Damage of Onufri paintings

09/01/2013 00:00

A barbarian robbery at the “Shen Premte” church in Valas, Elbasan,
resulted with the theft and damage of Post-Byzantine paintings made by
the great Albanian iconographer, Onufri. The Ministry of Culture reacted
with a press release.

The Cultural Heritage Director at the Ministry, Olsi Lafe, declared that with the current infrastructure it is impossible for the Ministry to preserve the culture monuments in full time, even first level ones.

“The Ministry manages a large area. The number of monuments is big and many of them are situated in rural areas, and it’s impossible to guard them 247.

Lafe confirmed that the damage was irreparable and that the Ministry is cooperating with all local units and the state police to find the authors who committed this macabrity against the church, which was built in 1540 and has rare cultural values for the Albanian medieval art.

Lave asked the public to help in preserving these objects and report for these crimes. He said that the Ministry has sent a request to the Public Administration Department and the Ministry of Finances, in which they demand a reform in the system that protects the cultural heritage and increase the number of guards.

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