On the nightly news in France on may 19th 2009 (France 2, Journal de 20 heures), there was a report that a reporter visited the Esphigmenou Monastery (which is usually closed to outsiders) and the monks showed him around the monastery. In the hidden treasure room, they videotaped a well-preserved tent of Napoleon that had been seized by “pirates”. A guide book on Greece (Greece By Dana Facaros and Linda Theodorou) says that the tent came from the Russian campaign and was donated by “pious pirates”.

The Katholikon/church of Esfigmenou is dedicated to the Ascension

A Wikipedia article says it is “a large part of the tent used by Napoleon. The tent remnant is used as the curtain for the sanctuary door in the katholikon on the feast day of the Holy Ascension.”

On another site, it says “Esphigmenou has in its possession a large (3.05—2.80 m2) part of Napoleon Bonaparte’s tent, which was donated to the monastery by Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople. The monks use this once a year, at the celebration of the Ascension of Christ, as a tent over the entrance of the katholicon.”

Interiour the Katholikon of Esfigmenou

You can read the story about the tent here and the whole story at the site of Esfigmenou.

Details of the tent

Wim, 22/5