A new exhibit by Byzantine Museum in Nicosia, Cyprus, features a number of precious religious relics previously lost when they were stolen in 1974 during a Turkish invasion. “The looting, the destruction was on a great scale. We have calculated that more than 20,000 icons have been stolen and disappeared from the churches,” said the museum’s director, Dr Ioannis Eliades. Cypriot authorities have spent years tracking down lost artifacts for years, with many more still missing.

The exhibit opened for the first time on March 18 after 5 years of renovations to the museum. It is made up of rare mosaics, icons and wall frescoes. The mosaics date from 6 AD, and come from the Church of Panagia Kanakaria at Lythrangomi. In the 70s, it had been chopped up and sold in pieces through the black market, with authorities recovering the pieces in many private collections. It’s an important reminder of Cyprus’s history according to Eliades. “We want the new generation to understand what happened on our island, and why it is important to safeguard even the smallest piece which we can bring [home].” Included in the exhibit is the suitcase of antiquities thief, Dikmen, who was well-known for making fake mosaics.

Eliades spoke glowingly of the museum’s renovations. “t wasn’t something done overnight. There was a lot of preparation. When the contractors came in, we had a clear picture of how we wanted to develop our collections. In just 10 months, everything was ready—thanks to all the hard work we did beforehand. We are all very proud of what we’ve achieved,” he said. “The visitor now has a complete and unified picture of Cyprus’ artistic production over nearly fourteen centuries. Each historical period is presented in a different color, making it easier for visitors to see how art evolved over time,” said Eliades. Restorations to the mosaics were made possible by financial support from the Swiss government as part of a collaboration between the Cyprus Department of Antiquities, the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens, and several other institutions. Eliades stated the renovations were in line with the museum’s original purpose. “The vision of the Archbishops of Cyprus was to create a museum that would showcase Byzantine art in Cyprus, and we’ve done just that.”