From the Bosporous to the Adriatic – French Photographers discover the monuments of the Balkans

Image from: agelioforos.gr

One of the most important monuments of Thessalonike, the Rotonda, opens its gates to host an exhibition of photographs from the beginning of the 20th century entitled “From the Bosporous to the Adriatic – French Photographers discover the monuments of the Balkans”.

The 180 black and white photographs, dated from 1878 to 1914, where captured with the lenses of French photographers. Temples, markets, Muslim mosques and other monuments from Greece, Turkey, Albania, FYROM, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Bosnia-Herzegovina where captured photographically composing a “journey of the common in the Balkans”, as the director of the Museum of Photography of Thessalonike and member of the organising committee, Vaggelis Ioakimides said.

The works cover five historical periods of the countries of South-Eastern Europe. The first concerns monuments of antiquity, the second Byzantine buildings, the third is linked to the architecture influenced by the Venetians along the Dalmatian coast, the fourth is dominated by Oriental perfumes, while the fifth discusses the meaning of the term city.

“This exhibition shows the possibility of photographs to capture facets of places that are today lost”, underlines mr Ioakimides.

The exhibition is a production of the National Centre for Historical Monuments of France and was first presented in the Conciergerie in Paris.

It was co-organised by the French Institute of Thessalonike, the Museum of Photography of Thessalonike, the Department of Architecture of the Aristoteleian University of Thessalonike and the 9^th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, under the care of the Metropolis of Thessalonike and the General Consulate of France in Thessalonike and the Prefecture of Thessalonike as part of the Photobienale.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Friday 28^th May and will last till the 31^st July. It will then travel to other Balkan Countries.

Source: Kathimerini.gr, 20.05.2010

Note: For more information about the Museums mentioned in the text, see here.

Venue: Rotonda-Church of St. George (tel. 2310968860)
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 08.00-19.00
Duration: 28.05.2010-31.07.2010