Pyrgos Ecclesiastical collection

Aghia Triada, in the castle of Pyrgos, was the catholic of a small convent and was devastated by an earthquake in 1956. Under an initiative by the late Liza Patiniotou-Marinou, President of the Association of Pyrgos Residents in Thera, and the locals, the church was rebuilt. The site remained closed until 1997.
From 1995 to 1998, the Community of Pyrgos-Kallisti collected and preserved the relics. With the cooperation of the Second Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities and the support of the Holy Metropolis of Thera, they inaugurated the site in August 1997. Since then, it is open as a permanent exhibition of holy images and ecclesiastical relics.

The exhibition

It includes icons from local and Cretan icon painters, wood-carvings and metal-works, ceramics, ecclesiastical embroideries, vestments, liturgical books and other objects of ecclesiastical use, dating mainly from the 17th-18th century. Among these objects, one can find the tissued sleeve garters with representations from the Presentation of the Virgin Mary and the Hypapante, as well as “podea”, an embroidery placed below the icon of the Virgin Mary.

The collection’s icons

The first icon of the collection is Panagia Vrefokratousa (Virgin and Child), the second one is the composition Theia Leitourgia (Mass) and then, the visitor can see the icons of Aghios Ioannis, Aghios Georgios, Koimisi this Theotokou (Assumption of the Virgin Mary), dating back to the 17th century, Christ as the Great High Priest, coming from the church of Panagia, and Aghios Iakovos, a Byzantine icon from the namesake church. Also, there are despotic icons from the chapel of Faneromeni, with the Enthroned Virgin and Child and the tunic of Christ. From the old church of Faneromeni comes the icon of Aghia Ekaterini.

Other exhibits

The Cross with the trilobed ends of the antennas and the “icons of mourning” with Virgin Mary and John are excellent examples of wood carvings. The three tabernacles and the epitaphios complete the collection of woodcuts dating back to the 18th and the 19th centuries.

info

• Profitis Ilias Monastery, Pyrgos
• Open to the public: April to October, 10:00-16:00
• Tel: +30 22860 31812