It was a great honour for the Mount Athos Center to receive a second visit, within the space of a few months, from His Eminence the Archbishop of America Elpidophoros. During his brief stay in Thessaloniki, His Eminence included in his schedule a visit to the Nedelkos Mansion in order to donate to the Center’s archive a rare Ottoman newspaper from 1926, an item from his own personal archive whose front page features a special article on Mount Athos.      
  During his visit His Eminence was given a guided tour of the exhibition entitled ‘Támata: suffering body, ailing soul’, containing items from the collection held by Mrs Lola Daifá, by the exhibition’s curator and archaeologist Dr. Panagiotis Kambanis.    

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The Archbishop was received by the Mayor of Thessaloniki and President of the Board of Directors of the Mount Athos Center Mr. Konstantinos Zervas, the President of the City Council and member of the Mount Athos Center’s Board of Directors Mr. Petros Lekakis, other members of the Center’s Board of Directors, the Deputy Mayor of Technical Works Mr. Makis Kyrizidis and the Director of the Mount Athos Center Mr. Anastasios Douros.   

In his welcome address the Mayor of Thessaloniki Mr. Konstantinos Zervas thanked His Eminence Elpidophoros both for his kind donation and also for his paternal concern and affection for the Mount Athos Center.      

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The visit by the Archbishop of America to the Mount Athos Center further strengthens the bonds between the Center and the USA and the Greek expatriate community in America, with whom the Center has already embarked on a series of cultural and scientific events. The first of these was held on 13 September, the eve of the feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, at the Maliotis Cultural Center at the Hellenic College-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, where His Eminence Elpidophoros officially opened the Mount Athos Center’s exhibition entitled ‘Mount Athos: The Ark of Orthodoxy’ and attended the accompanying events dedicated to the theme of Mount Athos.   

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As a memento of his visit, the Mayor of Thessaloniki presented the Archbishop with an icon depicting St. Demetrios, Thessaloniki’s patron saint, protecting the city.