A Land for Strangers
Non-Native Individuals and Communities in Cyprus
open access | peer reviewed
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edited by
- Carlotta Brignone - University of Turin - email
- Lorenzo Calvelli - Ca' Foscari University of Venice - email orcid profile
- Giulia Gollo - University of Cologne - email
- Lorenzo Mazzotta - University of Pisa - email
Abstract
What happens when ‘strangers’ become part of the very fabric of a place? In Cyprus, newcomers have never been a rarity. Owing to the island’s strategic position at the crossroads of the eastern Mediterranean, they have long played a central role in its history. Far from disrupting the cohesion of local society, their presence has often enriched Cypriot culture, fostering coexistence and diversity rather than friction and division. This volume comprises seven essays that explore the diverse circumstances, narratives and contributions of non-native individuals to Cypriot society, economy, politics and culture – from prehistory to the present day. The authors, whose expertise spans archaeology, epigraphy, history and anthropology, apply distinct methodologies to a broad range of topics: the circulation of Aegean pottery; epigraphic practices in Hellenistic inscriptions; the presence of Greek Orthodox Venetians in mid-eighteenth-century Larnaca; the activities of French consuls in Cyprus during the mid-nineteenth century; the 1962 visit of Soviet professor Sergey Kisselyoff, marking the first contact between the USSR and Cyprus; the service of Václav Ježek as a priest in twentieth-century rural Cyprus; and a reflection on Cypriot antiquities collections through the work of contemporary artist Marianna Christofides. A thought-provoking preface and an introspective afterword provide the broader interpretive frame for the volume. A Land for Strangers offers insight into Cyprus’s identity as a meeting ground for human encounters, while also proposing a model of fruitful coexistence of lasting relevance to contemporary societies.
Keywords Sergey Kisselyoff • Extractive archaeology • Cold War • Epigraphic habit • Aegean pottery • Priest • Ptolemaic administration • Identity • Palma di Cesnola • Protection of France • Interdisciplinary studies • Coexistence • Soviet history • Mobility • Ionian Islands • Cyprus issue • Venetian Consuls • Zantiots • Larnaca • Church • Materiality of texts • Archaeology of Cyprus • Cyprus • Hala Sultan Tekke • Hellenistic History • Connectivity • Iron curtain • Marianna Christofides • Late Cypriot • Levantines • Public diplomacy • Human interaction • Intermediaries • Khrushchev’s thaw • Cyprus archaeology • Intercultural contacts • Soviet archaeology • Writing systems • Greek inscriptions • Community culture • Decolonial art practices • Multilingual inscriptions • Late Helladic • Ottoman Empire • Village culture • Contemporary history • French consuls • Antiquities in contemporary art • Migration • Ottoman Cyprus • History of literacy • Cultural history • Cypriot society • Functional analysis
Thema codes JBCC7 • NHTB • JBSL • 1DXY
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-917-7 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-917-7 | ISBN (PRINT) 978-88-6969-852-1 | Published July 24, 2025 | Language en, it
Copyright © 2025 Carlotta Brignone, Lorenzo Calvelli, Giulia Gollo, Lorenzo Mazzotta. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.