Medieval History
A set of 13th-century Byzantine frescoes ? plundered after Turkey invaded Cyprus and on display in Houston for the last 15 years ? is headed home at last. It's the closing chapter in what turns out to be a remarkable odyssey.
It all started in the summer of 1974, when the Turkish army invaded Cyprus and nearly 200,000 Greek Cypriots became refugees fleeing south.
"And so all the churches and homes and art was left behind," says Josef Helfenstein, director of the Menil Collection in Houston. "And after years, some of these churches began to be looted."
Hundreds of them, in fact, including a tiny 13th-century limestone chapel outside the small Cypriot town of Lysi. It took several years before somebody noticed the two incredible 800-year-old frescoes inside the Greek Orthodox sanctuary, but eventually somebody figured it out. Thieves took a chainsaw and brutally hacked the frescoes out of the dome and apse ? in 38 pieces.
Click here to read this article from NPR
See also the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Website
See also Medieval churches being destroyed and looted in Northern Cyprus, experts say
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Medieval History
800-Year-Old Frescoes Leave Texas For Cyprus
It all started in the summer of 1974, when the Turkish army invaded Cyprus and nearly 200,000 Greek Cypriots became refugees fleeing south.
"And so all the churches and homes and art was left behind," says Josef Helfenstein, director of the Menil Collection in Houston. "And after years, some of these churches began to be looted."
Hundreds of them, in fact, including a tiny 13th-century limestone chapel outside the small Cypriot town of Lysi. It took several years before somebody noticed the two incredible 800-year-old frescoes inside the Greek Orthodox sanctuary, but eventually somebody figured it out. Thieves took a chainsaw and brutally hacked the frescoes out of the dome and apse ? in 38 pieces.
Click here to read this article from NPR
See also the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Website
See also Medieval churches being destroyed and looted in Northern Cyprus, experts say
- 15th-century Frescoes Identified In Polish Church, Money Being Raised To Restore Them
Frescoes discovered on the walls of an Orthodox Church in Poland have been identified as 15th-century art works, and funds are being raised to restore them. Art historian Jaroslaw Giemza said Tuesday that recent research on the frescoes at the ancient...
- Project To Examine Images Of Hell In The Medieval Churches Of Crete
Frescoes from the island of Crete depicting scenes of Hell and the punishments of the damned are the focus of a new research project led by historians in England and Germany. Angeliki Lymberopoulou of The Open University, and Vasiliki Tsamakda, from the...
- Medieval Wall Paintings Uncovered At Kövi/kame?any
Saint Anne with the Virgin at KöviThe village of Kövi (Kame?any, SK) lies in the vicinity of Rimaszombat (Rimavská Sobota) and Rozsnyó (Ro??ava), just north of the modern border between Hungary and Slovakia. In the middle ages, the settlement had...
- Siklós Castle
Siklós castle, a set on Flickr.As an addition to my most recent post, here are some photos of Siklós castle. These photos were mainly taken in 2007, thus before and during the current restoration campaign. I hope I will be able to share new photographs...
- Virtual Visits To Transylvanian Medieval Churches
Gelence (Ghelinta) A new website provides a number of very-well done virtual visits (360° panoramas) to Transylvanian sites. The site, called Treasures of Szeklerland introduces monuments and sites from the eastern part of Transylvania, the territory...