Dealing with abandoned monuments: the case of historic monasteries in Cyprus: Fid-Bau Portal

Dealing with abandoned monuments: the case of historic monasteries in Cyprus

Philokyprou, Maria / Petropoulou, Eleni

This paper analyses current trends and approaches towards the conservation of abandoned monuments, demonstrating different strategies applied to historical buildings in Cyprus with an emphasis on medieval monasteries. Through the examination of two cases – the restoration of Panayia tou Sinti Monastery in Paphos and the revival of Ayios Nicolaos Monastery in Orounda – the positive and negative consequences of the different philosophy and strategy followed in each case is demonstrated. With the involvement of the authors, the monastery of Panayia tou Sinti was partly restored in the form of ruins and became an open-air museum, whereas the monastery of Ayios Nicolaos underwent a comprehensive maintenance and new extensions were designed by the authors using appropriate materials and forms. Through these examples, the different concepts of conserving historic complexes – such as ‘museum’ conservation, final form of ruins, matters of authenticity, dynamic maintenance, compatibility of materials, structural reinforcement – are discussed. This paper demonstrates that before making final decisions for the strategy to be followed for the conservation of a historic abandoned building, investigation and assessment of all its values within the philosophical framework of international principles for rehabilitation should be conducted.