Imprisoned Graves

A place of remembrance of the 1955–1959 EOKA struggle and the executions of those years

Local name: Φυλακισμένα Μνήματα

Collection: Cyprus Basics Exam · Cyprus · Open in OpenStreetMap

The story

This small cemetery lies behind the high walls of Nicosia Central Prison, next to the death-row cells and the gallows. It was set up by the British colonial authorities while EOKA, the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters, waged an armed struggle against them in 1955 to 1959. Under Governor John Harding, it was decided to bury here those who were executed, and prominent fighters killed in battle. Relatives were not allowed at the funerals, so that they would not turn into mass rallies. Of the 13 buried here, nine were hanged in this prison in 1956 and 1957, the last of them nineteen-year-old Evagoras Pallikarides. Three were killed in battle, and one died of wounds in a military hospital. Among these four are Grigoris Afxentiou and Kyriakos Matsis.

The “Imprisoned Graves” are a cemetery in Nicosia Central Prison, where the British authorities buried 13 EOKA fighters, 9 of them hanged (the first, Karaolis and Dimitriou, on May 10, 1956; the last, Pallikarides, on March 14, 1957). Grigoris Afxentiou and Kyriakos Matsis also lie here.

Visiting

This is the grounds of a working prison, with no public access. Whether and how you can visit the graves, ask in advance at the Prisons Department (Τμήμα Φυλακών). The find counts already at the prison gates.

On the way

• Paphos → Nicosia
• Limassol → Nicosia
• Larnaca → Nicosia

Photos

Sources

• Φυλακισμένα Μνήματα — booklet of the Council for the Historical Memory of the EOKA 1955–1959 Struggle, published by the Γραφείο Τύπου και Πληροφοριών (ΓΤΠ 81/2018)
• Ίδρυμα Απελευθερωτικού Αγώνα ΕΟΚΑ 1955–1959 — biographies of the hanged fighters (list of nine)
• Ίδρυμα Απελευθερωτικού Αγώνα ΕΟΚΑ 1955–1959 — Ευαγόρας Παλληκαρίδης

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