CYPRUS BANK CULTURAL FOUNDATION

This institution, founded in 1984 (Πολιτιστικό 'Ιδρυμα Τραπέζης Κύπρου, Politistiko Idryma Trapezis Kyprou) belongs to the country's leading private bank. Housed in the former headquarters of Cyprus Bank, a stone building dating from 1936, it houses five museums and collections. The most interesting sections are devoted to archaeology and numismatics. The Cyprus Mint Museum is located on the first floor. It displays over 600 coins from the ^6th century BC to the present day, from the first city-states to the Cyprus pound and right up to the changeover to the euro in 2005. Note that the Cyprus Bank logo features the inscription ΚΟΙΝΟ ΚΥΠΡΙΩΝ ("the common good of Cypriots"), which appeared on coins issued during the Roman period, in the ^1st century AD. Moving up to the mezzanine, we reach the Pierides Collection museum. This brings together some of the Cypriot objects amassed by the Pierides Foundation since 1839, most of which are on display at the Pierides Museum in Larnaka. Here, over 600 objects are on display, dating from the Bronze Age (2500 BC) to the end of the Venetian period (1571): pottery, clay figurines, coins, copperware, jewelry and an important series of sculptures. Both museums are modern and equipped with interactive terminals. On the first floor is a store and the other three collections: manuscripts and rare books; maps of Cyprus; engravings, photographs and watercolours.