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Outlook: Hunting for icons in the underworld, part 2

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Tasoula with icons HiRes.jpg

23/01/2024 GMT

Hunting for icons in the underworld, part 2

BBC World Service - Outlook, Hunting for icons in the underworld, part 2

Tasoula Hadjitofi tricked a notorious art smuggler to recover Cyprus' holiest relics

Tasoula Hadjitofi planned to snare a notorious art smuggler, who was selling holy icons stolen from her home country, Cyprus.

When war split Tasoula's home country of Cyprus in two in 1974 she had to leave home, never to return. Years later, while living in the Netherlands she was approached by a shady art dealer with news that shook her to the core: artefacts sacred to her Greek Orthodox faith had been stolen, hammered out from church walls and were now being sold on the black market. Tasoula then poured everything into righting this wrong and vowed to bring them back. She would have to plumb the depths of the criminal underworld and hatch an elaborate sting operation to catch the mastermind behind it all.

Hans and Nancy Benning met in Germany while studying the art of lutherie, repairing stringed instruments. Their work gave Hans the happiness and love he longed for growing up homeless and malnourished in West Germany during World War 2. Now living in California, they have been making and preserving the world’s most priceless violins for four decades. They spoke with Outlook's Clayton Conn in March 2020.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Tasaoula Hadjitofi. Credit: Courtesy of Walk of Truth Archive)

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