‘SACRED TREASURES’, the exceptional collection of relics held by the Holy Metropolis of Beroia, Naousa and Campania, serves as the starting point for an in-depth journey into the key components of the Christian faith, highlighting the particular importance, wealth and timeless radiance of its founder. Thus, the Paulian Relic Repository of the Dovra Holy Monastery constitutes a pole of attraction and plays a noteworthy role in the impressive cultural network comprised of the splendid museums and monuments of Imathia and Macedonia in general.

In order to create the devotional atmosphere required, the exhibition space has been consolidated and isolated from the external environment. Evocative lighting is used to underline and heighten the solemn atmosphere, while the narrative unfolds at the site through the sequence of a predetermined series of sections.

Section I: “I am the light of the world”, Christ, the centre of the Christian faith – the Shepherd of the faithful as a type of Christ

The top exhibit in this section is an astounding two-faced Palaeologan icon of Christ. Strict, serene and otherworldly, the Saviour, the Light of the World, dominates the space around him as the centre and point of reference of the Christian faith. Opposite him stands the shape of the Patriarch: with his vestments, sacerdotal mitre and crozier, the shepherd of the faithful, is the bearer of divine power on earth. The section is demarcated and supplemented by the exceptional Palaeologan epistyle depicting the Twelve Great Feasts and the Passion of Christ, as well as an icon of the Virgin Mary from the same era and in similar style.

Section II: Son of God, Son of man

The other side of the icon of the Almighty introduces the next section which is dedicated to the Word made flesh. The centre, at the appropriate place of worship, is dominated by the Epitaphios, the lifeless body of the Son of God who became the Son of man, flanked by his earthly relations, the Holy Mother, sweet-loving and infant-bearing, and John the Baptist.

Section III: The Word of God

The topic of this section is the Word of God, which became the gospel for humanity. The opening of the Gospel of John, “In thebeginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, dominates the scene, flanked by the icon of the Almightywith an open gospel in hand and the icon of John the Apostle dictating the divine Word to the deacon Prochorus. Part of a Byzantinechandelier, perhaps from the Old Metropolis of Veria, visualises the concept of the divine Light. Holy Gospels and evangelistaria depictthe message of Salvation.

Section IV: The life of Christ

Icons recount the life of the Virgin Mary, the life and passion of Christ, while the Pentecost foretells the triumph of Christianity and the Archangels reveal the Heavenly Kingdom. The timeless litany of the faithful begins here with the Byzantine cross and hexapteryga.

Section V: The sanctified

Icons of people who were sanctified by dint of their works, Fathers of the Church, the equals-of-the-apostles Constantine and Helen, women and men who were martyred for their faith fill the walls, while the shape of Saint Nectarios, one of the most recent saints of Orthodoxy, who is particularly popular among the faithful, stands among its vestments at the centre, venerable and imposing.

Section VI: The Christian church – on the body of Christ, the place of Holy Communion

A chorus of Saints ushers visitors into the “church”, where murals from a Verian church that no longer exists and the epistyle of the iconostasis depicting the Twelve Apostles bring familiar scenes to mind. The Epitaphios is once again at the centre, as when the faithful worship him. The “foreign body” of the deceased God, the foundation of the Christian faith. At the end of the procession is the altar, covered with the antimension, with all the sacred vessels ready for the Transubstantiation, the supreme sacrament of the Christianity. This is where the journey to the metaphysics of the Christian faith ends.

Section VII: Growth, prestige and relations of the Holy Metropolis of Beroia and Naousa under the Ottoman Empire

The history of the Holy Metropolis and its prestige from the 15th to the 20th century, which is unknown and unexpected to the general public, is depicted in the priceless sacred vessels from the Danubian Principalities, in the gold-embroidered vestments sewn in Vienna and Constantinople, as well as in the rare folk icons of pilgrims from Jerusalem and the elaborate wood carvings from churches that are no more.

Section VIII: Saint Anthony of Veria

A separate space is dedicated to icons from the church of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of Veria, painted by icon painter Ch. Matthaiou in the characteristic idealised style of the early 20th century.

Section IX: Sacred vestments – decrypting their meaning

The sacerdotal garments of the Metropolitan, broken down into its component parts so as to enable visitors to follow their particular function and symbolisms, and a rich collection of characteristic encolpia complete the exhibition.

Angeliki Kottaridi