The temple of the Virgin Mary of Tinos was built at a point, where an icon of the Virgin Mary was found, according to the religious tradition, after the relative visions of the nun Saint Pelagia. The icon was discovered after excavations on January 30, 1823, while previous excavations took place in 1822 that revealed the ancient temple of Dionysus and the temple of Saint John the Baptist. The news of the discovery of the icon during the period of the Greek Revolution of 1821 was considered a good omen, and the island for this reason was visited by Kolokotronis, Miaoulis, Nikitaras and Makrigiannis in order to worship.
After the icon was found, the building of the church followed. Large quantities of marbles were required, which were mainly transferred from the archaeological place of neighboring Delos. A large number of workers were also required to process and install marbles, but above all a lot of money, the lack of which often made the caretakers of the work feel embarrassment because they had difficulty to pay at the end of the week, workers and materials. The completion of the work is due to the important contribution in work and money, of both the people of Tinos and the Christians from all Greece and abroad. By the middle of 1832 had been erected the eastern wing of the complex, the section east of the belfry and the section east of the main entrance. All construction work was completed in 1880.
It is located just below the Temple of Evangelistria. This is the area where the icon was found and on which the Temple of the Evangelistria was built. Three dome-covered arcades, parallel in a row, compose the lower Temple. The arcades communicate with arched openings (arches) in the intermediate walls. The first arcade is the place where the holy water is located, and is the exact place where the icon of Virgin Mary was found.
The middle arcade is mainly used for baptisms. In the middle there are the ruins of the Early Christian temple of Saint John the Baptist that was revealed during the excavations of the Holy Icon.
In the third arcade there is the baptistery for the heathens.
The temple of Virgin Mary of Tinos is an imposing structure of white marble, which is the first remarkable architectural monument of the liberated Greek nation. It is located in a prominent position in Tinos Town. The choice of church style is a three-aisled basilica with a dome. The director of the construction was a great scientist of the time, Efstratios Emmanouil Kalonaris, descended from Tinos settled in Smyrna, where he was named “Smyrnaios”. He designed the temple, along with its initial structures, the (first) belfry, architectural decorations and managed the work. Following the architectural standards of the island and incorporating innovations from the west and the Asia Minor tradition, he created a unique structure, specially designed to accommodate pilgrims.
To the left of the entrance from the central gate, there is the iconostasis, in which the icon of the Virgin is kept, which is full of offerings of the faithful, as well as everywhere in the interior.
The three aisles are separated by two five-arrowed colonnades with four whole-body marble columns each, starting from the facade to the iconostasis of the temple. The three doors of the facade, one per aisle, provide access to pilgrims. The iconostasis is wood-carved, its lower part is wooden and gilded and its upper part is of plaster with wooden tiers. It follows the design of high post-Byzantine designers. It was built in 1825 by Frangiskos Kanahilis. The Sacred Step is three marble steps higher than the main temple, in which there are three niches. The central one, is located behind the Holy Altar, the eastern one was formed in Holy Altar in honor of the Ascension of the Lord and the western one in honor of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
The painter from Smyrna, Hatzi-Lamprinos, narrated the despotic icons of the iconostasis (1824-1825). The painter Ioannis Siotos signs the icon of the Metamorphosis and the icons of the feasts (1826), Frangiskos Desipris from Tripotamos of Tinos signs the Assumption of the Virgin on the left aisle (1840) and N.G.Alvertis the Archangels on the lateral gates of the sanctuary (1858).
The temple remains so far without any substantial changes, except the main face and belfry. The Temple of Timios Prodromos (Honorable Forerunner) is in contact with the West of the Temple, before the 19th century. The original belfry of the temple was 34 meters high with four lanterns. However, the mighty northern winds on the island forced its reconstruction for security reasons.
Today's height is 29 meters and has preserved its initial stone base, which is about the same height as the temple and rises to three marble flats (lanterns), to be peaked with the cross. Its manufacturer was Ioannis Philippotis from the village of Pyrgos of Tinos, while Academician Anastasios Orlandos had the study and supervision.
Since the early years of history, an archaeological collection has been created, with findings from Tinos and Delos. Similar providence was also made for Ecclesiastical Treasures. That initial effort has evolved into today's museums. There has been an exhibition of icons since 1956, with old icons that were gathered by the foundation from the parochial temples of Tinos, which it preserved, highlighting the orthodox hagiographic tradition of the island. There are also icons that are dedications of the faithful from various places, as well as wood carvings, engravings, and ecclesiastical heirlooms that complement the exhibition.
Of particular interest are the Map of Rigas Velestinlis-Feraios, one of the 51 authentic that are saved (1797), the patriarchal sigilio (document) of Patriarch Grigorios V, the ring of Theodoros Kolokotronis; his tribute to the Virgin Mary, and the engraving copy of the icon of Panagia (Virgin Mary), work of the painter Frangiskos Desipris (1858) from Tinos.
The Foundation's rich sacristy includes only part of the tributes, mainly ecclesiastical silversmith and gold-embroidered works, exposed in elegant showcases. Worthy of attention is the cross of sanctification, discovery and tribute of the Greek soldiers of Kleisoura in 1940, the old silver-gold-plated case of the Holy Icon (Venice 1830) with the finial of Angels, work of Nikephoros Lytras, the gold-embroidered Epitaph of Kokona Rologa, the famous gold-embroiderer – work of 1833, and the testament of the Founders-Owners, that is, the first regulation of operation of the Holy Foundation, established by the founders-commissioners, in silver binding.
The temple’s gallery was established in 1961 from a donation to the foundation and includes many important works by Greek and foreign painters. Of particular importance are the works of the two greatest Greek painters from Tinos of the 19th century; Nikiforos Lytras (Shepherd, Arapis, Landscape, Man’s Portrait, Women's Portrait, the Farmer) and Nikolaos Gyzis (Penelope Gyzi, My Mother Kyra-Taro).
In the last part of the area is displayed a collection of valuable European artworks, African carved ivories (tributes of homogenous), as well as the portraits of the donor's family.
The Museum of Artists of Tinos includes works of sculpture and painting of people of Tinos and was founded in 1930. Only one part of the works comes from the purchases of the foundation, while many of the works have been donated by their own creators as a sign of gratitude for their scholarships the foundation allocated to them to study.
Among many important sculptors of Tinos, are displayed works of Fitalis brothers, Georgios Vitalis, Dimitrios Philippotis and Lazarus Sochos.
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