The Black Vault - Greek-Cypriot family reunited with treasure they buried 29 years ago

A woman who hid treasure at her home before she was forced to leave 30 years ago returned to find the new owners had kept it for her.

Demetra Christodoulou hid the treasure under a fig tree in the garden of her house in Cyrpus after the Turkish invasion in 1974.

She and her family were forced to leave northern Cyprus and set up a new home in the south of the island but have just made an emotional visit to their old home in Palekythro.

Along with her husband and three children, the 65-year-old crossed the border of the divided island and back to the home now occupied by a Turkish-Cypriot family.

After arriving, she saw the fig tree in the garden where she had buried three bags of her most treasured possessions, reports the Cyprus Mail.

The current occupiers of the house had dug up the garden and kept the bags which the family's two daughters presented to Demetra.

The bags contained Demetra's dowry, a set of silver spoons and forks, 200-year-old earrings and cross and a precious pendant of the Virgin Mary.

"You can't imagine my emotion as I saw our bags of treasure. The girls' father had come across it while digging in the garden last October and they kept it safe," said Demetra.

"As soon as I saw the Virgin Mary, my knees started trembling. I could hardly stand up, and they brought me water and held me up. We all cried. And they cried with us - they felt my pain too."

Demetra says she wants to return to her former home when she is calmer to properly thank the family for looking after the goods.

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