Gethsemane restoration project on show in Rovereto

While the final stages of the Church of All Nations project, launched more than a year ago and coordinated by ATS pro Terra Sancta and the Mosaic Centre Jericho, are taking place in Jerusalem, a photographic exhibition entitled “Gethsemane, preserving the past and shaping the future” has just been inaugurated in Rovereto (Italy). The exhibition tells this important project’s full story, co-financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affaires, by the Italian Consulate in Jerusalem, by the Palestinian Ministry of the Local Government and by the Palestinian Municiaplities Support Program – PMSP.

The exhibition is held at The Bell of the Fallen Foundation in Rovereto, which has supported the conservation and formative work from the start, together with the local authorities in Rovereto and the Savings Bank Foundation of Trento and Rovereto. The Foundation’s Director, Professor Alberto Robol; the Mayor of Rovereto, Dr Andrea Miorandi; the Bursar of the Custody of the Holy Land, Father Ibrahim Faltas; the professor of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Father Pietro Kaswalder; associates of ATS pro Terra Sancta the coordinators of the project, Dr Carla Benelli and architect Osama Hamdan; and the spokesman for the Local Government in the PMSP Program, Paolo Ricci attended the event.

Through a series of display panels in the exhibition, visitors are able to delve into the history of this splendid church – one of the most visited in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, owing to its evangelical importance and artistic beauty. But above all, visitors are able to retrace the various stages of the restoration of the mosaics, flooring, facades and roof, at the same time as the training course involving six local young people who, over the year, have learnt the precious art of mosaic restoration.

The exhibition was opened on 30 September at The Bell of the Fallen Foundation (Miravalle hill, Rovereto) and will remain open until 31 October 2013. We invite everyone to visit!