Limassol, Cyprus. Exhumations began on Thursday at Ayios Nikolaos cemetery in Limassol in a renewed effort to locate the remains of Cyprus’ national poet, Vasilis Michaelides. The excavation is taking place at the same site examined two years ago under a new court order that allows experts to collect samples from the entire burial site known as the “grave of the unknown.”
Renewed excavation effort
Michaelides, widely regarded as Cyprus’ national poet, died in 1917. Although he was buried with honours by Limassol municipality, no plaque bearing his name was ever placed on his grave.
A previous attempt to locate his remains in 2024 was unsuccessful because the court order then in force required the excavation to stop once additional human remains were discovered.
Genetic testing planned
“Bone samples will be taken from all the contents of the tomb, and we are eagerly awaiting the results of the genetic testing, which will be announced by the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics,” said Limassol Writers’ Society president George Petousis.
Basis for court orders
Petousis said efforts to identify Michaelides’ burial site began after the founding of the writers’ society, drawing on testimony from historian and researcher Aristides Koudounaris and civil engineer Christos Rotsidis.
“On the basis of these testimonies, we convinced the court to issue both the first and second court orders,” he said.
According to Petousis, Koudounaris identified the location based on information passed down by his grandmother, who had shown him the poet’s burial site. Rotsidis, meanwhile, was shown the same location by a beggar who frequented the cemetery.
