The Cyprus Archaeological Museum houses artifacts discovered during excavations on Cyprus. It contains the world's most extensive collection of Cypriot antiquities. While only items found on Cyprus are displayed, many artifacts were also illegally excavated and smuggled off the island in the past by collectors. The museum remains the primary collection of Cypriot artifacts before independence in 1960, though some pieces have been decentralized to local museums. The museum's collection has outgrown the existing building so relocation to a larger new site or museum is being considered.

1. PRIMARY SCHOOL YPSONAS 1
CLASS D’2

2. The Cyprus Archaeological Museum)is the oldest and largest archaeological
museum in Cyprus. The museum houses artefacts discovered during numerous
excavations on the island. The museum is home to the most extensive collection of
Cypriot antiquities in the world and is located on Museum Street in central Nicosia.
Of note is that only artefacts discovered on the island are displayed.

3. Several illicit excavations and smuggling
of antiquities have been carried out off
the island. The most extensive of these
had been carried out a few years earlier
by the United States Ambassador, Luigi
Palma di Cesnola, who had smuggled
over 35,000 artefacts off the island,
most of which were destroyed in transit.
Many of the surviving items ended up in
the newly formed Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York and are
currently on display in their own
galleries on the second floor.
History

4. Today, the Cyprus Museum remains the principal show-piece for finds preceding independence (1960). It also
houses the most important recent acquisitions. Recent years have seen a progressive decentralization of Cyprus's
museum collections and most finds from current excavations are deposited in the local district museums. The
museum consists of fourteen display halls surrounding a square central area which comprises auxiliary offices, a
library, storerooms and laboratories for preserving and studying items in the collection. The displays in each hall
follow a chronological and a thematical succession starting from the Neolithic period and ending with the Roman
period.
COLLECTIONS

6. The museum collection has far
outgrown the capacity of the
existing buildings so much so that
only a small fraction is on display
at any point in time. With several
ongoing excavations and constant
new finds, the issue of relocation
to more spacious premises has
been raised but a suitable site has
yet to be decided on. So there
have also been plans to create a
new museum as part of a new
larger cultural centre.
Future