INTER-DISCIPLINARY TEAM FROM THE NTUA VISITS THE JERUSALEM PATRIARCHATE

On the morning of Tuesday, the 5^th of January 2016, professor Antonia Moropoulou of the National Technical University of Athens, in her capacity as head of the “Comprehensive Program of Diagnostic Research and Strategic Design for the Restoration of the Holy Aedicula of the Holy Sepulcher in the Church of the Resurrection”, and the NTUA’s inter-disciplinary team visited the Patriarchate.

The inter-disciplinary group consists of professors Constantinos Spyrakos and Charalambos Mouzakis, and their associate, Mr Asimakopoulos, from the Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering of the School of Civil Engineering, who conduct measurements of micro-vibrations for the assessment of dynamic behaviour; as well as professors Andreas Georgopoulos, Georgios Pantazis and Evangelia Lambrou from the School of Rural and Surveying Engineering and their Associates, Panayiotis Agrafiotis and Lydia Kotoula, conducting on site Lazer analysis for the measurement of the deviations and of the orientation of the Holy Aedicula.

The distinguished members of the inter-disciplinary team were cordially welcomed by His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jeruaslem, in the presence of Hagiotaphite Fathers. At the meeting, the Patriarch praised the work undertaken by the scientists, namely the study on the restoration of the Aedicula of the Holy Sepulcher by means of enhancement and conservation works aimed at the safety of visiting pilgrims and the preservation of our Nation’s privilege, given that Greece had erected the Holy Aedicula during a period of captivity amidst a myriad of adversities, as attested by the inscription “dedicated to the Christ of the Rum-Orthodox, 1810”.

Professor Moropoulou and the NTUA’s team informed His Beatitude on the works carried out so far in line with the study in progress.

In the context of the visit, Ms Moropoulou submitted to His Beatitude the conclusions of the study in the form of intermediate report in both Greek and English, signed by herself and by professors Korres and Georgopoulou, intended to be delivered by Patriarch Theophilos to the Franciscans and the Armenians.

A relevant meeting has been scheduled for Friday, the 8^th of January, at the Patriarchate.

The completion of the study is scheduled to take place before the end of January 2016. It will then be officially presented in the presence of His Beatitude and of the Greek Prime Minister who, during his recent visit to Jerusalem, expressed a keen interest in this specific project.

From the Secretariat-General

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