Memorial to the Dali dead and missing

Μνημείο πεσόντων και αγνοουμένων Ιδαλίου (4)n Μνημείο πεσόντων και αγνοουμένων Ιδαλίου (7)n

Artist: Leonidas Spanos 

Location: Dali Municipality. Nicosia District

Category: Inter-communal conflicts 1963-64, Turkish Invasion

Photography: Evangelia Matthopoulou

An alternative name with which the memorial is known is that of the “Anonymous missing’ Father”. It is dedicated to all dead and missing from 1964 to 1974. The initiative was taken in 2003 by Dali Municipality and the families of the Dali missing. The unveiling took place on November 7th 2004.

The father is seated on a low platform on a road junction. His loose posture implies the hardships, physical and emotional, he has suffered. On the plaque in front of his feet is written: “Brothers, although missing, you will always be with us. We keep you in our thoughts and in our hearts” (Αδέλφια κι αν χαθήκατε πάντα θα’στε κοντά μας. Σας έχουμε στη σκέψη μας και μέσα στην καρδιά μας).

Behind his back, two stone panels bear the names of the dead and missing. The small bronze bas reliefs in rectangular shape with their portraits carved, are reminiscent of the black and white photographs that accompany Greek Orthodox tombs and a good number of memorials in Cyprus. The same photographs became iconic because of the Cypriot women dressed in black and holding them in their hands during their vigils and protests after 1974, initially asking the release of the imprisoned Greek Cypriot soldiers in the occupied part, and later the return of their remains.

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