The proceedings of the 12th International Scientific Conference of the Mount Athos Center, which was devoted to the theme of the historical and spiritual relations between Thessaloniki and Mount Athos, were brought to a successful conclusion on Sunday 7 December. The conference was held between 4 and 7 December 2025 in the ‘Stephanos Dragoumis’ Auditorium of the Museum of Byzantine Culture, as part of the Mount Athos Center’s 25th anniversary celebrations.
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Amongst those present at the closing ceremony was the Mayor of Thessaloniki and President of the Board of Directors of the Mount Athos Center, Mr Stelios Angeloudis, who spoke about the important scientific and research work carried out by the Center over the course of the last twenty-five years. He highlighted the fact that this work is supported and enriched by all of the Board of Directors, including himself, through both the organisation of scientific conferences, workshops and seminars and also the special research programmes conducted by the Center. The Center’s First Vice-President, Hieromonk Ieronymos Simonopetritis, closed the proceedings by expressing the thanks of the Holy Community of Mount Athos. The conference findings were presented by the Chairman of the Scientific Committee, Mr. Kriton Chryssochoidis.
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The conference was officially opened on Thursday 4 December, in the presence of the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Philotheos, who had been appointed to represent His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and who gave on address on the latter’s behalf. The welcome address of the Holy Community of Mount Athos was read out by Hieromonk Chariton Docheiaritis, a member of the Center’s Board of Directors, while the Deputy Mayor of Culture and Vice-President of the Board, Mr. Vasileios Gakis, read out a welcome address on behalf of the Mayor of Thessaloniki and President of the Board. Opening addresses were also delivered by Mr. Charalambos Bakirtzis, President of the Board of Directors of the Museum of Byzantine Culture, and Mrs. Agathoniki Tsilipakou, Director of the Museum. The addresses were followed by a brief account of the scientific and research activities of the Mount Athos Center by the Center’s Director Mr. Anastasios Ntouros. This was followed by a brief ceremony to honour the contributions of the Center’s scientific associates over the last twenty-five years.
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The first day of the conference was rounded off by a round table on the theme of St. Gregory Palamas, coordinated by the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki. The papers presented at the round table included two by the Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petra, Archimandrite Elissaios, and the Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Stavronikita, Archimandrite Tychon.
The 29 papers presented on the other three days of the conference focused on the age-old relations between the Athonite Republic and Thessaloniki and were structured around the following thematic units: the historical links and social and economic relations between the two places; theological movements; and the interaction between Mount Athos and Thessaloniki in the fields of art and architecture.
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The conference proceedings were broadcast live on the Internet and the audio-visual material will soon be made available on the Mount Athos Center website and its YouTube channel.
Within the framework of the conference, a facsimile edition has been produced of the rare work Mount Athos and Its Monasteries (1924) by the British archaeologist, historian and researcher of the British School at Athens Frederick William Hasluck (1878-1920). This book is the ninth publication in the series Athonika Analekta produced by the Mount Athos Center and includes an introduction by Athanasios Semoglou, Professor of Byzantine Archaeology and Art in the School of History and Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
