The Cross and Hope: The Sacred Heritage of the Greeks of Mariupol

In the National Reserve Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Kyiv, Lavrska St., 9), visitors can attend the exhibition “The Cross and Hope: Sacred Heritage of the Greeks of Mariupol” that runs from September 27 to October 27, 2024. It was created in honor of Mariupol City Day, celebrating nearly 250 years of this community’s cultural center. The exhibition organizers include Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, Mariupol City Council, Mariupol Local History Museum, and the creative team “City of Mary.”

The exhibition is dedicated to the tragic chapters in the history of Mariupol’s Greek community. It showcases sacred relics of this community, including an embroidered shroud and an icon of St. George, which were in Kyiv at the time of the occupation of Mariupol and thus were preserved. These items were brought by Greeks from Crimea between 1778 and 1780 during their resettlement to the Azov Sea region, forced by the Russian Empire. The organizers draw certain parallels between the events in the history of Mariupol’s Greeks—specifically, the so-called “liberations” in the 18th and 21st centuries, executed through violent methods by the Russian army. Then, as now, these events have led to numerous casualties, suffering, and the loss of cultural heritage and homeland: then it was Crimea; now, many Greeks have been forced to leave their communities in southern Donetsk, including Mariupol and nearby Greek villages.

In addition to the exhibition, for the third consecutive year, a memorial service is held at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to honor all those who died in Mariupol. Greek movement activist O. Khara emphasizes, “We will liberate all our territories; Mariupol will be both Ukrainian and Greek again. And, of course, the same will happen with Crimea, our ancestral homeland, from where we began settling across Ukraine. This exhibition is a memory of a people, part of the Ukrainian political nation, united by millennia-old cultural ties. We lived in peace and harmony until the empire or ‘pseudo-empire’ invaded our lands once again. So, it’s a reminder about our existence and likely a signal for the future.”

More information is available at: https://mcsc.gov.ua/events/u-kyyevo-pecherskij-lavri-vidkryyetsya-vystavka-hrest-i-nadiya-svyashhenna-spadshhyna-grekiv-mariupolya/