Today the news arrived that the European Regional Development Fund financed an amount of 3,302,490 euros to maintain the murals of the Protaton.
Photo thanks to Keliotis.
In total an amount of 7.5 Euro is budgeted, also for the preservation of Holy Mountain relics and some other archaeological sites in Macedonia. "It should be noted that the monumental painting (mostly paintings, but also mosaics) covers approximately 35,000 square meters. Moreover, in the temples and the sacristy of the Mount Athos monasteries lie over 15,000 Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, as well as thousands of manuscripts, historical documents, printed books, sacred vessels, vestments and other artifacts".
Ag. Nicolaos in bad shape in the Protaton (September 2009) – note the iron bar in the right upper corner -: photo by Wim Voogd
I hope this will mean that the ugly iron bars that filled the church in the past years soon will be removed!
Here you can see how many European money was granted in the last period 1994-99:
Wim, 14/12
There is no juridical ground for the abolition of the Avaton. “The status of the Holy Mountain and the jurisdiction of the Hagiorite institutions were expressly described and ratified upon admission of Greece to the European Union.” (see Wikipedia)
The legal status of the 20 monastery strong community, that enjoys special status, is established in the Accession Treaty of Greece to the EEC, which was reaffirmed in Amsterdam and anneí to the final Act of the Amsterdam Treaty on 15th of September 1997.
The agreement on the accession of the Hellenic Republic (The Schengen acquis)is clear as well. Article 5 speaks of a joint Declaration concerning Mount Athos:
Recognising that the special status granted to Mount Athos, as guaranteed by Article 105 of the Hellenic Constitution and the Charter of Mount Athos, is justified exclusively on grounds of a spiritual and religious nature, the Contracting Parties will ensure that this status is taken into account in the application and subsequent preparation of the provisions of the 1985 Agreement and the 1990 Convention.
Fijn dat het zo geregeld is. Hopi bon