"Icon being Restored" Top 5 Page for this destination Spetses Island Local Custom Tip by janetanne

If you are lucky to be in the church when the old icons are being restored, you will be treated to a very special and rare occasion. While visiting Spetses in November, 2009, I was so blessed to watch a local icon restorer working on precious icons from the 1700's. What a delicate and difficult job this is. First they clean the surface of the icon with a special solution, then they inject with syringes, a chemical that kills any insects that have inhabited the wood and silently destroy from within the structure of the wood. Finally, they carefully fill in any crack while retaining the original integrity of the artists work. Such fascinating work and such marvelous renewed surfaces reclaimed.

In the photos, you will see a local restorer, Andreas working alone in the church of Agios Antony in Dapia, Spetses.