Museum

Exhibits in our Antiochian Heritage Museum celebrate the artistic, cultural and spiritual heritage of Antioch, where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). The permanent collection includes:

- Orthodox Christian icons of Greek, Russian and Syrian origin
- Hand-embroidered dresses from the Holy Land
- Richly inlaid wood furniture of Damascus
- Antique engravings and lithographs
- Interactive exhibit about St. Raphael, Bishop of Brooklyn
- And much more!

Current Exhibits

• One Ancient Faith, Two Contemporary Artists features Niko Chocheli’s painting, The Martyrdom of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, and selections from Sacred Illuminations by Tatiana Nikolova-Houston.
• Voyages East: Antique Prints of Syria and the Holy Land captures the beauty of the region through the eyes of 19th-century European artists.
• Saint Raphael: Scholar & Shepherd presents the story of St. Raphael’s life and highlights from the theological thesis he wrote as a seminarian at the age of 25.

• Titanic Connections: Unique and Untold Stories explores passenger stories connected to the Antiochian heritage and to western Pennsylvania.

Saint Raphael Bishop of Brooklyn

A beloved early pioneer of Orthodox Christianity in the United States, Saint Raphael was born in 1860, and raised in Damascus in a devout Orthodox Christian family. He received his seminary education on the island of Halki in Turkey in preparation for becoming a priest and bishop. In 1895, he arrived in New York to pastor its Arabic-speaking Christian community, and in 1904 became the first Orthodox bishop to be consecrated on North American soil. He traveled the continent, tirelessly serving Orthodox communities throughout America until his death in 1915. Originally buried in Brooklyn, New York, St. Raphael’s remains were brought to the Holy Resurrection Cemetery on the grounds of the Antiochian Village Camp in 1989. He was recognized as a saint in the year 2000. A permanent exhibit honoring Saint Raphael includes liturgical items as well as an interactive touchscreen dis-play.

Past Exhibits include:

• Eternal Spring: The Art of Leila Chokheli. A colorful display celebrating the joyous spirit and abiding faith of the artist, who lived for decades under Communist rule in her native Georgia.
• Women with Icons: Photographs by Jocelyn Mathewes. A series of portraits of Orthodox Christian women with their patron saint icons, honoring the beauty and meaning of iconography.
• Splendor of Damascus: Textiles and Artifacts of Traditional Syria. Hand-embroidered dresses on loan from the collection of Farah and Hanan Munayyer.
• Spirit & Whimsy: The Art of Niko Chocheli. Colorful original paintings and children’s book illustrations.
• Structure & Symbolism in Stone: The Architecture of Ancient Christian Syria. Photographs from Princeton University’s archaeological expeditions to Syria between 1899 and 1905.
• The Art of Kahlil Gibran. Original drawings on loan from the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia.