Museum of Icons and Relics

The Icon and Relics Collection traces Santorini’s religious history

SANTORINI TOURS: The Icon and Relics Collection museum is located in Pyrgos in the renovated chapel of the Holy Trinity (Agia Triada). Originally a Catholic church belonging to a small convent, it had been completely abandoned, and in the early seventies only the north wall and part of the Sanctum were standing.

Under the ‘Association of Pyrgos Residents in Thira’, efforts were made to rebuild the church in 1975 in order to house the collection. Its exhibits include icons of religious art, ecclesiastical items, pottery, embroidery’s, metallic artworks and woodcarvings dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries and corresponding to the islands period of prosperity.

Among the religious icons the visitor can notice 16th century images of Saint George that probably originate from the samename convent. There are also icons from Saint John the Theologian’s chapel, two from the renowned painter Victora of Creta and two bishop icons that were donated from the Panagia Faneromeni church. The woodcarvings include three tabernacles, the Holy cross and the Epitaph. The museum can be found in Agia Triada.