Conservation Actions at the Library of the Holy Monastery of Docheiariou, Mount Athos
The Holy Monastery of Docheiariou, located on the west side of the Mount Athos Peninsula, is the first coastal monastery that visitors come across as they arrive by boat from Ouranoupoli. The rich monastic library consists of 535 manuscripts (10th-20th centuries), about 2500 incunabula (15th-19th centuries) and approximately 15,000 Byzantine and Post-Byzantine documents. With the support of the A. G. Leventis Foundation, the monastery was able to address three important priorities, instrumental in the protection of the library’s invaluable cultural capital for future generations. These included the digitisation of the monastery’s manuscripts, focusing on text, binding, technical details and watermarks, and the replacement of old archival boxes with new acid-free ones. The monastery’s important gold-seal, lead-seal and wax-seal documents and firmans have been placed in custom-made acid-free boxes, which ensure their secure storage, display and presentation without the need for handling by readers and researchers. The library was also able to purchase a complex bookbinding press, which enabled restorers to execute seven bookbinding functions necessary in implementing delicate conservation actions on the manuscripts and archives during the digitisation and boxing process.
Grant given:
2014
