A project to upgrade the Kyrenia Shipwreck Gallery, located within the castle of the Turkish-occupied town of Kyrenia, has been launched by the bi-communal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage, a move with wider symbolic meaning for Kyrenian refugees, as well as for the island’s two communities.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, head of the Technical Committee Takis Hadjidemetriou said that the European Commission, the Honor Frost Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are also involved in the funding and implementation of the project, which aims at protecting the ancient ship from harmful dust.

This is the first project which the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage implements in the city of Kyrenia. Other goals include the conservation of the most important items that were discovered at the wreck`s site, as well as providing safe access for the public, including people with disabilities.

The Kyrenia ship, a wreck dated from the 4th century BC, was discovered in 1965 by Kyrenian diver Andreas Kariolou off the city’s coast, and has been kept for display at the caste that dominates Kyrenia harbour. It became wider known when it was depicted in the Cypriot version of the 50, 20 and 10 cent coins.

A recent UNDP announcement says that the project aimed to enhance the ship’s conservation “so that it may continue to represent the common history of Cyprus and increase both communities’ awareness of the importance of protecting, studying and preserving the island’s maritime heritage”.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. UN-led talks, aiming to reunite the island under a federal roof, resumed last May.

The Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage was established in 2008, following a decision by the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus. A few years later, in 2012, building on the momentum on the island, it asked the EU to support the preservation of Cypriot cultural heritage with funds, in order to implement of a series of emergency measures that would stop further deterioration of a selected number of cultural heritage sites.