A decades-old project to restore 17 mosques in the Government-controlled areas that have been declared ancient monuments will be completed with just one exception by the end of 2011, the Department of Antiquities has announced.
The ambitious initiative began in 1975 and work has been completed on 13 of the buildings. Since then, the government has spent over three million euros on the work.
The mosques reflect Cyprus’ long, mutli-layered history in their very fabric. Most were once Christian churches, some of which themselves stood on earlier structures.
“It’s an open book. You can see that a mosque was built on top of an old Christian church which may have been located above an ancient tomb. So, someone can read the history of the monument and consequently the history of Cyprus,” said Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou, the Curator of Antiquities at the Department of Antiquities.
The mosque in Episkopi, for instance, was the Byzantine church of Ayios Georgios. Vividly coloured Christian paintings were uncovered during its restoration. Touzla mosque in Larnaca was a Mediaeval church, while the Kebir mosque in Limassol was built above the base of a Byzantine church, which was discovered during work on the sewerage system.
The Department of Antiquities’ policy is to preserve all the historical phases of a monument, Christian, Muslim and others, Ieronymidou added. “The aim is not to eliminate any part of our history, on the contrary, all the phases of the monuments must be visible,” she said.
A significant part of this history relates to coexistence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, which is mirrored in the Muslim monuments.
Eleven of the 17 mosques were originally Byzantine churches that were converted into mosques after the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571.
Four are still used by Muslim worshippers.
Restoration work has yet to start on the large Omerieh mosque in Nicosia’s old city because it is a busy place of worship for the Muslim community there, who are mainly drawn from the expatriate community. A political decision needs to be taken to relocate the mosque’s faithful to another site so renovation of the Omerieh work can begin. When the need arises, Turkish Cypriots can also use the Bayraktar mosque in Nicosia.
Three of the other 17 mosques are also in use although they have managed to continue as places of worship while being restored. The most famous is the Hala Sultan Tekke mosque overlooking Larnaca’s salt lake. Hala Sultan is the main Muslim pilgrimage site of Cyprus and among the most important holy places of Islam. The mosque was built over a tomb which according to tradition belongs to Umm Haram, foster-mother of the Prophet Mohammed and wife of one of the most high ranking officers of Moawia, who led two disastrous raids against Cyprus in 649 and 650 AD. Umm Haram accidentally died as soon as she arrived on the island. The mosque was built much later, just before 1787, along with dwellings and water-cisterns, which contributed to the shrine’s fame. The mosque’s present plan was completed in 1816.
The maintenance of this celebrated mosque has been carried out through a UN programme with US funds under an agreement for the reciprocal maintenance of the Apostolos Andreas monastery in Turkish-occupied Rizokarpazo. Restoration work on the monastery, however, has yet to begin.
As ancient monuments, the Republic of Cyprus and their owner – Evkaf, which represents Muslim religious foundations in the occupied areas – take joint responsibility to restore and maintain the 17 mosques.
After the Turkish invasion, mosques in the Republic passed under the control of the Interior Ministry and the Department of Antiquities undertook the restoration and maintenance work under a special budget.
