Book on textile treasures of Turkish Armenian Patriarchate published

PanARMENIAN.Net - The closed doors of Turkish Armenian Patriarchate were opened for two U.S. experts.

Archaeology Professor Ronald T. Marchese and Textile professor Marlen R. Breu published a book after a research that lasted for 10 years, with special permission from Patriarch Mesrop II, on 18th and 19th century textile treasures held by the Istanbul Armenian Orthodox Church. “The materials that appears in the book have never been studied before,” says Marchese.

The two researchers examined and catalogued many of the church’s artifacts, mostly from the 18th and 19th century though some were over 300 years old. Mesrop II, who has been fighting dementia since 2007, authorized the professors to carry out the inaugural study of the church’s textile treasures.

Marchese and Breu studied a variety of materials from holy books with priceless stones to caftans worn by patriarchs, and from golden brocaded clothes devoted to churches by women, to icons and slippers worn by priests.

This thorough, comprehensive research has been published in a book titled “Splendor and Pageantry – Textile Treasures from the Armenian Orthodox Churches of Istanbul.” The book, in English and Turkish, includes color photos of many of the treasures.

“Many pieces used today were made more than 200 years ago, some older than 300 years. Such pieces were donated by Armenians of the past and then blessed to become gifts to the glorification of Church and God,” Marchese said, Hürriyet Daily News reported.