The new exhibition hall of the State Historical Museum in Moscow hosts an exhibition of 240 photographs from Mount Athos taken from the archive of the Simonapetra Monastery.
In cooperation with the Greek Monastery, the Russian Geographical Society and the Narodnoye Predpriyatie Foundation have organized this exhibition presenting to the Russian public photos depicting the life in all 20 of the monastic residences on Mount Athos over the course of one hundred plus years (1848 – 1963).
A big number of the photographs were taken by monks of the Russian Orthodox Agiou Panteleimonos Monastery, which has one of the best photography laboratories on Mount Athos. Particularly prominent in the exhibit is a photo album compiled in 1881 in honor of the visit to the Holy Mount by Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, the then president of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Moreover, the Moscow museum has on display a copy of the miraculous icon of Panagia Portaitissa (or Theotokos Iverskaya) that was first presented to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich as a gift from Mount Athos monks in 1648, a rare collection of medieval maps and engravings of the 17th and 18th century depicting monasteries and images of Virgin Mary.
Another highlight of the exhibit is a topographical, three-dimensional map of Mount Athos: a unique 12-meter installation that repeats the contours of the Holy Mount and is made from soil gathered by monks on Mount Athos.
The inaugurating event on November 8 was attended by several political and religious representatives as well as artists from Russia and Greece. During the opening event, a congratulating message from the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’ Kirill I was also read.
The exhibition will remain open to the public until the 28th of November..
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