Vatopedi Palimpsests Project
2024–present, Vatopedi Monastery, Mt. Athos, Greece.
The “Vatopedi Palimpsests Project” is a pioneering collaboration between the Holy Vatopedi Monastery, the UCLA Library, and the Early Manuscripts Electronic Library (EMEL); with the participation of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. This ambitious initiative aims to systematically study and digitally recover the hidden texts within all palimpsest manuscripts housed in the library of this historic monastery on Mount Athos. Through the application of advanced multispectral imaging techniques, the project will capture comprehensive data from these valuable manuscripts.
This project marks the first-ever large-scale palimpsest digitization and recovery effort on Mount Athos. Its ultimate goal is to make these newly revealed texts openly accessible to scholars and the public worldwide. The images and associated data will be published online through the UCLA Digital Library, ensuring long-term preservation and widespread availability for research and discovery. This systematic approach to uncovering erased texts from an entire monastic collection represents a significant step forward in palimpsest scholarship and the preservation of ancient knowledge.
