New stamps for festive season

THE CYPRUS Post Office released its 2010 Christmas stamp set yesterday, along with a new commemorative stamp to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights.

The Christmas series comprises of three stamps, with values of 21 cents, 51 cents and 68 cents.

The 22 cent stamp depicts details from the representation of the Birth of Christ from a 16th century fresco, which can be found in the Church of Archangel Michael in Vyzakia. This fresco was chosen by the Cyprus Post as it “distinguishes itself by its strong popular character and includes Venetian iconographic elements of everyday life in the 16th century.” The description accompanying the set adds “The secondary scenes of representation are rendered with disarming naοvetι and unsophisticated persuasiveness.

The 51 and 68 cent stamps depict “in a vivid manner the festive, joyous message of Christmas, which is symbolically expressed through the Christmas star”.

The European Court of Human Rights stamp, valued at 51 and 85 cents, features a stylised drawing of the European Court in Strasbourg, by the building’s architect, Sir Richard Rogers and C. Bucher, and will be available for one year unless sold out.

Since the court’s inception in 1959, more than 10,000 judgements have been passed. These are binding on the countries concerned and have led governments to alter their legislation on a wide range of areas. Within the building featured on the stamp, the human rights of 800 million Europeans from 47 Council of Europe countries are monitored.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.