New hoard includes 150 looted frescoes

Jean Christou

INITIAL examination of a new hoard of Cypriot Byzantine artifacts discovered in Germany has revealed some 150 icons and frescoes.

Police said yesterday the new haul had been found hidden in the cellar of a two-bedroom flat in Munich.

The flat was rented by Aydin Dikman, 60, a Turk who claims to be an archaeologist, but the property was registered under another name, police said.

Dikman was arrested in October after hundreds of Cypriot Byzantine treasures were discovered in two Munich apartments belonging to him. He is currently in the custody in Germany.

According to Cyprus police the latest haul was uncovered on Wednesday after an examination of papers in Dikman’s possession.

A search of the cellar revealed 30-40 crates containing archaeological and church treasures which have been taken to the Munich National Museum for examination.

An initial inspection revealed 130 icons, 25 frescoes and two mosaics.

“It is most likely they came from the Church of Panayia tis Kanakarias,” a police statement said yesterday.

It said German police also found 15 crates with archaeological artifacts and a Picasso painting “which has not yet been authenticated”.

The Archbishopric in Nicosia has been informed of the haul and a local expert has gone to Germany to examine the items.

Some 15,000-20,000 icons are estimated to have been removed from the occupied areas and several dozen major frescoes and mosaics dating from the 6-15th centuries AD have been segmented for sale abroad. Some have been destroyed for ever.

The first breakthrough for the Church and the government in recovering the items came in the eighties with the confiscation of the four Kanakaria mosaics by the United States.

The mosaics were returned to the island in 1992 after a lengthy court battle against American art dealer Peg Goldberg.

The October raid on Dikman’s two Munich apartments uncovered 14 boxes containing icons and mosaics. A subsequent search revealed another 15-20 boxes.

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