Patmos The vestry-museum of the monastery of Saint John the Theologian

The most important site of the monastery of Saint John, apart from its catholicon, is the vestry-museum that it is considered to be the biggest museum in the Aegean. It was inaugurated in 1988 during the celebration of the 800 years since the foundation of the monastery and it is located where the cells of the monks and the oven of the 11^th century used to be. The oven is preserved in the centre of the ground floor. In the showcases of the museum there are treasures of great value, the most significant of which is the parchment of the purple code (late 5^th – early 6^th century): Its content is the Gospel According to Mark and it is one of the sources for the text of the New Testament. The other important exhibit is the Golden Bull of Alexius I Comnenus (1088) with which he ceded the island of Patmos to Saint Christodoulos.

In the museum you can see: early printed monographs, manuscripts, silverware, vestments, the icon of Jesus in Chains (Christos Elkomenos) that is assumed to be a work of El Greco, an icon by Andreas Ritzos of the 15^th century and the mosaic icon of Agios Nikolaos (Saint Nicholas) that according to tradition was brought from Constantinople to Patmos by Saint Christodoulos, as well as other icons of Cretan style. Moreover, you can see pastoral vestments, epitrachils and sacks of the 18^th and 19^th century, manuscripts, a Gospel of the 12^th century, the book of Job of the 8^th century with extraordinary representations, a copy of the icon with the vision of the Apocalypse dating back to the 17^th century, the chandelier with the dragons of the Apocalypse that was transferred here from the catholicon, inscriptions, column capitals, architraves, and other fragments from the temple of Artemis that pre-existed at the site where the catholicon was built on. On the first floor the chapel of Agios Constantinos (Saint Constantine) has been preserved and there lies the armchair of the 18^th century that is used in the ceremony of the Basin.

Info

Open during the open hours of the monastery

Secretariat tel. number: +30 22470 20800