St. Matthes, Mosaics from Kanakaria Church Lithrangomi Village, Republic of Cyprus

St. Matthes, Mosaics from Kanakaria Church Lithrangomi Village, Republic of Cyprus

Postage stamps--Cyprus--History

Γραμματόσημα--Κύπρος--Ιστορία

These priceless mosaics from the church of our Lady of Kanakaria in the Karpass peninsula are early Byzantine master pieces dating from the 6th century A.D. or earlier. The tesserae used for the mosaics are of various colored glass, glass capped with gold or silver and of marble and stone dipped in paint. They had escaped destruction during the church's iconoclastic controversies and theological discussions and survived the destruction of the church by Arab invaders in the 7th century ; yet after the Turkish invasion of 1974 they were plundered and taken out of the island by a Turkish dealer in illegal antiquities. They were put up for sale in America and after considerable effort on the part of the Church of Cyprus, a court in Indianapolis decided in 1989 that the mosaics should be returned to their rightful owner. Since repatriation the mosaics have been housed in the Byzantine Museum of Archbishop Makarios III Foundation in Nicosia.

Cyprus Post, Republic of Cyprus

Κυπριακά Ταχυδρομεία, Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία

Cyprus Post, Republic of Cyprus

Κυπριακά Ταχυδρομεία, Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία

Library of Cyprus University of Technology

Digital Heritage Research Lab of Cyprus University of Technology

28th March 1991

Designer: A. A. Ioannides

Απαγορεύεται η δημοσίευση ή αναπαραγωγή, ηλεκτρονική ή άλλη χωρίς τη γραπτή συγκατάθεση του δημιουργού.

www.cypruspost.gov.cy

TIFF

EL, EN

Image

1991-MOSAICS-18C

35.160417, 33.346556

Helio Courvoisier, Helvetia