John Sabry’s beautifully illustrated maps of Cyprus have become one of the most recognisable visual records of the island. First commissioned for the celebrated guidebook Romantic Cyprus in the 1940s, his detailed hand-drawn maps went on to feature in numerous books, exhibitions and souvenirs — including the familiar Cyprus map designs found on postcards, mugs and other memorabilia.

Born in Kyrenia in 1914, John was a talented Cypriot artist, photographer and cartographer whose work captured the character and beauty of Cyprus during a golden era of the island’s history. His maps are perhaps his most enduring legacy, combining geography with intricate illustrations that bring the island and its people to life. Their enduring significance was recognised last year, when one of his maps of Famagusta was included in Emergency Exits, an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London exploring Cyprus’s fight for independence.

Today, John’s original maps remain highly collectable. His daughter, artist Katie Sabry, continues this legacy by creating delicate watercolour interpretations of her father’s original maps, bringing these remarkable pieces of Cyprus’s artistic and cultural history to collectors around the world.

Read the story behind these beautiful maps, as featured in the Cyprus Mail