The newly built ecclesiastical heirloom “Soul of Aikos” of the Holy Metropolis of Serres and Nigrite includes an important set of portable icons, silverware and golden jewels. These sacred heirlooms come from sacred temples and sacred monasteries of the provinces of Serres and Nigrite, dating from the 14th to the beginning of the 20th century and are an irrefutable witness to the faith and artistic creation of our region.They represent a variety of iconographic themes related to the Divine Liturgy, as well as issues of mercy. The oldest images follow artistic trends that appear in Constantinople and Thessaloniki, while some of the younger ones offer valuable insights on the existence of two painting workshops and the artistic trends they express, the artistic activity of which is located in the 17th and 18th centuries in the monastery of Timios Prodromos and Nigrita respectively.

The most important exhibits of the heirloom include the icon of Panagia Odigitria of the 14th century, two despotic icons of Christ Pantocrator and Virgin Mary of Vrefokratoussa from the Holy Monastery of Timios Prodromos, two icons of Christ Pantocrator and 16th century Virgin Mary from the old Metropolitan Church of Agii Theodori of Serres and a picture of the pilgrimage, the work of Dionysios of Fourna, which comes from the holy temple of Saint Anthony of Serres.

Author
Alexandros Anagnostopoulos, secretary of the Holy Metropolis of Serres and Nigrite