Grief, Anger Over Bulldozing of Church-Owned Architectural Heritage

Nicosia 2.2.21

A red and cream lampshade with baroque curves appears suspended in the foreground against a tumble of cabinets, collapsed walls and a single hanging lightbulb.

An entire block of listed architectural heritage and sandstone walls on Isocratous Street in old Nicosia now lies in heaps of masonry, discarded furniture, timber and iron girders.

These are the images posted on social media after the Archbishopric apparently took advantage of the lockdown on public protests to bulldoze a series of its properties. Social media users poured out their grief and anger over the loss of priceless history and heritage.

Investigation

Nicosia Municipality said it regrets the bulldozing and launched an investigation.

The Archbishopric did not have the necessary permissions to level those buildings, said the municipality.

The overnight destruction of these beautiful buildings feels nihilistic, spiteful. It comes at the same time that the authorities are scrutinising Archbishop Chrysostomos because of the Church’s role in the passports-for-cash scandal.

The Church sold a piece of property to Malaysian fugitive Jho Low and received a donation of €310,000. The money would be returned on request, according to the archbishop.

New Church

The bulldozed buildings were right in front of the Archbishopric’s new cathedral. Perhaps they were destroyed because the land will be used for the new building. If it’s a case of disrespectfully and unilaterally destroying the old to make way for the new, with what justification can the Orthodox Church protest the damage to its churches in the occupied north? Cultural heritage is as precious as religious heritage.

Damages

Like the damage to the listed buildings, the damage to the Church’s reputation can’t be undone. It comes at a time when society is traumatised by the coronvirus pandemic and instead of receiving the Church’s calming guidance it is given a callous reminder that money takes precedence over ethics.

This is the latest example of the Church’s failure to adapt to modern sensibilities following the Archbishop’s attempt to censor the artist George Gavriel for his series of satirical paintings.

This time last year, a movement started to prevent the Church from changing the use of the Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios Museum in old Nicosia. At the time, the Archbishop denied that he planned to turn it into a Church museum instead.

There was widespread condemnation and disappointment. The bulldozing of the four buildings was another blow to culture and only the Archbishopric knows the reason for their destruction, said the Greens.

Title photo: Demetra Papaleontiou, edit by Emma Basden.