This afternoon, the exhibition "Cyprus and Italy. Shared cultural identities at the dawn of history" was inaugurated at Castel Sant'Angelo, in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulidīs. The exhibition will be open to the public until June 30, 2026.

The exhibition is the result of a collaboration agreement between the Italian Ministry of Culture, headed by Alessandro Giuli, and the Vice Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, led by Vasiliki Kassianidou. It is part of the initiatives promoted on the occasion of the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2026.

Curated by Anastasia Christophilopoulou, the exhibition was organized by the General Directorate of Museums of the MiC and the Pantheon and Castel Sant'Angelo Institute - National Museums Directorate of the city of Rome, together with the Department for Contemporary Culture of Cyprus. It had the contribution of an international scientific committee composed of scholars and representatives of the main Italian and Cypriot cultural institutions.

The exhibition path tells the historical and cultural connections in the Mediterranean between Cyprus and Italy from a long-term historical perspective, with particular attention to Sicily and Sardinia.

Through objects and archaeological materials from Italian and Cypriot museums, the processes of cultural exchange, maritime routes, and the transmission of knowledge are explored, highlighting interaction dynamics that, since the earliest stages, at the dawn of history, have contributed to defining the Mediterranean horizon.

Cyprus, Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy are presented as strategic nodes in the Mediterranean, privileged places of contact where exchanges, trades, and forms of circulation of people, objects, and knowledge develop.

The exhibition brings together about 120 objects, guiding the visitor through themes such as daily life, funerary practices, art, mobility, technological progress, and processes of cultural osmosis.

Among the most representative are the stone pendant with a cross-shaped figurine from the site of Souskiou-Laona in Cyprus, the bronze boat found in Orroli in Sardinia, the ivory combs from Frattesina in Veneto, the Bisenzio cart from the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, the cross-shaped figurines of the Castelluccio culture, and the steatite seal from Sicily.