logo en

Επιλέξτε γλώσσα / Sprache wählen / Select language

Purpose

The objective of the present project is the conduct of historical research concerning the economically underdeveloped region of Epirus and in particular of its rural areas in a way that produces solid scientific results and interconnects with the local entrepreneurship. Another goal is to facilitate access to the region as regards networks of researchers or people who are interested in organized cultural and religious tourism in an unspoiled natural environment of extraordinary beauty.

The donor and dedicatory inscriptions of the Christian monuments of Epirus (4th-18thc.) have been selected as a launching point for the proposed project. The study of the portraits of the donors, in other words the wall painting compositions on which the individuals who funded the construction and decoration of the churches are depicted is the second field of the program. The study and correlation of these compositions with the inscriptions are of particular interest for the monuments themselves as well as for the social and economic conditions of the related region. Furthermore, the conjunction with the monuments themselves provides remarkable information about the surrounding modern social environment and about rural Epirus in general.

The dedicatory inscriptions of portable works found in churches, which also provide evidence for the dating and historical information, is a third area of the program. All fields of the project aim at combining research on inscriptions, neglected so far by modern scientific study, with stimulation of economic activities in rural Epirus, which remains one of the most economically poor regions of the European Union.

The innovative approaches, the study and research on the inscriptions are very important aspects in the project.

  • The first scientific innovation is the creation of a corpus of inscriptions of a region as wide as Epirus, throughout the centuries, and not of just a particular time period.
  • A second, scientific innovation is the attempt to read the older layers of the inscriptions, when this procedure is necessary.
  • A third important innovation is the 3D depiction of portable artifacts. By using the 3D scanner, the portable artifacts become accessible to researchers and are safeguarded against malicious acts.

Greece

GreeceEpirus

Epirus

map epirus

Katsanochoria

katsanohoria1