17:00.
Recall that the Byzantine Museum in Nicosia has the richest and most representative collection of Byzantine art ever created in Cyprus.
The museum is located next to the Archdiocese of Cyprus in the historic centre of the capital. The museum's current exhibition grew out of a small collection of 48 icons from temples across the island. These icons were first exhibited at the 'Treasures of Cyprus' exhibition in Paris in 1967 and were subsequently exhibited in various cities around the world. Today the Byzantine Museum has 230 icons painted between 100 and 1,200 years ago. There are also frescoes (the oldest dating from the 10th century), church utensils, vestments and other relics. After renovation, the museum has become more beautiful and modern.
