Peloponnisos SearchDESTINATIONS FOR EVERY TRAVELER

Ecclesiastical Museum of Dimitsana

COUNTY: Arcadia MUNICIPALITY: Gortynos

Clear
14.22ºC

Category

Ecclesiastical

TL;DR

A museum dedicated to religious artefacts of the Greek Orthodox Church, built in the house of a Patriarch.

The sign at the entrance says: “In this house was born Patriarch Gregorios V hanged on April 10, 1821 in Constantinople.” This sign is found on the family home of Patriarch Gregorios who was born in Dimitsana. Today, his house is an Ecclesiastical Museum and one of the main sights of the town. The house was renovated by the benefactor Panagiotis Aggelopoulos (1909-2001) and the idea of turning it into a museum came from the Metropolitan bishop of Gortynia and Megalopolis, Theophilus, in 1992.
The traditional two-storey house is near the central square of Dimitsana. The floors are connected by an interior stone staircase. Among the exhibits of the museum you will find old books, vestments and icons. The museum displays three icons from the Church of Taxiarches of Dimitsana, which belong to the 17th century Cretan School, an icon of John the Baptist as well as an altar door depicting the scene of Annunciation. The exhibition also includes sacred vessels, relief crucifixes, incense boats, gold embroidered canonicals, embroidered vestments and a painted vestry. The museum keeps an antimension (a rectangular piece of cloth, decorated with a representation of the Entombment of Christ, used instead of an Altar Table or placed on it) with the inscription “Gregorios of Constantinople and Nova Roma” signed by Patriarch Gregorios V.

Inside the museum, you will also find the icon of Saint Georgios which was dedicated by Gregorios V to the church of Agios Georgios (St. Georgios) of Dimitsana, as well as an embroidered icon representing the Lamentation of Christ. In the basement of the museum, there is a small chapel in honor of the Patriarch. Most of the exhibits come from the churches and the monasteries of the Metropolis of Gortynia and Megalopoli.

The museum is open during weekends from 10.00 to 13.00 and from 17.00 to 19.00.

Tel: +30 27950-31217