Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa description and photos - Greece: Corfu (Kerkyra) (Topic)

Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa description and photos - Greece: Corfu (Kerkyra). Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa.

Photo and description

The Byzantine Museum of Corfu is one of the most important Byzantine museums in Greece and is located not far from the old town along Arseniou Street.

The museum is located in the Church of Our Lady of Antivuniotissa. This temple was built at the end of the 15th century and is one of the oldest and richest religious monuments in Corfu. For a long time the building of the church was privately owned and in 1979 it was donated to the state along with all the relics especially for the establishment of a museum here. In 1984, after the necessary restoration, the church-museum was opened to the public.

The building is a basilica with one nave and a wooden roof, which is typical for the architecture of Corfu at that time.

The collection of the museum presents an impressive collection of Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, both unknown and famous artists from the 15th-19th centuries. The museum houses magnificent icons by Emmanuel Lombardos. Also of particular interest are the masterpieces of Mikhail Damaskin, Emanuel Zanes and Mikhail Avramis. One of the most important exhibits is considered to be the altar cloth, which Nikiforos Theotokis brought from Russia and donated to the museum. In the Byzantine Museum you can see wall frescoes (11-18 centuries), collected from different temples of the island of Corfu. The museum also contains family relics of the founders of the church, sculptures from the early Christian period, old Gospels, manuscripts, priests' clothes and much more.

In June 1994, after the second stage of restoration work, the church-museum regained its former grandeur and was reopened to visitors (additional work was also carried out in 1999-2000). Today the Byzantine Museum of Corfu is considered to be the most important historical and religious monument.

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Topic: Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa description and photos - Greece: Corfu (Kerkyra).