Chalice

From the Church of St George of the Hill in Alaya, this vessel was reverently preserved by the refugees and handed over to the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens. Later, during the tenure of the late Metropolitan Timotheos I, it was transferred to the Church of St George in Eleftheroupoli (Nea Ionia), and since 2015 it has been kept at the Metropolis of Nea Ionia.
It is a 19th-century silver, gilt liturgical vessel, executed in repoussé and chasing. It bears iconographic bands with scenes from the New Testament and characteristic morphological features of an Asia Minor workshop of the period. Its three-part structure (foot – knop – cup) and selective gilding attest to ceremonial use and high-quality metalwork. Originally entirely silver, the gilding was added during a later conservation intervention by the Holy Metropolis of Nea Ionia.
St George, patron saint of Alaya, is venerated as protector of the city and, according to tradition, as the slayer of the dragon beneath the Red Tower. The vessel is used once a year, on Holy Saturday, during the Divine Eucharist of the Resurrection service, when it is placed by the Metropolitan inside the Epitaphios bier.

The photograph has been kindly provided by the photographer Dionysis Antonopoulos, from an earlier photographic session carried out at the Metropolis of Nea Ionia.