On November 30, it was announced that a total of 69 Cypriot artifacts that were in the possession of a private individual in Austria would be returned to Cyprus.

The artifacts were handed over to the Deputy Minister of Culture of Cyprus, Vasiliki Kassianidou, at an official ceremony at the country’s embassy in Vienna. A private individual, whose name was not disclosed, inherited the artifacts, and then “immediately contacted the Cypriot authorities in Austria.”

Research has confirmed that the artifacts were “illegally exported” from the island, and therefore the man decided to return them to the authorities of Cyprus.

The artifacts date from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman period and consist mainly of ceramic vessels, fragments of stone and clay figurines, glass vessels for perfumes, a fork made of bone and a tobacco pipe.

The Department of Antiquities thanked the individual for informing the authorities and handing over the items, and also expressed its “most heartfelt gratitude” to the Embassy of Cyprus in Vienna, calling the embassy’s contribution to the return of the artifacts “decisive.”

A source: cyprus-mail.com

https://cyprusbutterfly.com.cy/news-17442?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=cyprusbutterfly