Curriculum Vitae
Nikolas Bakirtzis
The Cyprus Institute
STARC
20 Konstantinou Kavafi St.
2121 Aglantzia, Nicosia
Cyprus
Business Email:
[email protected]
Business Phone: +357 22 208645
Academic and Professional details:
Education:
Ph.D., in Art History and Archaeology. Princeton University, Department of Art and
Archaeology, January 2006. (Thesis Title: Hagios Ioannis Prodromos Monastery on Mount
Menoikeion: Byzantine Monastic Life, Sacred Topography and Architecture).
M.A. in Byzantine and Western Medieval Art and Architecture, Princeton University,
Department of Art and Archaeology, May 2000.
M.A. in Social Anthropology and Folklore. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department
of History and Archaeology, June 1999.
B.A. in Archaeology. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of History and
Archaeology, June 1994.
Professional Experience:
Series Editor, The Monuments of Cyprus’ Architectural Heritage, Cultural Foundation of the
Bank of Cyprus, 2010Manuscript Reviewer for Hesperia, The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies
at Athens, 2010Book Reviewer, The Medieval Review, 2011Curatorial experience:
Curator of Exhibition: Science and Archaeology: The Antikythera Mechanism, Co-organized
by the Cyprus Institute and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, “District Officer’s
Residence” building, Paphos, 1 July – 15 August 2011.
Co-Curator, Exhibition: “Hellenic Journeys; Scholars, Writers and Collections at Princeton,”
Firestone Lirary, Princeton University, May 15th – July1 15th 2005.
Research and Curator Assistant, Exhibition: “Byzantine Fortifications in Northern Greece,”
Greek Ministry of Culture, Heptapyrgion, Thessaloniki, Greece, October- December
2001.
Conferences and scholarly meetings organized:
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Organizer of Symposium, “The Antikythera Mechanism and its Interdisciplinary Study”, The
Cyprus Institute, Paphos District Officer’s Residence building, 1 July 2011.
Contribution to the organization and session chair of the colloquium: Fortified Cities: Past,
Present and Future, Association of Cypriot Archaeologists, Nicosia, 8 May 2010.
Organizer of Symposium, “Aspects of Ancient, Byzantine and Ottoman Kavala,”
Princeton University Program in Hellenic Studies and Institute Mohamed Ali,
Imaret, Kavala, 28 June 2006.
Research Experience:
Associate Research Scientist and Marie Curie Fellow in Medieval Architecture and
Archaeology. The Cyprus Institute, Science and Technology in Archaeology Research
Center, Nicosia, June 2009-Present
Research Associate, Center for World Heritage Studies, College of Design, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, August 2008 - Present
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia
University, New York, September 2006 – June 2008
Senior Research Fellow, Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Koc University, Istanbul,
Turkey, September 15, 2005 – May 30, 2006
Principal Investigator, (Franco Niccolucci, Scientific Coordinator), “Tracing Identity in the
Medieval Mediterranean: A Digital Survey of Late Medieval monuments in the Eastern
Mediterranean”, Marie Curie FP7 project, The Cyprus Institute, 2009[Interdisciplinary study and survey of the late medieval architectural heritage of Cyprus,
Rhodes, Crete and Chios, creation of a comprehensive digital repository of the selected
late medieval monuments]
Co-Coordinator, (Director, Dr. Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou, Dept. of Antiquities),
“Management Plans for the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Cyprus,” Collaborative
project with the Dept. of Antiquities and the support of UNESCO, 2010[Study and preparation of plans for the preservation and future research of archaeological
areas, monuments and the environment surrounding the celebrated sites of Choirokitia,
the Painted Churches of the Troodos and Paphos]
Co-Investigator, (with Dr. Michel Menu, C2RMF and STARC), “A Byzantine Artist Unveiled:
Paintings of Theodore Apseudis in Cyprus,” STARC in collaboration with C2RMF and
in the context of the Research Promotion Foundation POLYCHROMY project, 2011[This project proposes the interdisciplinary study of icons and paintings of Theodore
Apseudis who is considered the most important Middle Byzantine artist in Cyprus. The
proposed study has two distinct, yet complimentary parts: the historical study and the
scientific analysis of the art works].
Supporting Investigator, (Louise Kellogg, Principal Investigator and Coordinator), “CITEAM,”
University of California, Davis, NSF supported project, 2011-2014.
[This project focuses on the preparation of a cyber-enabled workforce, through
interdisciplinary activities spanning fundamentally cyber-enabled disciplines to fields that
are rapidly engaging new CI methods and to disciplines that are on the cusp of becoming
cyber-enabled, such as the humanities.)
Primary Investigator and Coordinator, “Mt. Menoikeion Seminar”: Princeton University,
Serres, Greece, 2005- present.
[The project studies the cultural landscape of the region of Mt. Menoikeion in Northern
Greece. Its primary aim is to introduce and engage participants in field research at a
living monument working closely with faculty members and specialists].
Significant fieldwork experience (selected):
Archaeological Investigator, Restoration of the St. Nikolaos Chapel in the Katholikon of
Prodromos Monastery funded by the Leventis Foundation, Serres, Greece, AugustSeptember 2003
Archaeological Investigator, Restoration of Medieval Tower of Prodromos Monastery funded
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by the Leventis Foundation, Serres, Greece, June-September 2001
Assistant Investigator, Dendrochronological Survey of the Fortress of the Heptapyrgion, Prof.
Cecil L. Striker-University of Pennsylvania, Thessaloniki, Greece, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998,
1999.
Teaching Experience:
Instructor, The Graduate School, The Cyprus Institute, Fall 2011Cass Gilbert Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, College of Design,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, August 2008 - May 2009
Lecturer, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, New York,
September 2006 – June 2008
Director and Instructor, “Mt. Menoikeion Seminar,” Program in Hellenic Studies, Princeton
University, June 2005 Adjunct Faculty, College of Design, University of Minnesota, 2008Courses and Seminars taught:
“Seminar in Research Methods and Thesis Writing,” The Graduate School, The Cyprus
Institute, Fall 2011 (co-taught with Nick Polydorides, PhD.)
“Crusader Architecture and Cultural Identity in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Graduate
seminar, School of Architecture, College of Design, University of Minnesota, Spring
2009.
“Between the Cross and the Crescent: Architecture, Religion and Society in the Medieval
Mediterranean”: Graduate and undergraduate lecture course, College of Design,
University of Minnesota, Fall 2008.
“Cyprus-Greece Field Study”: May-Term study course, School of Architecture, University of
Minnesota, May-Term 2008/ 2009/ 2010, 2011 (co-taught with Rachel Iannacone, PhD).
“The Byzantine Monastery: Ascetic Ideals Communal Realities”: Undergraduate seminar,
Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, Spring 2007
“Art, Architecture, and Urban Identity: Constantinople and Thessaloniki”: Graduate seminar,
Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, Fall 2007 (co-taught
with Prof. Holger Klein).
“Art Humanities; Masterpieces of Western Art”: Lecture course, Department of Art History
and Archaeology, Columbia University, Fall 2006/ Spring 2007/ Fall 2007.
“The Mt. Menoikeion Seminar”, Program in Hellenic Studies, Princeton University, Summer
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.
Hounours and Achievements:
Marie Curie (IRG) Grant, European Commission, 2009-2013.
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia
University, New York, 2006 - 2008
Licentiate in Mediaeval Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship, Pontifical Institute in Mediaeval
Studies, Toronto, 2006 - 2007 (declined by recipient)
Research Fellowship, Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Koc University, Istanbul,
September 15, 2005 – May 30, 2006
Whiting Fellowship in the Humanities, Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation, 2003 - 2004
Dumbarton Oaks Junior Fellowship in Byzantine Studies, Dumbarton Oaks, 2002 - 2003
Stanley J.Seeger Fellowship, Program in Hellenic Studies, Princeton University, 1999, 2003
Dissertation Research Award, Council in Regional Studies, Princeton University, 1999, 2002
Research Grant, Program in the Ancient World, Princeton University, 1999.
J.F.Costopoulos Prize, Program in Hellenic Studies, Princeton University, 1998 - 2001
Honors in Social Anthropology and Folklore, Department of History and Archaeology,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1999.
Honors in Archaeology, Department of History and Archaeology, Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, 1994
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Publications:
Invited lectures and presentations in conferences, workshops, lecture series:
“Bridging Mountain and City: Rural Monasteries in the Southern Balkans,” Invited speaker at
round table panel: Monasteries and Monasticism in the Balkans (Coordinators, Svetlana
Popovic/ Elka Bakalova), 22nd International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Sofia, 23
August 2011.
“Strategic Solitude: Locating Byzantine Monasteries”, Invited Plenary Session Lecture, 44th
Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Newcastle and Durham Universities, Newcastle,
9 April 2011.
“Thessaloniki and its Walls: Aspects of a Lasting Relationship,” Colloquium: Fortified Cities:
Past, Present and Future, Association of Cypriot Archaeologists, 8 May 2010.
“Visual Memories and Cultural Encounters in Cyprus: Art from the Rita and Costas Severis
Foundation Collections, Keynote speaker, Signing Agreement of Collaboration between
the C. & R. Severis Foundation and the Cyprus Institute, 16 March 2010.
“Fortification Facades in Byzantium: Visual Communication and Symbolisms,” 2009-1010
Archaeological Research Unit Lecture Series, University of Cyprus, 8 March 2010.
“Studying a Living Monument: Reflections from the Mt. Menoikeion Seminar at the Timios
Prodromos Monastery in Serres,” (with Kostis kourelis and Matthew Milliner), Invited
speaker at the conference Monasteries: Economy and Policy from the Middle Ages to the 20th
century, University of Crete, Department of History and Archaeology, 18 December 2009.
“Teaching Cultural Heritage Abroad: The Greece-Cyprus Field Study,” 'Locating Heritage'
initiative, University of Minnesota Institute for Advanced Studies, Minneapolis, 18
November 2009.
“Kallos and Hierotopia of the Byzantine City,” Invited speaker at the international
conference: Byzantine Cities (8th-15th centuries), University of Crete, Department of History
and Archaeology, 20 October 2009.
“The Topography of Byzantine Monasteries and the “Conquest” of the Natural
Environment,” Workshop in Byzantine Studies, Department of History and
Archaeology, University of Cyprus, 23 September 2009.
“Image, Word and Civic Identity on the Walls of Early Christian and Byzantine Thessalonike,”
Respondent: Leon Satkowski, School of Architecture, University of Minnesota,
Roundtable Table Series: Center for World Heritage Studies, College of Design,
University of Minnesota, 8 April 2009.
“Tracing Identity in the Eastern Mediterranean: Architecture and Society in Crusader Cyprus,
Crete, Rhodes and Chios,” Respondent: Professor Theophanis Stavrou, Department of
History, University of Minnesota, Roundtable Table Series: Center for World Heritage
Studies, College of Design, University of Minnesota, 13 November 2008.
“Worldly Message, Holy Meaning; The Fabric of Fortification Facades in Byzantium,” Center
for the Ancient Mediterranean, Columbia University, New York, February 8 2008.
“Cultivating the Mountain; Hermetic Ritual and Monastic Architecture in Byzantium,”
Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, New York, January
29 2008.
“The Menoikeion Research Project: Exploring the Living Tradition of a Holy Mountain,”
Columbia Center for Archaeology Lecture Series, Columbia University, New York, 19
January 2007.
“Taming the Wilderness in Byzantium: Ascetic Practice, Architecture and the Natural
Environment,” University of Minnesota, Modern Greece Studies and Institute of Global
Studies Lecture Series, Minneapolis, 4 May 2007.
“The Shrinking Hinterland of Late Byzantine Thessaloniki,” Queens College, 1st
“Kallinikeion” Conference of New York Byzantinists, New York, 21 April 2007.
“The Monastery of Hagios Ioannis Prodromos on Mount Menoikeion: Landscape and
Monastic Life,” Invited Lecture at the Patriarchal Library of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
of Constantinople, Istanbul, 1 June 2007.
“Annexes to Monastic Churches in Byzantium: The Library as an Annex,” Center for the
Study of Medieval Architecture in the Balkans and its Protection, Museum of Byzantine
Culture, Thessaloniki, 16 June 2006.
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“The Zoodochos Pege in Balikli: A Healing Spring beneath the Walls of Constantinople,”
Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Istanbul, 4 May 2006.
“Topography, Architecture and Community on Mount Menoikeion: The Persistence of
Monastic Memory and its Realities”, Program in Hellenic Studies, Princeton University,
28 April 2005.
“Establishing a Sacred Landscape in Byzantium; the case of Mt. Menoikeion”, International
Conference on “Hierotopy; Studies in the Making of Sacred Space”, Research Center for
the Study of Eastern Culture, Moscow, 30 June 2004.
“The Monastery of Prodromos near Serres”, 2002-2003 Dumbarton Oaks Research Reports,
Dumbarton Oaks, 26 November 2002.
“Aspects of Domed Towers in Byzantine Monastic Architecture”, Colloquium: The Return of
“The Dome”, Ideas on the Study of History, Princeton University, 11 May 2002.
“The Restoration and Archaeology of a Byzantine Tower in the Monastery of Prodromos near
Serres,” Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World Graduate Group Archaeology
Lunch Talks, University of Pennsylvania, 30 November 2001.
Conference presentations (peer-review selection process):
“The Architectural Landscape of Mastic Production and Trade in Chios”, 64th Annual Meeting
of the Society of Architectural Historians, New Orleans, Louisiana, 16 April 2011.
“Cave-Cells and Ascetic Practice in Byzantine and Crusader Paphos“2010 Annual Byzantine
Studies Conference, Philadelphia, 10 October 2010.
“3D Documentation in Architectural history: The Sixteenth Century Church of the Stavros
tou Missirikou in Nicosia, Cyprus” (with M. Solomidou-Ieronymidou, A. D’Andrea, and
G. Iannone), 38th Annual Conference in Computer Applications and Quantitative
Methods in Archaeology, Granada, Spain, 8 April 2010.
“The Sacred Grip: Art and Architecture in Mount Menoikeion (19th-20th Centuries)” (with
Kostis Kourelis and Matthew Milliner), Annual Modern Greek Studies Association
Conference, Vancouver, 17 October 2009.
“Monasticism and the Natural World,” Invited speaker at the round table panel: Monasticism
(Coordinator, Nancy Sevsenco), 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies,
London, 24 August 2006.
“Fortifications and the Sanctified Boundaries of Secular Space,” Invited speaker at the round
table panel: Secular Space (Coordinator, Kim Bowes), 21st International Congress of
Byzantine Studies, London, 23 August 2006.
“The Architecture of the Library of the Monastery of Hagios Ioannis Prodromos at Serres,”
Second International Conference: The History of Serres and its Area from Ottoman
Period to the Present, Serres, 8 April 2006.
“Reflections of Kavala’s castle”, Second International Conference of Balkan Historical Studies,
Historical and Literary Archives of Kavala, Kavala, 15 September 2005.
“The Buttressed Tower of Hagios Vasileios near Thessaloniki”, 30th Byzantine Studies
Conference, The Walters Art Museum and Johns Hopkins University, 30 October 2004.
“Aesthetics of Byzantine Fortifications: The Case of Thessaloniki”, 28th Annual Byzantine
Studies Conference, Ohio State University, 6 October 2002.
“The Environs of St. John Prodromos”, 27th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference, Notre
Dame University, 11 November 2001.
Class / Seminar Lectures and presentations:
“Military Architecture in Byzantium: Organization and Development,” War and Defense in
Byzantium, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus, 15 April 2010.
“Medieval Rhodes,” On-site visits and lectures introduction, ART 485/ HLS 485: Rhodes and
Malta: Art, Faith, Warfare, Class trip to Rhodes, Department of Art and Archaeology/
Program in Hellenic Studies, Princeton University, 1-7 November 2009
“Art, Architecture and Society in Byzantine and Medieval Cyprus,” Instructor of two-day
seminar for the course Cyprus Heritage: An Introduction in the light of Science and Technology,
University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign and The Cyprus Institute Summer School, 2029 May 2009
“The Icon and the Dome in Byzantium,” History of Byzantium, Department of History, New
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York University, 9 April 2008.
“The Founding Traditions and Organization of Byzantine Monasteries,” ARTH 543: The
Construction of Constantinople, Department of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania,
28 February 2008.
“Classical Tradition and Modern Reality: The Urban Development of the City of Athens from
Antiquity to the Present,” Public Space: Power, Politics and Propaganda, Department of
Architecture, University of Minnesota, 9 May 2007
“Topography, Architecture and Community on Mt. Menoikeion,” ART 402: Problems in
Byzantine Art and Architecture, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University,
6 December 2006.
“Monastic Life in Byzantine Macedonia”, ART 404: Byzantine Monasteries, Department of Art
and Archaeology, Princeton University, 15 October 2003.
“The Meaning and Function of Icons in Byzantine Society, ART 101: Introduction to the History
of Art, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, October 1, 2003.
“Ancient and Medieval Cyprus (7000BC- 1489AD)”, EEB/HLS 398: Humans & the
Environment: Ecology, History & Conservation of the Mediterranean Region,
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 12 March 2002.
“Icons in Byzantium”, ART 101: Introduction to the History
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