The tragic partition of the island in 1974 caused the internal displacement of thousands of Cypriots, and the persistent spatial separation of Greek and Turkish Cypriots on the island. In more than 300 villages, religious sites, some of them centuries old, had to be left behind. This project is dealing with the fate of these sites ...
The Office of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process under the Auspices of the Embassy of Sweden (RTCYPP) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Cyprus announce the launch of "The Religious Heritage of Cyprus" website www.cyreligiousheritage.org.
The website contains an interactive map with Christian and Muslim places of worship and cemeteries, including photos and background information, starting with the districts of Larnaca and Kyrenia followed by the district of Nicosia, coming soon. Presented in a simple, descriptive, and impartial way, it allows everyone interested to witness the current status of the religious heritage of the island and learn more about it.
From the very beginning of the RTCYPP, the Religious Leaders have advocated for the right to freedom of religion or belief and the protection of the shared religious heritage of Cyprus including free access to all sacred spaces to restore, renovate and worship. Since 2011, they have worked together to promote the universal values of religious freedom and invited others to join them.
The website, launched today, is part of the Religious Heritage of Cyprus project begun in 2019 headed by Dr Thorsten Kruse from the University of Münster in Germany, endorsed by the Religious Leaders of Cyprus and supported by the Office of RTCYPP.
The result was the first ever research publication where Christian and Muslim religious monuments and cemeteries appear side by side, called “The Religious Heritage of Cyprus - a Survey in the Districts of Kyrenia and Larnaca”, mapping out Christian monuments and sites in the Kyrenia district and Muslim monuments and sites in the Larnaca District; funded by the Human Rights Fund of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and supported onsite by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nicosia. The Religious Heritage of Cyprus website hosts all the information held in the booklet, as well as further research, funded by FES, for the district of Nicosia (coming soon), in an interactive map platform available here:
www.cyreligiousheritage.org/map.
The project is coordinated by the Office of RTCYPP and it aims to cover the whole of the island.
Give it a click to learn more about rich religious heritage of the island and join us to protect it and uphold the right to religious freedom.
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20, Stasandrou, Apt. 401 CY 1060 Nicosia Cyprus
+357 22 377 336
office.cyprus(at)fes.de
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