Taksiarhis Church / until 1922 | galerie d'art, Greek Orthodox Church (en), église orthodoxe

 galerie d'art, Greek Orthodox Church (en), église orthodoxe

Taksiarhis Greek Orthodox church
Mosxonisia - Μητροπολιτικός Ναός Παμμεγίστων Ταξιαρχών στα Μοσχονήσια.

October 1 - March 31 10:00 to 17:00
April 1 - September 30 10:00 to 19:00
Closed on Monday.
Namık Kemal Mahallesi, Şeref Sokak, No: 6A
Alibey Adası (Cunda) 10400 - Ayvalık / Balıkesir
Telefon: (0266) 327 27 34 - 327 27 74
infomuzecunda@rmk-museum.org.tr

Taxiarches Chruch Building Restiration Project
The restoration project was carried out by the Ark Construction and Düzey Workshops under the supervision of Dr. Bülent Bulgurlu, who served as general coordinator.
The Taxiarches church had been damaged by severe earthquakes and other natural weathering over the years, causing deep cracks to form in the vaults and domes, and deterioration in the loadbearing stone, bricks and all other connective materials. Damage caused by a gale in 2003 made the building dangerous, and it was closed to visitors. In subsequent years illegal excavations by treasure hunters caused further serious damage in addition to that resulting from environmental and climatic conditions. One of the belfries in the roof collapsed entirely and the other was badly cracked, so that these brick structures were at risk of collapsing completely as a result of rain and sun.
Most of the wall paintings were extensively damaged due to damp and other environmental factors that caused the plaster to become detached. The restoration project was implemented by experts. The first stage consisted of suspending the entire building using steel loadbearing elements in keeping with engineering principles.
Measures were taken to prevent damage to the interior wall paintings and other painted decoration during the process of restoration. Casts were taken of the reliefs and used for producing new mouldings.
The worn paintings were identified and restored to their original state by experts. After cleaning, all the surfaces of the building were repaired by injecting lime-based material into the fractures.
The entire surfaces of all the columns, vaults, exterior façades and interior walls were tied with three rows of carbon fiber bracing and plastered with lime-based repair grout, which was then coated with carbon fibre polymer.
The decoration on the columncapitals was renovated to its original form. Missing and worn parts of door and window frames were replaced by new local stone of the same type, and the stones with circular apertures inside the windows were replaced with faithful reproductions, after which stained glass was fitted into the apertures.
Restoration lasted 22 months and was completed successfully, restoring the building to its original splendour.
This historical building opened to visitors on 31 May 2014 as the Ayvalık Rahmi M. Koç Museum.