At 19:00 on Sunday 28 September, at the OLYMPION cinema in Thessaloniki, the Mount Athos Center is organising a commemorative event to present its achievements over the past 25 years.  

The event will be honoured by the presence of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who will give a speech commemorating the 25^th anniversary of the foundation of the Mount Athos Center.  
 

An address will also be given by the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Philotheos, which will be followed by a short documentary presenting the Center’s work over the course of the last 25 years, as well as talks by a representative of the Holy Community of Mount Athos and the Mayor of Thessaloniki and President of the Board of Directors of the Mount Athos Center, Mr Stelios Angeloudis. Music will be provided by a Byzantine choir composed of students at the Athonias Ecclesiastical Academy and the ‘Philathonites’ Byzantine choir.
 

The Mount Athos Center is an urban non-profit organisation, founded in 2000 by the Municipality of Thessaloniki in collaboration with the Holy Community of Mount Athos. The Center essentially forms the institutional continuation and natural “evolution” of the monumental “Treasures of Mount Athos” exhibition held in 1997 within the framework and under the auspices of the “Thessaloniki – Cultural Capital of Europe” Organisation.
The Mount Athos Center is run by a governing Board of Directors, consisting of seven members presided over by the Mayor of Thessaloniki (ex officio). The Board includes an honorary president, the current Overseer of Mount Athos, three members who are appointed by the Municipality of Thessaloniki, and three members who are representatives of the Holy Community of Mount Athos. The position of First Vice-President is held by one of the Board members from the Holy Mountain. 

The Center is located in the heart of the city, in the historic Nedelkos Mansion (at 109 Egnatia Street), a building which was donated by the Municipality of Thessaloniki for the Center's activities. The basement of the building houses the Center’s library and archives, the ground floor a bookshop, and the first floor the Center’s administrative services and a specially designed exhibition space for the Center’s exhibitions. The ground floor also houses the Pilgrims’ Bureau of the Holy Community of Mount Athos, while an internal courtyard hosts numerous events between May and October.    

 
The main aim of the Mount Athos Center is to highlight and promote the long monastic tradition of the Holy Mountain, its great spiritual and cultural heritage, and its history. This aim is achieved through the organisation and presentation of exhibitions in Greece and abroad, the production of publications, and the organisation of conferences, specialised scientific research projects, programmes of artistic events and many other activities.  

In its 25 years of operation, the Mount Athos Center, faithfully serving the aims outlined in its charter, has presented over 200 exhibitions in Greece and abroad, published 54 invaluable publications, and organised 11 international scientific conferences and 8 international scientific workshops, thereby providing valuable support to the scientific community engaged in research on Mount Athos. Above all, however, it has brought back to the fore and strengthened the age-old relations between Mount Athos and the city of St. Demetrios, making Thessaloniki a global ambassador for the Holy Mountain.