Sites will be lit blue for autism awareness

The Antiquities Department said on Friday that a number of museums and archaeological sites will be illuminated blue on Monday to mark World Autism Awareness Day on April 2.

In a statement the Antiquities Department said that following an invitation from the Autism Speaks organisation, it will illuminate blue the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia, the Limassol Archaeological Museum, the Marion-Arsinoe Archaeological Museum, the castles of Kolossi, Paphos, Limassol and Larnaca, the medieval Agrepavli in Kouklia and the archaeological sites of Chirokitia and Amathus.

The illumination of these buildings is part of the international event ‘Light it Up Blue’, where buildings and historical monuments in many countries, such as the International Space Station, the Empire State Building, the South Pole, the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids, the statue of Christ in Brazil, Niagara Falls etc, are illuminated in blue to raise public awareness of autism.

The Antiquities Department said that its participation in recent years in this important international effort to raise awareness of the peculiarities and difficulties faced by people on the autism spectrum and their families is due to the recognition of the role that culture can play in solving modern social problems.

“The very diversity in which our culture is composed is consistent with autism itself, since the diversity of individuals in this spectrum is only an added value in a world that ought to re-discover the true universal values,” it said.

Municipalities, embassies, universities and private companies also participate in the ‘Light it Up Blue’ event in Cyprus each year.

 

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.