On Wednesday afternoon, October 15, 2025, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew officiated the blessing for the reopening of the historic Zographeion Educational Institution, marking the completion of the first phase of renovation and seismic reinforcement works of the historic Zographeion building.
In attendance were hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne, clergy, Mr. Konstantinos Koutras (Ambassador and Consul General of Greece in Istanbul), the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Bank Association (headed by its president, Professor Gikas A. Hardouvelis), Mr. Georgios Papaliaris (president of the prestigious Stavrodromion Community), other community leaders, teachers, and students of the school (led by its director, Mr. Ioannis Demirtzoglou), archons of the Great Church of Christ, and a large number of other distinguished guests.
In his brief address, the Ecumenical Patriarch referred to the rapid completion of the first phase of the project and the removal of the two floors added to the original building in 1962 due to an increase in student population at that time. However, to ensure the historic structure’s seismic protection, it was deemed necessary to restore the building to its original form.
“We raise a hymn of thanksgiving to the all-beneficent God who blessed this endeavor and strengthened all who worked to complete it. Alongside God, we acknowledge the noble benefactors of this undertaking. We express the gratitude of the Holy Great Church of Christ and our personal thanks to the Hellenic Bank Association—through its distinguished president, Professor Gikas Hardouvelis—for its generous sponsorship. Beyond its material dimension, the Hellenic Bank Association’s sponsorship has a moral dimension as well, manifesting the sincere concern of its members for our community here.
We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the great benefactor of the Ecumenical Patriarchate: the most honorable archon exarch and president of the brotherhood of the archons of the great church, Mr. Athanasios Martinos; and to the Athanasios and Marina Martinos Foundation for their generous contribution.
These Philhellenic benefactors are worthy successors to the great benefactor Christakis Zographos, after whom the school is named. In 1892–1893, Zographos funded the construction of the school building with 10,000 gold pounds. Their names are now inscribed in golden letters in the annals of our nation’s history.”
The Patriarch expressed his gratitude to the local authorities for issuing the necessary permits and for their ongoing support. He emphasized that: “The Zographeion building is an important cultural monument for all the inhabitants of Pera. Apart from being a place of education, it is a symbol of the presence and history of the Greek Orthodox community and a cultural imprint of our people in their historic cradle. As it has been written, ‘the Romios and his faith were shaped here.'”
He also thanked the Stavrodromion Community, its president Georgios Papaliaris, the representative of the school’s founder Stratos Doltsiniadis, and Zographeion director Ioannis Demirtzoglou for their efforts in ensuring the project’s success. He thanked the Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans and its president, Professor Nikolaos Uzunoglu, for their initiative in examining the structural integrity of the Greek community’s school buildings.
“Today is a day of joy, satisfaction, and pride for all of us. The struggle for the education of our Romiosyne continues under different conditions than in 1893, when the Zographeion’s history began in this building. Yet, our school’s philosophy remains faithful to the basic pedagogical principle that education must always be open to the signs of the times, new circumstances, constant change, and the progress of knowledge and scientific achievement. Our school draws positive impulses from all of these for its difficult mission and necessary adaptations.
In today’s modern cultural, social, and scientific environment, our schools must provide the knowledge and values that will enable the next generation of our community to uphold our traditions, manage our communities and institutions, and face future challenges with confidence and the belief that they are heirs to a significant universal legacy.
The strength and determination to “guard the Thermopylae” stem from three sources. First, our unshakable faith in God nourishes us. Second, our weighty heritage inspires and binds us to the struggle to preserve it. Third, our inner strength springs from Kant’s categorical imperative of duty: “You are not obliged only if you can; you do not owe because you can; but you can because you ought.”
The Ecumenical Patriarch went on to recall that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been concerned with the education of the nation unceasingly throughout the centuries.
“In difficult times, the Great Church quite literally ‘saved’ our spiritual, cultural, and linguistic identity by founding and operating schools and academies, inviting and appointing wise teachers, promoting secular and Christian education, and carrying out educational and transformative work within the life of the Church through divine worship, the ethos of Christian freedom, and its good witness in the world.”
In the years to come, the Ecumenical Patriarchate will continue to express, represent, and symbolize the unique spiritual civilization that flourished here for many centuries.
Our humility has publicly pledged that as long as we live and breathe, by the grace of God, we will continue to strive for the education of our community.
We are personally bound to the Zographeion, which began as the ‘School of the Panagia,’ since we studied there in the first and part of the second year of Gymnasium, ten years before the two additional floors were built and subsequently removed.
Our unforgettable teachers, who wholly identified with their educational mission, remain vividly alive in our hearts. They made us true disciples, and the idea of discipleship remains a positive perspective for our entire life to this day.
The moral integrity of our teachers—their unconditional dedication to their “sacred mission”—strengthened their efforts to promote Greek community education. Each teacher faced the challenges of his time, and our school has preserved its identity intact after enduring many trials. Even today, it continues to perform notable educational work.
We are delighted that the Zographeion continues to operate today, offering its students knowledge, cultural literacy, and the spirit of dialogue and cooperation through participation in various educational and cultural programs with other schools that emphasize our language and literature.
We congratulate the Zographeion’s director, the honorable Archon Ioannis Demirtzoglou, worthy successor of the late Dimitrios Fragkopoulos, whose name is inextricably linked with the modern history of education in our city. We also commend the teachers, students, and pupils for their participation in and contribution to the Zographeion’s many successful initiatives.
Earlier, Professor Gikas A. Hardouvelis, Mr. Ioannis Demirtzoglou, Mr. Georgios Papaliaris, and Mr. Stratos Doltsiniadis also gave addresses. Journalist Emmanouil Kostidis, an alumnus of the school and vice president of the Association for the Support of Greek Community Foundations (SYRKI), moderated the event. At the conclusion of the event, commemorative gifts were presented to the president and members of the board of the Hellenic Bank Association. A short commemorative film was also screened.
Earlier that day, at noon, the Ecumenical Patriarch received the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Bank Association at the Phanar, expressing his gratitude for their contribution to the Zographeion Lyceum renovation works. He then invited the members to a Patriarchal luncheon.
Photo: Nikos Papachristou
Translated by Ioanna Georgakopoulou
