The ceremony took place in Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior today. Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' Cyril; Vladimir Medinskiy, Minister for Culture of the Russian Federation; Oleg Dukhovnitskiy, Head of the Federal Communications Agency; Andreas Friganas, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Greece to Russia; and hieromonk Cyrion, the representative of the Agiou Panteleimonos Monastery, took part in the event.
Athos is a mountain and a peninsula in the north of eastern Greece and the world’s largest centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism. It is a community of 20 monasteries governed as an autonomous polity under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
For centuries, it played a crucial role in the development of spiritual and cultural life of Russia. The first known written mention of Russian monasticism on Mount Athos belongs to 1016, when the Xilurgu monastery and the temple in honor of the Assumption of the Theotokos were built. The peninsula territory comprises such unique Orthodox monasteries as Xilurgu, Thessaloniki and St Panteleimon, several priceless relics including the relics of St Panteleimon and the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, called of Jerusalem, as well as a library containing more than 20,000 ancient books and manuscripts.
The postage stamp bears the image of the
Russian Monastery of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimonos at Athos painting by People’s Artist of Russia Dmitry Belyukin.
Additionally, FSUE PTC “Marka” has manufactured an illustrated cover with the stamp and a first day cover with cancellation (Moscow) inside.
“The stamps’ printrun is 228,000 copies. They will spread all over the country and the whole world and will be included in Russian and foreign philatelic catalogs. Thus, the stamp has immortalized the anniversary date of this significant historic event”, said Mr. Dukhovnitskiy.
Design: O. Shushlebina.
Face value: 31 RUB.
Size of stamp: 50×50 mm, size of sheet: 170×120 mm.
Form of issue: sheet with illustrated margins of 6 (3×2) stamps.
Circulation: 228,000 stamps (38,000 sheets).
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