The Byzantine and Christian Museum in collaboration with the Skiathos Cultural Society and the Monastery of the Evangelismos tis Theotokou (Annunciation of the Virgin) in Skiathos, are organizing in the Monastery’s exhibition space an exhibition entitled “Travels to the Holy Lands” through the pilgrimage books of the Byzantine and Christian Museum.
The exhibition is being held following a proposal made by the Skiathos Cultural Society to the Byzantine and Christian Museum, it is under the auspices of the Metropolis of Chalkis, Istiaia and the Northern Sporades and will be on from July 30 to October 31, 2017.
The exhibition presents the pilgrimage to the Holy Land through printed, illustrated 18th and 19th century pilgrimage books of the Holy Lands, i.e. the travel guides of the time, addressed to Orthodox Christians and providing information about the stations of earthly life and Christ’s Passion. It constitutes a unique journey of discovery and faith to sacred lands, with a particular meaning for the person undertaking it, to the present day.
Through selected engravings, there is an unfolding of the pilgrim’s route to the Holy Land, in and around Jerusalem, the most basic station in the long journey. In this manner, a map of the sacred places of worship takes shape; the sacred geography of the Holy Land.
In Jerusalem is the most important place of worship and the par excellence Christian monument of worship: the elaborate building complex of the church of the Resurrection (Anastasis) with a multitude of individual places of worship inside it.
The painted pilgrimage books are mementoes that each pilgrim takes back to his particular country. Their illustrations are directly related to the texts of the printed pilgrimage books, they are easily transported in the form of a scroll and constitute tangible evidence of the pilgrimage.
