Saturday, June 27th - Outside chapels

Yesterday we went on a walking tour in the afternoon to two smaller rural chapels in the area named Paraskeve and Taxiarchies. They are part of the property owned by the monastery, but haven’t been used for many years because they have become run down and haven’t been restored yet… It sounds like there could be some interest in funding these renovation projects, and having been there I truly believe they could become great pilgrimage sites. Taxiarchies sites in the olive grove along the hillside, and has some later wall paintings that are continuing to deteriorate as they lie within the locked chapel. We weren’t able to get across the creek to go inside Paraskeve due to the rain that has fallen over the last few days, but its site is absolutely beautiful. The small circle of Cyprus trees is the believed burial of St. John (a different St. John than the one the monastery is named) and the site scenic surroundings are beautiful.

We have begun putting together a small power point to show the nuns about the work we’ve produced during the week. Each student has taken on a research project, either individually or as a group, that is specific to their field of study. Many of my photos (some of which I hope to have added to the blog soon) will be in the presentation! Also, my work on the icons will be used as a resource for research on icons. Make sure to check the website after the program is completed to see what they have done in this summer as well as in the past years seminars.

As I put in my itinerary, this is the webpage that has tracked the project since it started about 6 years ago:

http://mountm.princeton.edu/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

I’ve found some old pictures of the monastery in books we have as resources for research. As another side project, I’m going to hike around and find the pictures that are in the books (assuming they are physically attainable) and duplicate them to show the contemporary state of the monastery. This comparison will keep a record of progression, or deterioration, within the complex as years pass. Preservation work is requires images like this from the past to ensure accuracy. This is similar to the work I will be doing in Cyprus, in about two weeks.