![\"Dimitris](\"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/icon1.jpg\")
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by Anne-Britt Hoeibye<\/em><\/p>\n In a tiny shop on a narrow, dingy street near Monastraki square in Athens, a man sits at a work table strewn with paint pots, pencils and brushes and painstakingly puts the finishing touches on a gilded painting of the Virgin. The icon painter, Dimitris Zazanis, works alone in his modest shop surrounded by hundreds of carefully crafted icons. Unlike other icon shops in the busy Plaka where touristic boutique-style stores with air conditioning and pretty sales clerks attract customers, Zazani\u2019s works alone in his workshop in this backwater street. You\u2019ll find him there almost every day until mid-afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cMy icons are precious, spiritual works of art,\u201d he says, proudly showing me one of his newest creations, a gilded triptych of the Saints.<\/p>\n His icons cover all the most popular events of the Greek Orthodox calendar as well as presentations of all the mysteries of the Rosary. This makes Zazanis\u2019 icons a fine choice for both Orthodox and Catholic name-day gifts. Each time my friends and I are in Athens we visit his shop, and as well as buying icons as gifts for our friends, his icons now grace the walls of our apartments in Norway and Canada.<\/p>\n![\"Greek](\"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/icon2.jpg\")
<\/a>Dimitris Zazanis is a dignified, genteel man who speaks fluent English as well as several other languages. Put in other circumstances he might have had a university career in linguistics. He tells me that he used to have a more favourable location in Plaka some years ago, but due to hot real estate which raised his rent and health issues that put him on the sidelines for some time, he was forced to move his workshop to this other location which, unadvertised, is not a likely place for tourists to come upon. His customers are drawn to his shop mainly by word of mouth. The icons he paints are of high quality and beauty and his prices are probably the lowest in Athens for these beautiful hand-crafted works of art. He has some ready-made icons as well, but always adds his own creative touch to them.<\/p>\n<\/a>To the visitor, Zazanis\u2019 shop is not only a place to sell and display his icons, but it\u2019s also a place for social calls. He runs his business in the old fashioned way. He\u2019s an outgoing man with a friendly personality. Zazanis loves to talk to his customers and will happily take time from his work to chat and explain the exquisite details of his paintings.<\/p>\n