Sculptor to fly to Cyprus to assess damage to Makarios statue

SCULPTOR Nikos Kotzamanis is due to fly to Cyprus over the next few days to assist in the relocation of the colossal Archbishop Makarios statue.

The London-based artist designed and sculpted the giant 9.5 metre bronze statue in 1987. It was erected outside the Archbishopric in Nicosia until Archbishop Chrysostomos II ordered its removal this October pending its final placement near Makarios’ tomb in the mountains at Throni, near Kykkos Monastery.

A new life-sized statue of Makarios in dazzling white marble was installed in the imposing bronze figure’s place.

Kotzamanis has already been to Cyprus since October and according to reports noted his sculpture had suffered damage during its removal.

The colossal figure is currently being kept covered out in the open at Throni until the artist can decide what maintenance work needs to be done. Reports said there was every possibility that experts would be called in from abroad on the issue and that the sculpture’s relocation was not going to be as easily as everyone had originally thought.

When the statue was moved in October, Kotzamanis expressed his displeasure that he had not been informed about Chrysostomos’ decision first, nor had he been consulted regarding the best and safest way to transfer the 11-tonne figure.

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.