The Museum of Byzantine Culture in collaboration with the Holy Diocese and the Municipality of Morphou in Cyprus organizes the temporary exhibition “The Honor to saint Mamas through the Mediterranean. A Border saint travels” participating in the events of the 4th Biennale of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, in the frame of actions of the five museums of the city “Movement 5M”. The exhibition for the first time presents the wide dissemination of the honor to a saint, which is still alive among different people of the Mediterranean. Objects from Greece and Cyprus and rich visual material cover the period from the 6th century to the present day. Initially, the mark of the identity of the saint is given, who martyred in Caesarea of Asia Minor during the reign of Aurelian (270-275 AD) and a reference is made to the origin of the iconographic type of the saint as an adolescent shepherd. The main part of the exhibition focuses on the dissemination of the honor to saint Mamas in Cyprus, Constantinople, the Eastern Mediterranean and Greece. Particular reference is made to the relationship of the saint to the patron of Thessaloniki, saint Demetrios, highlighting the status of the saint, from whose relics myrrh flows and he is also a healer. The exhibition ends showing the spread of the honor in the medieval West.

Through temples, mural paintings, icons, small objects, religious fairs, placenames a common religious tradition is displayed, which survives in Mediterranean regions. The exhibits and the visual material come from the collections of the Museum of Byzantine Culture, public museums and private collections, Ephorates of Antiquities of Greece, museums and churches of Cyprus.

Museum of Byzantine Culture, Holy Diocese of Morphou, Cyprus
Municipality of Morphou, Cyprus
Cultural Foundation of the Bank of Cyprus
Historical Archive of the Bank of Cyprus
Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Ministry of National Defense of Greece
Embassy of Greece in Cyprus, Nicosia
Holy Diocese of Limassol, Cyprus
Holy Diocese of Kykkos and Tellyria, Cyprus
Holy Diocese of Tamassos and Oreini, Cyprus
Museum of Holy Monastery of Kykkos, Cyprus
Foundation of Archbishop Makarios, Byzantine Museum and Art Gallery, Nicosia

Ministry of Communications and Works, Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, Nicosia

Holy Monastery of Vatopediou, Mount Athos
Holy Monastery of Dionysiou, Mount Athos
Holy Diocese of Kassandreia, Chalkidiki

Centre of Research of Byzantine & post-Byzantine Art / Academy of Athens
Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens
1st Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Athens
2nd Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Athens

3rd Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Chios
4th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Rhodos
5th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Sparte
8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Ioannina
10th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Polygyros
13th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Irakleio
16th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Kastoria
19th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Trikala
23rd Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Chalkis
26th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Kalamata
28th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Rethymno, Chania
Ephorate of Antique Shops and of Private Archaeological Collections
Mount Athos Center, Thessaloniki
Library of the Society for Macedonian Studies, Thessaloniki

Collection of George Tsolozidis
Collection of Arsen & Roupen Kalfayan
Museo Correr
Yale University Art Gallery
Ville d’ Auxerre
Direction de la Culture, Service de l’ Inventaire, Région Champagne-Ardenne
Agence photographique, Réunion des Musées Nationaux
Picture Library, National Gallery London