Restoration work begins at Avdimou mosque
Restoration work at the mosque in the Limassol district village of Avdimou has begun, bicommunal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage co-chairman Ali Tuncay announced on Monday night.
Avdimou was inhabited by Turkish Cypriots until 1974, and the mosque has been largely abandoned since then.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) explained that the mosque “is a single-story structure, consisting of a rectangular prayer hall with a porch attached on its north side.
“The masonry of the mosque is characterised by rubble stones, while the minaret is constructed of ashlar stones and is built on the mid-length of the mosque’s wall.”
The commencement of work at the Avdimou mosque is one of a number of restoration and maintenance projects being undertaken at churches and mosques across the island.
Tuncay’s co-chairman Sotos Ktoris had announced last month that maintenance work at the Saint Nicholas church in the Karpas peninsula village of Koma tou Yialou had been completed.
Meanwhile, conservation work at the mosque in the Larnaca district village of Alaminos is set to begin in the near future, once work at the mosque in the nearby village of Kalavasos is complete.
Earlier in the year, workers found painted motifs on the interior walls of the mosque being renovated in the Paphos district village of Terra.
The motifs were discovered under the plaster on the walls, with records of the walls having been painted not having previously existed.
Tuncay said at the time that the motifs “once again reveal how rich a cultural heritage our historical buildings have”.
“Our work symbolises our determination to pass on our historical and cultural values to future generations,” he said.