The objective of the project is the conduct of historical research concerning the economically underdeveloped region of Epirus and in particular of its rural areas in a way that produces solid scientific results and interconnects with the local entrepreneurship. Another goal is to facilitate access to the region as regards networks of researchers or people who are interested in organized cultural and religious tourism in an unspoiled natural environment of extraordinary beauty.

The donor and dedicatory inscriptions of the Christian monuments of Epirus (4th-18thc.) have been selected as a launching point for the proposed project. The study of the portraits of the donors, in other words the wall painting compositions on which the individuals who funded the construction and decoration of the churches are depicted is the second field of the program. The study and correlation of these compositions with the inscriptions are of particular interest for the monuments themselves as well as for the social and economic conditions of the related region. Furthermore, the conjunction with the monuments themselves provides remarkable information about the surrounding modern social environment and about rural Epirus in general.

Director: Prof. Dr. Christos Stavrakos.

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