2014 represents a landmark for the Museum of Byzantine Culture since twenty years have passed since it first opened up its doors to the city’s public, and indeed with its first temporary exhibition. In the context of this anniversary, our Museum organizes the temporary exhibition “Ex Thessalonica Lux”, paying tribute to Thessaloniki, the birthplace of the St. Cyril and Methodius. This original temporary exhibition highlights the definitive contribution of the Thessaloniki brothers Constantine-Cyril and Methodius to the invention of the Slavic written language, the establishing of the Cyrillic alphabet – the third official alphabet of the European Union – and the subsequent spread of Christianity among the people of Central Europe and beyond. The exhibition, for all the above reasons, accompanies the parallel actions of our country’s E.U. Presidency in the first half of the year. With the help of this exhibition the Middle Byzantine Thessaloniki and the largely unknown 9th c., but also the spiritual and cultural background of the city and of Constantinople, the diplomatic, missionary and civilizing activity of Saints Cyril and Methodius among the Slavs of modern Central Europe and the echo of their work are “illuminated”. Apart from the rich photographic and visual material, the exhibition is enriched with selected authentic material, which comes from the collections of the Museum of Byzantine Culture, from the 9th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, the 10th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities and from the Collection of George Tsolozidis. Most of this material is presented for the first time to the public and comes from recent excavations.

At the same time, the new temporary exhibition, which is presented in the ground floor of the wing of temporary exhibitions ”Kyriakos Krokos” of our museum, constitutes for the visitor the necessary introduction to the photographic exhibition of manuscripts, titled “The light of Letters”, which is already hosted since November 2013 in the upper floor of the same wing, in the frame of the anniversary year 2013 of Saints Cyril and Methodius, declared by the Municipality of Thessaloniki.

9th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities
10th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities
Collection of George Tsolozidis