Pieria: Epitaphios among the world’s top 7, at the monastery’s relics

It is entirely hand-embroidered with gold thread, and experts rank it among the seven finest Epitaphs in the world due to its technical merit. It was created in the 16th century by a monk in Meteora, and it took millions of stitches to complete the embroidery. Today, it has found a «home» as an exhibit at the Museum of the Holy Monastery of Saint Dionysius on Mount Olympus, three kilometers from Litochoro in the prefecture of Pieria.

Both this particular Epitaphios and many other relics of the monastery, many of which were saved after the initial destruction by the Turks and later by the Germans, were stored in warehouses without their historical and artistic value having been documented. «The appraisers who evaluated it told us that the Epitaph is among the seven best in the world in terms of technical value because it is very detailed and gilded,» explained Monk Amphilochios, speaking to the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency during a guided tour of the site.

The Museum of the Monastery of Saint Dionysius was founded in 1999, and its inauguration was presided over by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the late Archbishop of Athens and AllChristodoulos. Before cutting the ribbon, they planted two cypress trees on the left and right sides of the site. «The monastery has a 500-year history. Following the destruction of the old monastery by the Germans during World War II, many artifacts were destroyed and many were stolen. We found them in disarray and without knowing what each one was. And so, the need arose to preserve what we had inherited and to introduce the monastery to the world through its exhibits,’ added, for his part, the Abbot of the Monastery, Archimandrite Father Maximos.

Upon entering the first floor of the Museum, visitors can view color and black-and-white photographs of the old monastery located in the Enipeas Gorge, before and after it was blown up by the Germans, as well as photographs of the Olympus region, the caves of Agios Dionysios, and the mountain’s peaks. There are also manuscripts, patriarchal documents, the permit granted by the Turks in 1452 AD for the construction of the monastery, and a Gospel book—the oldest manuscript—from the 14th century, silver vessels, an intricately carved wooden cross, where visitors can use a magnifying glass to see every detail since it is intricately carved with openwork, and the relics of 35 saints.

«Our museum consists of various exhibits, including the relics of saints, various icons of post-Byzantine art, and some older ones. We have original books from the monastery, priests» vestments, holy chalices, valuable wood-carved crosses, and some embroideries, notably an Epitaphios embroidered by a monk in Meteora,” adds the abbot of the monastery.

A modern library containing 40,000 books and 35,000 periodicals has been established on the second floor. «They are the property of our Monastery, and we want to preserve them, continue the Monastery’s work, and share it with the world,» concluded Archimandrite Father Maximos.

Anastasia Karypidou

*The attached photos were provided by the Holy Metropolis of Kitros, Katerini, and Platamonas

Video: Archimandrite Maximos, abbot of the monastery, and Father Amphilochios speak to the APE-MPE camera. Report by Anastasia Karipidou. ANA-MPA/ ANA-MPA/ YIANNIS AGGELAKIS