EXTENSION UNTIL MAY 16, 2026
The Mount Athos Center’s retrospective exhibition entitled ‘The Land of My Heart. Fotis Kontoglou on Mount Athos’ will be extended until 16 May 2026 due to the great interest shown by the public, organised groups and school parties.
The exhibition highlights Fotis Kontoglou’s relationship with Mount Athos, the turnaround in his artistic style, his literary work and the philosophy he adopted in his spiritual quests.
Kontoglou first visited Mount Athos in 1922-1923. The exhibition presents details of his subsequent visits, pilgrimages and wanderings, his brotherly relations with Athonite monks in the hermitages of Kafsokalyvia and, above all, his contact with the works of the great iconographers, such as Manuel Panselinos, Theophanes the Cretan and Frangos Katelanos, all of which provides a full picture of Fotis Kontoglou’s life and work during this period and his later development as an artist.
Drawings in ink on paper, paintings in tempera, icons, letters, published works, personal possessions and, above all, intimate personal memories are all presented in the exhibition, which was officially opened by the President of the Hellenic Republic Constantine Tassoulas on 23 October 2025 in the exhibition space of the Mount Athos Center, with the invaluable collaboration of the following bodies:
Holy Community of Mount Athos ∙ Holy Monastery of Gregoriou ∙ Holy Skete of the Holy Trinity - Kafsokalyvia ∙ National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum ∙ Byzantine and Christian Museum ∙ Library of the Hellenic Parliament ∙ ERT Archive ∙ Tellogleio Fine Arts Foundation of AUTH ∙ Library & Information Centre of AUTH ∙ Central Municipal Library of Thessaloniki ∙ Lyceum Club of Greek Women ∙ The families of Panayiotis and Fotis Martinos.
«Ι didn’t expect to find such a perfect art in the monasteries’ churches. From what I’d read about Byzantine art, I’d got the idea that this art is less worthy of attention than that of the Italian Renaissance. But one can see from the few pieces I provide here that there are on Athos paintings of the rarest perfection, such as Katelanos’ Archangel Gabriel and Merkourios. As far as I at least can tell, it’s very rare for anyone to come across works created with such a wise knowledge of painting and full of such bold rhythm.
I approached these paintings with a sense that is due to a temperament formed in the Byzantine mould and to a strict Christian upbringing».
Kontoglou first visited Mount Athos in 1922-1923. The exhibition presents details of his subsequent visits, pilgrimages and wanderings, his brotherly relations with Athonite monks in the hermitages of Kafsokalyvia and, above all, his contact with the works of the great iconographers, such as Manuel Panselinos, Theophanes the Cretan and Frangos Katelanos, all of which provides a full picture of Fotis Kontoglou’s life and work during this period and his later development as an artist.
View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://www.agioritikiestia.gr/en/extension-of-exhibition-dates-the-land-of-my-heart-fotis-kontoglou-on-mount-athos#sigProId146512d902
https://www.agioritikiestia.gr/en/extension-of-exhibition-dates-the-land-of-my-heart-fotis-kontoglou-on-mount-athos#sigProId146512d902
Drawings in ink on paper, paintings in tempera, icons, letters, published works, personal possessions and, above all, intimate personal memories are all presented in the exhibition, which was officially opened by the President of the Hellenic Republic Constantine Tassoulas on 23 October 2025 in the exhibition space of the Mount Athos Center, with the invaluable collaboration of the following bodies:
Holy Community of Mount Athos ∙ Holy Monastery of Gregoriou ∙ Holy Skete of the Holy Trinity - Kafsokalyvia ∙ National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum ∙ Byzantine and Christian Museum ∙ Library of the Hellenic Parliament ∙ ERT Archive ∙ Tellogleio Fine Arts Foundation of AUTH ∙ Library & Information Centre of AUTH ∙ Central Municipal Library of Thessaloniki ∙ Lyceum Club of Greek Women ∙ The families of Panayiotis and Fotis Martinos.
View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://www.agioritikiestia.gr/en/extension-of-exhibition-dates-the-land-of-my-heart-fotis-kontoglou-on-mount-athos#sigProIdf0e11043e0
https://www.agioritikiestia.gr/en/extension-of-exhibition-dates-the-land-of-my-heart-fotis-kontoglou-on-mount-athos#sigProIdf0e11043e0
«Ι didn’t expect to find such a perfect art in the monasteries’ churches. From what I’d read about Byzantine art, I’d got the idea that this art is less worthy of attention than that of the Italian Renaissance. But one can see from the few pieces I provide here that there are on Athos paintings of the rarest perfection, such as Katelanos’ Archangel Gabriel and Merkourios. As far as I at least can tell, it’s very rare for anyone to come across works created with such a wise knowledge of painting and full of such bold rhythm.
I approached these paintings with a sense that is due to a temperament formed in the Byzantine mould and to a strict Christian upbringing».
From the text by Fotis Kontoglou in his album The Art of Athos, November 1923
View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://www.agioritikiestia.gr/en/extension-of-exhibition-dates-the-land-of-my-heart-fotis-kontoglou-on-mount-athos#sigProIdbed73bce76
https://www.agioritikiestia.gr/en/extension-of-exhibition-dates-the-land-of-my-heart-fotis-kontoglou-on-mount-athos#sigProIdbed73bce76
| EXHIBITION CONTRIBUTORS |
| Curators: Anastasios Ntouros, Christos Dokalis |
| Research: Christos Dokalis, Giorgos Fousteris Texts & captions: Giannis Liapis _______________________________________________________________________ |
Duration of exhibition: 23 October 2025 – 16 May 2026
Opening hours:
Monday & Wednesday: 09.00–16.00
Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 09.00–20.00
Saturday: 09.00–15:00
Last admission 30 minutes before closing time
Next dates for tours by organised groups: 23 April, 2 tours at 17:00 and 18:00; 14 May, also 2 tours at 17:00 and 18:00. Telephone bookings essential: 2310 263-308
Sunday: closed
Visits by organised groups and school parties may be arranged by contacting tel. no. 2310 263-308.
Admission free
MOUNT ATHOS CENTER
109 Egnatia St., Thessaloniki 546 35
Τ. +30 2310 263 308 & 2310 250 648
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