LEDRA STREET CEMETERY: THE GOVERNMENT TO THE RESCUE
21-10- 2007
Armenian MP Vartkes Mahdessian has announced that the Cyprus Government
has approved CY 90,000 (US $ 220,000) for the restoration of the old
Armenian cemetery near the Ledra Palace.
According to our MP the restoration would cost about CY 125,0000 (US
$ 300,000) and the CY 90,000 pound injection from the Government of
Cyprus gives the Church the opportunity to start work on this long
overdue project and finish the restoration project which had failed
miserably more than 2 years ago.
Nearly 2 years on, the cemetery is now in an even worse state. Historic
headstones lie in a heap at a place where once the descendants of
over 400 souls were buried.
Fortunately, thanks to many individual efforts, and particularly
Cypriot MP Vartkes Mahdessian, who since his election was lobbying
hard for the funds, it is expected tenders to open in a few mounths
and start the renovation work by the second half of 2008.
The Cyprus Armenian Prelature had started digging up the graves, as
part of its plan to put remains together in a new communal pit adjacent
to the small chapel, do some restoration work and convert the area to
a historical and architectural monument, while rumors were ripe that it
would be sold to real estate developers, converted to a car park etc.
In April 2005, the restoration work at the cemetery was halted after
the Ministry of the Interior took out an injunction to stop the work
because of serious planing and implementation errors and illegalities,
not to mention the outcry of many community members.
In 2006 The Nicosia Municipality had threatened to sue the Armenian
Church for failing to implement a court order demanding that the
300-year-old Armenian cemetery be restored back to its original state.