A renovated Larnaca Ottoman hamam has been inaugurated as an events space, and called an example of the multicultural character of the city.
Larnaca Mayor Andreas Vyras said the building’s renovation “highlights the cultural and multicultural history of our town and by extension our country.
“The work for the restoration and maintenance of the hamam was aimed at saving this important monument, which over the years suffered from serious decay. Its character is a testament to the richness of our multicultural heritage,” he added.
An exhibition, Water – the Great Affirmation, featuring works by artists from Cyprus and further afield, celebrates the hamam building.
The exhibit’s curator Theocharis Karayiannis said “the exhibition is being held in a new, alternative space, in the only preserved public hamam in Larnaca.
“This is an area which is over 200 years old and is a remnant from the time of Turkish rule in Cyprus,” he added.
“Larnaca is one of the 20 oldest towns in the world, and has been continuously inhabited for the last 4,000 years. Its cultural heritage stems from all periods of history and it is our duty to highlight and preserve it in the best possible way,” Karayiannis added.
“Water, one of the most basic elements and conditions for the existence of life itself, as the most precious commodity, has become a subject which the exhibited artists have each approached with a different style,” Vyras said.
He went on to say, “the Larnaca Municipality is an outward-facing municipality and is always open to proposals, especially those which highlight our cultural capital. Our cultural activities are gaining more and more momentum, thanks to the contribution of this town’s artists, scholars, writers, and educational institutions.”
The renovations were financed by the European Union through the United Nations Development Programme and carried out under the auspices of the bicommunal technical committee on cultural heritage.