The Regional History Museum in Razgrad presented its second exhibition this year. The exhibition “Mount Athos – Geography of Spirituality” was opened on February 3 in the hall of the Ethnographic Museum and will be open to visitors until the end of the month. The exhibition presents Mount Athos through the lens of two geographers, Prof. Rumen Penin PhD and Assoc. Prof. Dimitar Zhelev PhD from the Faculty of Geology and Geography of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.
It is the result of the repeated pilgrimages of the two authors Penin and Zhelev over a period of 20 years. As geographers, they preserve part of what they saw and experienced in the monastic republic in photographs of the nature, historical and cultural heritage of the peninsula. The exhibition contains 31 panels, and special attention is paid to the Bulgarian holy monastery – St. George Zograf Monastery, presented in 4 panels dedicated to our monastic brotherhood, whose difficult life is transformed into hard work and continuous prayers for the well-being of all the laity.
The photo exhibition is part of the initiative of the Bulgarian Geographical Society “Geodecade 2020-2030”. The opening of the exhibition was attended by Deputy Mayor Elka Nedelcheva, Director of the Regional History Museum in Razgrad Tanya Todorova, Municipal Councilor Nikolay Penchev, the Vicar of the Razgrad Spiritual District Father Georgi and Ventsislav Minkov, as well as teachers, historians and museum specialists.
Prof. Rositsa Angelova PhD, Head of the Department of “New and Recent History” at the Regional History Museum in Razgrad, presented the exhibition and its messages and emphasized that it shows Mount Athos as a spiritual, cultural and geographical space, where faith, tradition and memory have been preserved for centuries. Through photographs, texts and scientific observations, the authors tell about the history, nature, monastic life and the spiritual atmosphere of Mount Athos, perceived as a holy place and as a living cultural and historical landscape.
“Mount Athos is one of the most enduring spiritual spaces in Europe and has a profound influence on Bulgarian history and spiritual tradition”, emphasized Prof. Angelova.
The exhibition offers a look at spirituality as geography – with its paths, places and landmarks. Father Georgi shared his impressions of his two visits to Mount Athos and recalled the path that brought him to this spiritual space. He emphasized that Mount Athos is a place for prayer and an inner spiritual journey.
Ventsislav Minkov, who has been documenting the life of the monasteries since 2013 and donating his photographs as an expression of gratitude and support, defined Mount Athos as a space for humility, spiritual experience, and sharing the daily life and work in the monasteries of Athos. For more than ten years, he has visited Athos every year, documenting the spiritual life and original architectural heritage of the monasteries.
Deputy Mayor Elka Nedelcheva highlighted the importance of the exhibition “Geography of Spirituality” as part of the history of Bulgarian spirituality and as an opportunity for the residents of Razgrad to experience valuable cultural and historical sites. She recalled the role of the Zograf Monastery in preserving the literary heritage related to the Paisios story and the beginning of the Bulgarian Renaissance. She emphasized the role of the monks in preserving the extremely valuable heritage of Bulgarian history, which gives self-confidence to contemporaries. The Deputy Mayor called on the citizens of Razgrad to visit the exhibition and wished that such initiatives would continue in the future.
