Culture Min Mendoni visits Israel and Palestine to assess Byzantine monuments in need of protection

Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, accompanied by representatives of the European Centre for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments, visited Israel and Palestine to assess Byzantine monuments in Jerusalem and Ramallah that require immediate protection and restoration measures. Of primary importance is the protection and conservation of the cultural treasures managed by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

As part of her visit, Mendoni will meet with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem and with Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports Makhlouf Miki Zohar.

In Ramallah, Mendoni will meet with Palestinian Ministers of Tourism and Antiquities Hani Al-Hayek and Culture Imad Hamdan, as well as Mayor Issa Kassis.

Mendoni will visit the Arafat Museum and the archaeological site of St. Stephen's Monastery (Khirbet al Tireh) in Ramallah. In Jerusalem, she will attend the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Resurrection and lay a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.