The Byzantine Museum of Kastoria is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...

, Macedonia,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, dedicated to religious art from the area's late

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and post-Byzantine periods.

Description

The museum stands at the highest point of the city, in Dexamenis Square (''Platia Dexamenis''), next to the Monuments Museum. It has been open since 1989. It has a collection of some 700 icons from the city's 75 Byzantine and post-Byzantine churches, and almost all of them have been restored and cleaned by the museum's conservators. Of this large collection, 35 icons are on permanent display. They date to the 12th to 17th centuries and are divided into six groups on the basis of their age and the

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or v ...

which produced them.Museums of Macedonia The most important icons are of: ''Elijah'' (12th century) in the severe

Comneni Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνην� ...

an style; ''

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

'' (12th century) on a silver ground and surrounded by ten scenes from his life; ''

Christ Pantocrator In Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator ( grc-gre, Χριστὸς Παντοκράτωρ) is a specific depiction of Christ. ''Pantocrator'' or ''Pantokrator'', literally ''ruler of all'', but usually translated as "Almighty" or "all-po ...

'' (14th century); ''

Saints Cosmas and Damian Cosmas and Damian ( ar, قُزما ودميان, translit=Qozma wa Demyaan; grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός, translit=Kosmás kai Damianós; la, Cosmas et Damianus; AD) were two Arab physicians in the town Cyrrhus, and were r ...

'' (14th century); the ''Panagia Glykofiloussa'' and the ''Deposition from the Cross'' (late 14th century); the ''Man of Sorrows'' (15th century); an altar door (15th century) bearing a depiction of the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

and busts of

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and

Solomon Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...

at the top; the ''Annunciation'' (16th century); the ''Christ Pantocrator'' (16th century) painted by a well-known icon-painter named Ioannis Permeniotis; the '' Panagia Hodegetria'' (16th century); and the ''Dormition of St Nicholas'' (16th century). In the semicircular part of the exhibition space are displayed three outstanding works by Kastorian ateliers: an icon of St. Paraskevi carrying her own head, and two altar doors with a representation of the Annunciation. Until 1998, the museum ran an educational program for ten- to seventeen-year-olds titled "In the World of Byzantine Icons", and one of its aims for 2000 is to resume the program. It involved a guided tour of the museum and a detailed account of the stages of the making of an icon, accompanied by related activities and games.

Gallery

File:Macedonian_Museums-15-Byzantino_Kastorias-70.jpg, View inside File:Macedonian_Museums-15-Byzantino_Kastorias-71.jpg, Icon of St Paraskevi carrying her own head, and two Vema doors with a representation of the Annunciation File:Macedonian_Museums-15-Byzantino_Kastorias-72.jpg, Prophet Elijah (12th century) File:Macedonian_Museums-15-Byzantino_Kastorias-73.jpg, Christ Pantocrator (16th century)

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

in Greek

Photogallery
{{Authority control

Museums in Kastoria Byzantine art Museums established in 1989 1989 establishments in Greece