Culture | Imagining Greece

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Imagining Greece: How Tourism Shaped a Nation
Imagining Greece is a digital exhibition that explores the evolution of tourism in Greece from the end of World War II to the closing chapters of the Cold War. The exhibition examines multiple aspects of the phenomenon by showcasing a wealth of textual and visual material curated from a wide range of state and private archival repositories and sources, including the Greek National Tourism Organisation, architectural firms, advertising agencies and both domestic and foreign press and periodicals. It is further enriched by an ongoing oral history project that captures firsthand experiences from specialists and the general public. We hope this exhibition will bring the history of tourism in Greece to life while deepening understanding of its profound impact—both on Greek society itself and on the millions of international visitors whose journeys have helped transform Greece into one of the world's most beloved destinations.

Our Team
We are an interdisciplinary team with expertise spanning history, visual culture, design studies, architectural history, cultural heritage, and digital humanities. Led by Professor Eirini Karamouzi (Principal Investigator) and Dr Mary Ikoniadou (Co-Investigator), our team includes:

Dr Stavros Alifragkis and Dr Emilia Athanasiou (Scientific and Artistic Curators, Lead Researchers), Dr Christos Christidis (Special Advisor), Despina Tsilimagkou (Digital Humanities Director), Dr Marina Emmanouil, Dr Metaxia Papageorgiou and Dr Aphrodite Kamara (Researchers). Our work has been generously supported by the Onassis Foundation, the National Bank of Greece and Research England. We are honoured to have the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and the Greek Ministry of Tourism as our patrons, and we work closely with Greece’s National Historical Museum.

Our Goal
Our goal is to make Imagining Greece a widely accessible digital exhibition that serves as a valuable resource for schools, universities, tourism professionals, and the public in Greece and beyond. We aim to promote a deeper understanding of tourism as a crucial element of Greek culture, economy, politics, and society. The exhibition is organised around four thematic experiences: Picture, Travel, Discover, and Remember. Each theme presents carefully chosen artefacts in an intuitive, easy-to-explore journey. Visitors will explore a rich collection of promotional materials, including advertising, audio-visual culture, periodicals, commercial and government sources, tourist guides, tourism infrastructure and architecture, cultural artefacts from folklore, feasts and festivals, leisure activities, books about Greece, souvenirs, vacation photographs, and postcards. The entire spectrum of Greece as a tourism destination is accessible through the thematic experiences, the interactive map, or the chronological timeline.

The Future of Imagining Greece
Imagining Greece will continue to grow with new artefacts, and we welcome your contributions. If you have relevant materials to share, please contact us at: info@imagininggreece.com

Legal Notice / Disclaimer
Every reasonable effort has been made to trace and contact the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this digital exhibition, ‘Imagining Greece: How Tourism Shaped a Nation, 1945-1989’, and to obtain their permission for the use of copyrighted material. We apologise for any omissions in acknowledging copyright. If you own the copyright for any material used on our website and believe it infringes upon your rights, please contact us directly at info@imagininggreece.com

Acknowledgements
We thank the numerous institutions and private individuals who have contributed their valuable archival materials to this project:

Benaki Museum’s Photographic Archives Department, Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Greek Film Archive, Greek National Tourism Organisation, Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive, Hellenic National AudioVisual Archive - Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, Hellenic Touring Club, Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece – National Historical Museum, Historical Archive of the National Bank of Greece, Constantinos A. Doxiadis Archives, ‘Konstantinos G. Karamanlis’ Foundation, The Library of the Hellenic Parliament, Modern Greek Architecture Archives of the Benaki Museum, National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, Neraida Floating Museum - John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, Olympic Airways Workers Cultural Center, Philatelic Postal Museum, Spyros Vassiliou Archive - Dominum Artifex NPO, The Alpha Bank Art Collection, The Ghika Gallery - Benaki Museum.

Dimitris Antonakakis – Atelier 66, Archimidis & Eleni Athanassiou, Tasos Biris – Tassos Biris Architectural Firm, Vassilis Bogakos, Vassilis Giannakis, Panos Haratzopoulos, Erifyli Hontolidou, Maro Kardamitsi-Adami, Yannis Karlopoulos, Kostas Katsigiannis, Konstantinos Lyssaridis – ETETH SA, Eirini Philippides, Marina Philippides – AMK Architecture + Design, Jenny Perivolari, Christos Rallis & Georgia Sovatzoglou, Vassia Stylianidi – WOBI Architects, Vaggelis Stylianidis - Stylianidis Vaggelis Architects, Nicos Valsamakis – N. Valsamakis Architectural Firm, Ioannis Vikelas – Vikelas Architects.

Discover / Culture

Festivals Heritage Folklore Local Feasts

Displaying 115/115 artefacts

Delphi Greece 1958 artifact

Delphi Greece 1958

Ancient Greece 1962 artifact

Ancient Greece 1962

Onesiphorus Mosaic detail, Rotunda Thessaloniki artifact

Onesiphorus Mosaic detail, Rotunda Thessaloni...

Hydra Hellas 1959 artifact

Hydra Hellas 1959

Dodona Festival 1964 artifact

Dodona Festival 1964

Festival Program

Delphi Greece 1961 artifact

Delphi Greece 1961

Olympia 1955 artifact

Olympie Grèce artifact

Thessaloniki Greece 1958 artifact

Thessaloniki Greece 1958

Kastoria Hellas artifact

Kastoria Hellas

Olympia Greece 1959 artifact

Olympia Greece 1959

Sparti Mystras 1959 artifact

Sparti Mystras 1959

Horse from the Hekatompedon artifact

Horse from the Hekatompedon

The Calf-bearer artifact

The Calf-bearer

The Lenormant Relief artifact

The Lenormant Relief

The Head of Apollon at Olympia artifact

The Head of Apollon at Olympia

Dodona Festival 1965 artifact

Dodona Festival 1965

Festival Program

Dodona Festival 1966 artifact

Dodona Festival 1966

Festival Program

Dodona Festival 1972 artifact

Dodona Festival 1972

Festival Program

Dodona Festival 1973 artifact

Dodona Festival 1973

Festival Program

Dodona Festival 1977 artifact

Dodona Festival 1977

Festival Program

Epidaurus Festival 1956 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1956

Epidaurus Festival 1957 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1957

Epidaurus Festival 1961 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1961

Epidaurus Festival 1966 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1966

Epidaurus Festival 1967 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1967

Epidaurus Festival 1969 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1969

Athens Festival 1974 artifact

Athens Festival 1974

Epidaurus Festival 1973 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1973

Athens Festival 1956 artifact

Athens Festival 1956

Athens Festival 1957 artifact

Athens Festival 1957

Grèce 1929 artifact

Parthenon of Athens Greece artifact

Parthenon of Athens Greece

Acropolis of Mycenae The Lions Gate artifact

Acropolis of Mycenae The Lions Gate

Epirus 1990 artifact

Travelling to Olympia in the 1980s artifact

Travelling to Olympia in the 1980s

Greek Popular Art artifact

Greek Popular Art

Thessaloniki & East Macedonia 1964 artifact

Thessaloniki & East Macedonia 1964

Athens Festival 1959 artifact

Athens Festival 1959

Athens Festival 1961 artifact

Athens Festival 1961

Athens Festival 1963 artifact

Athens Festival 1963

Athens Festival 1964 artifact

Athens Festival 1964

Athens Festival 1967 artifact

Athens Festival 1967

Athens Festival 1971 artifact

Athens Festival 1971

Athens Festival 1973 artifact

Athens Festival 1973

Callas in Cherubini's Medea artifact

Callas in Cherubini's Medea

Callas as Norma at Epidaurus artifact

Callas as Norma at Epidaurus

Athens Festival 1955 artifact

Athens Festival 1955

Festival Program

Temple of Athena Nike artifact

Temple of Athena Nike

Panagia Platsani Church in the Isle of Santorini artifact

Panagia Platsani Church in the Isle of Santor...

Syros Tinos Andros 1960 artifact

Syros Tinos Andros 1960

Syros Tinos Andros 1961 -1963 artifact

Syros Tinos Andros 1961 -1963

Mykonos Delos 1962 artifact

Mykonos Delos 1962

Mykonos Delos 1959 artifact

Mykonos Delos 1959

Mykonos and Paros 1958 artifact

Mykonos and Paros 1958

Hydra 1960 artifact

Hydra 1962 artifact

Hydra 1964 artifact

Argosaronikos Gulf 1960 artifact

Argosaronikos Gulf 1960

Argosaronikos Gulf 1964 artifact

Argosaronikos Gulf 1964

Paros Santorini 1959 artifact

Paros Santorini 1959

Paros Santorini 1960 artifact

Paros Santorini 1960

Chios 1967 artifact

Athens Festival 1958 artifact

Athens Festival 1958

Rhodos Greece 1957 artifact

Rhodos Greece 1957

Rhodes 1958 artifact

Rhodes 1959 artifact

Corfu 1957 artifact

Thessaloniki 1956-57 artifact

Thessaloniki 1956-57

Argolis 1959 artifact

Delphi 1956 artifact

Pylos Grèce 1959 artifact

Pylos Grèce 1959

Pylos Griechenland 1961 artifact

Pylos Griechenland 1961

Korfu Hellas 1958 artifact

Korfu Hellas 1958

Korfu Griechenland1959 artifact

Korfu Griechenland1959

Corfu Greece 1961 artifact

Corfu Greece 1961

Corfu Greece 1963 artifact

Corfu Greece 1963

Cephalonia Ithaca Zakynthos 1960 artifact

Cephalonia Ithaca Zakynthos 1960

Kefalinia Ithaki Zakynthos 1961 artifact

Kefalinia Ithaki Zakynthos 1961

Kephalinia, Zakynthos, Ithaki 1963 artifact

Kephalinia, Zakynthos, Ithaki 1963

Kythera 1967 artifact

Samos 1967 artifact

Thessaloniki 1959 artifact

Thessaloniki 1959

Thessaloniki 1960 artifact

Thessaloniki 1960

Thessaloniki 1961 artifact

Thessaloniki 1961

Olympia 1963-65 artifact

Olympia 1963-65

Olympia 1967 artifact

Olympia 1961 artifact

Rhodos Grèce 1963 artifact

Rhodos Grèce 1963

Rhodos 1964 artifact

Pylos Messinia Grèce 1965 artifact

Pylos Messinia Grèce 1965

Delphi, The Treasury of the Athenians artifact

Delphi, The Treasury of the Athenians

Athens Festival 1960 artifact

Athens Festival 1960

Epidaurus Festival 1963 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1963

Sound and Light 1959 artifact

Sound and Light 1959

Sound and Light 1968 artifact

Sound and Light 1968

Sound and Light 1969 artifact

Sound and Light 1969

Sound and Light 1970 artifact

Sound and Light 1970

Sound and Light 1975 artifact

Sound and Light 1975

Wine Festival 1977 artifact

Wine Festival 1977

Wine Festival 1957 artifact

Wine Festival 1957

Wine Festival 1967 artifact

Wine Festival 1967

Empress Sissy's Peristyle in the Achillion gardens artifact

Empress Sissy's Peristyle in the Achillion ga...

House interior in Skyros artifact

House interior in Skyros

Delphi 1967 artifact

Heniochos of Delphi artifact

Heniochos of Delphi

The White Tower in Thessaloniki artifact

The White Tower in Thessaloniki

Minoan Snake Goddess artifact

Minoan Snake Goddess

Kallas in Herodeion artifact

Kallas in Herodeion

Wine Festival 1973-76 artifact

Wine Festival 1973-76

Greek Festivals 1981 artifact

Greek Festivals 1981

Greek Festivals 1971 artifact

Greek Festivals 1971

Greek Festivals 1973 artifact

Greek Festivals 1973

Greek Festivals 1976 artifact

Greek Festivals 1976

2500 Years of Greek Music artifact

2500 Years of Greek Music

Acropolis of Athens

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Aegean Sea

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Ancient Drama

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Ancient Greece

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Archaeological Sites

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Argo-Saronic Islands

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Argolis

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Athens

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Athens Festival

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Attica

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Cities, Towns & Settlements

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Corfu

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Crete

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Cyclades

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Delphi

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Dodona Festival

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Epidaurus Festival

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Epirus

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Folk Art

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Folk Dances

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Freddie Carabott

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GNTO Posters

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Giorgos Vakirtzis

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Hellenic Touring Club

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Hydra

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Ionian Islands

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Kastoria

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Katerina Vittou

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Michalis Katzourakis

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Monuments

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Museums

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Mycenae

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Mykonos

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National Archaeological Museum

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Nicos Kostopoulos

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Olympia

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Paros

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Peloponnese

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Pylos

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Rhodes

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Santorini

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Sound & Light

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Thessaloniki

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Wine Festival

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All

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