International Symposium of Byzantologists in Nis

10/6/2010

Serbian Orthodox Church

Since 2001 in Nis, the International Symposium on Nis and Byzantium has been held traditionally within the celebration of the feast day of the city – Czar Constantine. This symposium gathers scientific elite from the whole world from the areas of art history, archeology, history, theology and literature. The history of the early Christian period of Nis is supported by the new scientific arguments and in a great part it differs in comparison with the knowledge which had been available before the beginning of holding the scientific symposium since 2002, said today one of the founders of this symposium Dr. Misa Rakocija.

Summarizing the results of the ninth scientific symposium “Nis and Byzantium”, which has just been completed, Rakocija said that this year in the work of the symposium participated byzantologists from Europe and America and for the first time in Nis experts for this subject came from Russia, Ukraine and Sweden. The scientific symposium of byzantologists “Niš and Byzantium” is the fourth most important in the world in a list compiled by the University of Harvard. Starting in 2002, at the symposium more than 400 scientists have been so far involved which have left behind eight collections of printed works with about 4,000 pages.

Talking about scientific achievements of the symposium, Rakocija said that the symposium contributed to the overall perception of the importance of the archaeological site Mediana.

Rakocija reminded that Nis was already in the 4th century well-known all over the Christian world, and the Gaulish Bishop Victritius put it among the cities where the relics of the martyrs were kept as it were cities like Rome, Constantinopolis, Thessaloniki, Antioch.

In the science martyropolis – the martyr city, and its trademark was a palm, which was discovered on one object which was found in Nis.

The crown of scientific research and the exchange of knowledge with the world famous byzantologists from the world will be rounded up in 2013 when will be marked the 17 centuries since the Edict of Milan of Constantine the Great, born in Nis in which the freedom of free confession of Christianity was recognized , said Rakocija.

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