Conservation studio
The library of the monastery of St.John Theologian, Patmos preserves some of the most important elements of our written cultural heritage. Magnificent manuscripts that date from the 5th century, a wealth of archival documents that portray a 900 year old history that has never been dispersed and an exceptional collection of early printed books, constitute one of the rarest collections in Greece.
The care and preservation of this unique in its kind collection is not recent. The monks of the monastery had always been charged with the task to protect and maintain the awareness for the preservation of this treasure and its transmission to the generations to follow, regardless of the difficulties endorsed with each period in the history of the monastery.
Since 1975 the library was transferred to a space that was designed especially to accommodate and preserve the collection. It was equipped with a photographic microfilming laboratory. The entire manuscript collection was slowly microfilmed, which, facilitated access of the material to scholars, reducing the need for handling the more fragile manuscripts and contributed in this wayto their preservation.
During 1980-85 the monastery took advantage of the presence of internationally established book and paper conservators at the library for their own research. Their research helped to make the material of the collection better known and to define the needs of the library as far as the preservation of its wealth was concerned.
In 1988-89 Father Chrysostomos, the previous librarian of the monastery, visited France, Italy and Switzerland in search of conservation centres and institutes that would be interested in collaboration with the monastery, aiming to establish a conservation workshop within the monastery and to plan its activities. Through his search he came in contact with several professionals and conservation centres and started receiving training himself in conservation and preservation matters.
In 1992 the conservation workshop was installed with the necessary materials and equipment, with the help of several professional book conservators from all over the world. Regular visits by conservators were soon organised and the working order of the workshop was established.
Since then the main tasks and activities of the workshop through its trained conservators has been the preservation and conservation of the collection and the constitution of an advisory panel for issues related to the library and the museum where treasures are displayed. The environmental conditions are monitored inside the space of the library and the museum and the collection of microfilms is managed.
In 2006 a series of summer workshops on bookbinding and book conservation was initiated, offered to professional conservators and bookbinders.