Visit of the Polish Ambassador to the monastery in Ghazir
25.02.2021
On February 24th 2021, Ambassador Przemysław Niesiołowski, together with the accompanying representatives of the Polish Embassy in Beirut, paid a visit to the monastery complex of St. Anthony in Ghazir. It is a place of particular importance for the Polish Community in Lebanon as well as for our cultural heritage.
In 1837, during a trip around the Middle East, Polish outstanding creator of the Romantic period - Juliusz Słowacki spent 45 days in the Armenian monastery of St. Antony. To this day, this monastery has a symbolic exhibition and a built-in plaque in Polish, French and Arabic, commemorating his stay. The experiences related to Słowacki's visit to the Holy Land and Lebanon resulted in the creation of one of his most outstanding poems – Anhelli (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhelli).
This work, apart from its timeless literary message, was also an inspiration for many painters who were inspired by the legacy of Słowacki, such as Jacek Malczewski, Witold Pruszkowski or Wlastimil Hofman. https://niezlasztuka.net/o-sztuce/malczewski-pruszkowski-i-hofman-anhelli-juliusz-slowacki/
The meeting with the prior of the order father Naamatallah Hashem was devoted to a preliminary discussion on the possibility of organizing the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the opening of the exhibition and the 185th anniversary of Słowacki's stay in Lebanon.
