news
2021.10.23
Results of the contest: Hagia Sophia. The churches of the Wisdom of God in history and in the world
The Secretariat of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (I.A.O.) is pleased to announce the conclusion of the evaluation of the participants for the 3rd International Photo Contest organized in collaboration with the website OrthPhoto.net with topic: “Hagia Sophia. The churches of the Wisdom of God in history and in the world”. This year's Contest was announced in January 2021 for two categories of Churches dedicated to the Wisdom of God: a) Ancient Churches, erected until 1907 and b) Modern Churches, erected from 1907 until today.
In the International Photo Contest 140 contestants from 21 countries participated, to whom the I.A.O. feels the need to express its gratitude for their participation. They submitted their photographic material for evaluation and classification to a competent International Evaluation Committee. The International Evaluation Committee consisted of an eleven-member team of experts from different countries of the world and the evaluation process was completed through three consecutive / successive phases. The results of the Contest will be posted to the I.A.O. website (www.eiao.org) and all eight winners will be awarded with the corresponding cash prizes.
The organization of the International Photo Contest is one of the three initiatives undertaken by the I.A.O. in the context of the promotion of the Churches dedicated to the Wisdom of God, on the occasion of the arbitrary decision of the Turkish Leadership to unilaterally turn the Hagia Sophia Church of Constantinople and the Monastery of Chora into mosques, which offends Christianity as a whole, endangers the World Cultural Heritage and ignores the recommendations of the competent International Organization, namely UNESCO. The rest initiatives concern the publication of a special Volume with the same topic, as well as the formation of a relevant cultural route and the submission in the future of a request for its proclamation by the Council of Europe.
LIST OF WINNERS:
Category: Ancient Churches
Grand Prize: Larry Angier, USA, Church in North Macedonia, Ohrid
1st place: Venelin Todorov Bulgaria, Church in Bulgaria, Nesebar
2nd place: Tomasz Mościcki, Church in Cyprus, Nicosia
3rd place: Myra K. Koskeridou, Church in Greece, Drama
Honorary mention: Osman Cem Gencturk, Turkey, Church in Turkey, Istanbul
Category: Modern Churches
Grand Prize: Kamil Cywoniuk, Poland, Church in Poland, Bialystok
1st place: Алексей Козлов, Russia, Church in Russia, Samara
2nd place: Maria Wysocka, Poland, Church in Poland, Warsaw
3rd place: Kipouros Konstantinos, Greece, Church Greece, Xanthi
Honorary mention: Stefanos Zarifis, Greece, Church in Greece, Komotini
More about results on the contest page: http://hagiasophia.orthphoto.net/results.php
By the I.A.O. Secretariat