{"id":110,"date":"2025-11-25T10:37:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T10:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mona"},"modified":"2026-02-09T06:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T06:56:14","slug":"blog-post-title-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/2025\/11\/25\/blog-post-title-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Memory Lives: Exploring Identity and Resilience in Cyprus"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Dr Mihaela Gligor, researcher at the \u201cGeorge Bari\u021biu\u201d History Institute of the Romanian Academy in Cluj-Napoca, spent two weeks at the\u00a0\u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy<\/a>\u00a0in Ayia Napa as part of her\u00a0RESILIENCE Transnational Access (TNA) Fellowship<\/a>. Her project, centered on cultural memory, identity, and migration, found a compelling landscape in Cyprus, a country marked by a complex history of displacement, division, and deep-rooted religious tradition. During her stay, Dr Gligor engaged with local communities, clergy, and sites of memory, gaining fresh insights into how people navigate the intertwined questions of home, heritage, and coexistence. In this interview, she reflects on her experience and the ways Cyprus shaped her scholarly and personal journey.<\/p>

1. What motivated you to apply for a RESILIENCE TNA Fellowship, and why was Cyprus \u2014particularly the \u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy\u2014 the right environment for your research?<\/i><\/strong><\/p>

I\u2019m always in search of new academic challenges, so when I saw the Call for the RESILIENCE TNA Fellowship and read the conditions, I said \u201cWhy not?\u201d As the Call was talking about religious traditions, and I am not quite a specialist in religions, I thought to give it a try and to apply with a topic related to cultural memory and religious diversity as a constant challenge for European society, especially when it comes to migration, as this is something that interests me for a while.<\/p>

Why Cyprus? It was mainly because I was there before, as a tourist, and I was impressed by the diversity of the island and the warmth of its people. Cyprus is not only the home for the Cypriots born there, but also for the numerous communities (including Romanian) that found on the island a place to thrive, or for those that run away from different conflict areas. So I applied with the thought to learn more about the history of Cyprus and to get to know its people and some of their stories.<\/p>

2. How did your stay in Ayia Napa and at the \u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy transform or deepen your understanding of Cyprus compared to your earlier experiences as a visitor?<\/i><\/strong><\/p>

My stay at the \u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy in Ayia Napa was wonderful and offered me firsthand interactions with people that experience their faith and use it as a tool for helping others. I was deeply impressed by the programs offered by the members of the Ayia Napa parish, and their openness towards different cultures and their genuine desire to help people, no matter what their religious background.<\/p>

During my stay there, I was also able to learn many new things about the history of the island and to visit several important places to understand the trauma of forceful displacement. Cyprus is, perhaps, the only country in the whole world which had an internal migration, forced by political decisions. And this was something I had no idea when coming as a tourist. In addition, many of the activities of the \u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy \u2014publications, exhibitions, and educational activities\u2014 address these issues.<\/p>

3. How did the Cypriot context help you engage with your key research themes of cultural memory, identity, and migration in a concrete way?<\/i><\/strong><\/p>

Cyprus is a country with borders inside its territory, and a traumatic recent past that needs the support of the international organizations in order to re-establish its identity, but also a country that stands firm and proudly reaffirms its role in the history of Christianity, as a land blessed by the proximity to the Holy Land and a place chosen by the first Apostles to spread the Word.<\/p>

The way a community relates to the past involves different actions such as connectivity, storage, retrieval, transmission, and (re)interpretation. When consistent memory practices focus on texts, images, and rituals they result in the establishment and consolidation of a pattern that becomes relevant for the identity of that community. And I saw these during my stay at the \u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy in Ayia Napa, through its commitment to promoting Cyprus\u2019 cultural and religious heritage and through its activities.<\/p>

The Cypriot identity is strongly linked to religion. Every day I could see people coming to the church. After all, the Academy is located within the premises of the medieval monastery of Ayia Napa, where the church of the same name is also found. Especially on Sundays, the churches were full of people living the rituals together and taking care of each other and of those in need.<\/p>

As for Ayia Napa parish, I saw that people from different parts of the world living in Ayia Napa for the moment, sometimes belonging to different religions, were part of a unique and amazing community and all were welcomed to the church every day, and their needs were taken care of! What politics was incapable to solve, this parish could! The immigrants were respected, they could keep their own identity and cultural background, but they could be also part of the community.<\/p>

As in the recent years I was working on different subjects, from philosophy of culture, Indian studies, interwar history, the topics on what home and the world mean for people in different regions were always in my mind. What I experienced in Cyprus would definitely help me in addressing some key concepts of belonging and the common feeling of being home in the world.<\/p>

4. What essential insights emerged from your interactions with local communities, clergy, and others you met during your fellowship?<\/i><\/strong><\/p>

Cyprus is probably the best place to investigate the historical, contemporary, socio-cultural, and political-economic conditions of living together in a globalized, entangled Europe.<\/p>

I am particular grateful to the collaborators of the \u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy, to the priests from the Ayia Napa parish and to all the people that were willing to talk to me and to enrich my expectations regarding the cultural identity, faith and home in our entangled world. Talking to all of them made me realized that we have more in common than we usually think we have.<\/p>

As a result of my stay there, I\u2019m now aware that Cyprus is a country marked by a complex history of displacement, division, and deep-rooted religious tradition. But what I learned was that Cyprus is a country where everybody is welcomed, respected and helped to find his\/her own place and encouraged to be actively involved in society and be part of the changes that can create a better future for all of us.<\/p>

5. How did Cyprus\u2019 history of internal migration and division influence your understanding of belonging, resilience, and the very idea of \u201chome,\u201d key themes that lie at the heart of your research?<\/i><\/strong><\/p>

Terms like cultural identity, belonging, immigration or exile are interconnected and together can offer a better understanding of our fractured world. The premises of my research found a fertile ground in Cyprus. I was lucky to explore and understand Cyprus\u2019 religious tradition and especially the role played by faith in shaping the openness of its people towards the others no matter what their religion might be.<\/p>

Cyprus\u2019 history of displacement and refugeehood was something I was not quite aware of before this mobility, but now it is a subject I could further explore. Observing the matter of the occupation of Cyprus, I could easily notice the cultural differences and the transformations of many places of worship. It is difficult to explain religious conversions as elements of integration and belonging. As generally understood, cultural identity refers to a person\u2019s sense of belonging to a particular culture. But what happens when a person is forced to leave his\/her culture and to live in a different environment? Where is home? And what home means?<\/p>

I posed these questions to a refugee from Varosha, the ghost city of Famagusta, and she replied: \u201cHome is where your family is.\u201d In 1974, her family was displaced from Varosha, they were forced to leave their house with only their clothes on, nothing else. They first lived in tents, and they had to start all over again. What kept them together was the thought that maybe one day they will go back to their home. But after many years passed, they understood that home is where their family is at that particular moment. So, the idea of \u201chome\u201d has transformed from the representation of a place (house) to that of a feeling (togetherness). \u201cHome is where your family is.\u201d As long as they were together, their home was with them. Her parents never saw their house again. After the occupying authorities opened the city to visitors and she became a guide, she asked for their permission to see her parents\u2019 house. She was not allowed. The house is very close to the \u201copen zone\u201d, but inaccessible.
Her story deeply impressed me. It\u2019s only one of many. It is a very sad one, but also a very powerful one, as it speaks about resilience and humans\u2019 capability to endure and start over again and again.<\/p>

6. What advice would you give future RESILIENCE TNA fellows, and how can the \u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy help support their work?<\/i><\/strong><\/p>

For those interested in the history of Cyprus, the \u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy is the best place to be for so many reasons. There one can learn not only about Cyprus\u2019 historical, cultural, religious, geopolitical and geostrategic role as a bridge between East and West, but also about the importance of creating a space of dialogue between religions and cultures.<\/p>

The Cyprus I knew, as a tourist, was beautiful, but insignificant comparing to the Cyprus I could discover during my stay here! I am so grateful to Christina Kakkoura and the priests from the Ayia Napa parish and to all the people that were willing to talk to me. I am also grateful to RESILIENCE TNA Fellowship for giving me the opportunity to explore and understand Cyprus\u2019 religious tradition.<\/p>

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Dr Mihaela Gligor, researcher at the \u201cGeorge Bari\u021biu\u201d History Institute of the Romanian Academy in Cluj-Napoca, spent two weeks at the\u00a0\u201cSaint Epiphanios\u201d Cultural Academy\u00a0in Ayia Napa as part of her\u00a0RESILIENCE Transnational Access (TNA) Fellowship. Her project, centered on cultural memory, identity, and migration, found a compelling landscape in Cyprus, a country marked by a complex […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":800,"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions\/800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayianapamonastery.org.cy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}