A 500-year-old Orthodox icon that was looted from a church during the Turkish Invasion in 1974 from the northern part of Cyprus has been returned and was presented to the head of the Orthodox Church in Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos.
The icon of the Enthroned Christ has been dated by the Cyprus’ Antiquities Department to around the end of the 15th century to the early 16th century, originally belonging to the 12th century Christ Antiphonitis Church near the northern coastal town of Kyrenia.
The icon was one of many artefacts that were taken and stolen from places that had been abandoned as a result of the Turkish invasion of 1974, that left people displaced from their homes and their country.
Countless icons, frescoes, mosaics and religious artifacts were stolen from churches that were abandoned as well.
Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos presented the church with the returned artefact and said that “efforts to repatriate stolen artifacts are continuing.”
Source: Ekathimerini
