Artist: Giorgos Alexandropoulos
Location: On the Larnaka Finikoudes beach walk, Athinon Avenue. Larnaka district.
Material: Pentelic marble
Dimensions: 3.80 meter high
Category: Union (enosis), Ancient Greek and Byzantine legacy, Public sculpture before 1960
Photography: Evangelia Matthopoulou
Kimon (510-449 B.C.) was a General and politician from Athens. In 450 B.C. he headed towards Cyprus with the aim to liberate it from the Persians and restore Athens’ sovereignty in Aegean Sea. He died during the siege of Kition but had ordered his co-fighters to keep his death secret, which they indeed managed, for a good thirty days. During that time the Athenians won the naval and infantry battle at Salamina, Cyprus, on their way back to Athens.
In addition to the direct connection with Ancient Greek legacy, Kimon’s bust raises another implication, based on the short note on the pedestal. The phrase “Even dead he would win” («Και νεκρός ενίκα») reminds of the historical facts, but also calls upon bravery, heroic patterns and suggests (in many levels) the power both of symbols and the ancestral memory.
The bust was commissioned by Kition community in 1923. The unveiling took place on April 27th 1927. The bust was replaced in the beginning of the 1990s and the new unveiling took place on October 25th 1994.
Selected sources:
~Αλήθεια (Alithia), September 27, 1994.
~Απογευματινή (Apogevmatini), January 26, 1994.
~Νέον Έθνος (Neon Ethnos), June 16, 1921, p. 2.
~Νέον Έθνος (Neon Ethnos), December 1, 1923, p. 2.
~Πρωινά Νέα (Proina Nea), October 3, 1992.
~Σημερινή (Simerini), October 6, 1992.
~Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), March 17, 2002, p. 56, 57.
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