"The Keimiliofylakio the Holy Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of Athens, with priceless objects and features i’ acquired in the future, constitutes an emblematic Spiritual Museum. A Museum with two faces, which, however, are inextricably linked to each other", he emphasized while addressing a greeting during the inauguration of the treasury of the Metropolitan Church of Athens, the President of the Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos………..
"The first view of this Museum highlights it as a solid Museum of our Faith. Of our Orthodox Christian Faith. This follows irrefutably from the fact that every object of it, from the simplest to the most prominent, is an important testimony to the content and, Especially, for the inexhaustible spiritual wealth of our Faith", continued the President of the Republic.
"And the second view of the above Museum highlights it as a highly representative Museum of this Culture of ours. And I am referring both to ours, Greek Culture as well as our common European Culture. Really, no one can’ dispute that the Relic of the Holy Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of Athens comes to’ highlight the fact that the Christian Teaching -cat’ especially under its Orthodox version- as it was shaped and saved by the Byzantine Civilization, it is an integral part of ours, of Greek Culture but also the third pillar of our common European Culture", underlined K. Pavlopoulos and it ended.
"Under these circumstances, the Relic of the Holy Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of Athens is a source of constant inspiration for every visitor, especially not for him, who comes as a conscious pilgrim".
The relic depository of the Metropolitan Church of Athens was inaugurated
In the presence of the President of the Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, In the afternoon, the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos inaugurated the archives of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.
As he clarified, in fact, the Primate of the Hellenic Church, “it's not just a vault space. It is a space that encloses memories and prayers".
In the need to create the reliquary and in the protection of the sacred utensils, mentioned the head of the temple Fr. Thomas Synodinos, who then pointed out the difference between museums, ecclesiastical repositories and utensil repositories. In addition, he talked about the exhibits that are in the area, “important sacred vessels, valuable books and manuscripts, even the thrones where kings sat when they were in church", as he pointed out.
End, ο π. Thomas thanked all those who supported this effort and especially the Stavros Niarchos Foundation which undertook all the financial expenses.
Subsequently, the representative of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation spoke about the value of the exhibits, while the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, noted that with the inauguration of such works we all become partakers of our history and the past and, if we do not become social, we can't go into the future. Alongside, he emphasized that exposing the relics to the public will make them the property of all of us.
High priests were present at the opening ceremony of the heritage guard, the Minister of Education, Niki Kerameos, as a representative of the government, ministers, Members, the regional governor of Attica, George Patoulis, the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, clergy and many believers, who were eventually directed to the underground area of the temple, where they were guided to the heritage guard.