Tradition and Digital Innovation Meet at Toplou Monastery
Source: Tornos News
Crete is once again becoming a meeting point for culture and innovation. On Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 August 2025, the historic Holy Monastery of Toplou in Sitia will host the pioneering action “Iconography 2.0”, an experience that attempts to bridge traditional iconography with the power of technology.
The action is part of the “All of Greece One Culture” program of the Ministry of Culture and is a central pillar of the innovative program “Living Tradition and Cultural Innovation in Crete”. The aim is to promote the island as a dynamic center of dialogue where theology meets ecology, art converses with society and the past “converses” with the future.
The monastery will be transformed into a hybrid physical-digital environment (phygital), offering visitors a multi-sensory journey with images, sounds and light. The experience will be accompanied by presentations by distinguished professors of the School of Theology of the National University of Athens – including Sotirios Despotis, Kirkis Kefaleas, Stavros Yiagazoglou and Athanasios Antonopoulos – who will highlight the position of iconography as a bridge between tradition and contemporary artistic pursuits.
The works presented are the culmination of a three-year program of artistic education and experiential research, in which professors, students, artists, museologists and members of the local community participated, under the guidance of the inspirers Loukas Ziaras and Christos Kalaitzoglou.
“Iconography 2.0” is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, the Hellenic Tourism Organization, the National University of Athens and with the support of the Region of Crete, confirming the island’s role as a bridge between cultural heritage and the digital transition.
The original article: belongs to Tornos News .
