Work begins to restore old Armenian cemetery

WORK for the reconstruction of the derelict old Armenian cemetery near the Ledra Palace is to begin in earnest next week.

A contract has been granted complete the renovation and construction of the cemetery, the tombs, the exterior wall as well as the chapel in the cemetery.

Back in 2006, the Armenian Prelature had started digging up graves in order to put remains together in a new communal grave in the new Armenian cemetery on the outskirts of the capital. But the workers simply started breaking up old historic tombs, damaging headstones and exposing bones, sparking outrage among the community.

Soon after the municipality delivered a court order stopping the work, and instructing those responsible to restore the site, but nothing was done and the cemetery fell into even greater disrepair.

Finally after two years, renovations are now ready to take place.

“The preliminary work is complete, all the permissions are in place, and the work will be done by architects who are all professionals,” explained the Armenian representative at the House, Vartkes Mahdessian. The project was awarded two weeks ago. “They will start work 100 per cent next week,” he said.

The whole project was made possible by a subsidy that was received from the Cyprus government, as well as a big amount contributed by the Armenian Church. It is foreseen that the completion of the cemetery will be complete in about twelve months.

Mahdessian said: “The boundary wall will be restored again, the small church will be renovated, all the graves will be back in their original places and the ones that are unidentified will all be placed in a common grave, which will have all their names inscribed.”

“This will be something we as Armenians and Cypriots will be proud of,” Mahdessian added.

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