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Experience

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About us

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.

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Picture
Travel
Discover
Remember
Displaying 41 artefacts
Peloponnese
Olympia 1955 artifact

Olympia 1955

Brochure
Olympie Grèce artifact

Olympie Grèce

Brochure
Olympia Greece 1959 artifact

Olympia Greece 1959

Brochure
Argolis 1957 artifact

Argolis 1957

Brochure
Greece Patras and Western Peloponnese artifact

Greece Patras and Western Peloponnese

Brochure
The Village Hotel: Gkoura, Corinthia artifact

The Village Hotel: Gkoura, Corinthia

Brochure
Acropolis of Mycenae The Lions Gate artifact

Acropolis of Mycenae The Lions Gate

Poster
Travelling to Olympia in the 1980s artifact

Travelling to Olympia in the 1980s

Brochure
Sparti, Mistras and Monemvasia artifact

Sparti, Mistras and Monemvasia

Brochure
Peloponnese by train artifact

Peloponnese by train

Poster
Pylos Grèce 1959 artifact

Pylos Grèce 1959

Brochure
Pylos Griechenland 1961 artifact

Pylos Griechenland 1961

Brochure
Olympia 1963-65 artifact

Olympia 1963-65

Brochure
Olympia 1967 artifact

Olympia 1967

Brochure
Olympia 1961 artifact

Olympia 1961

Brochure
Patras 1960 artifact

Patras 1960

Brochure
Patras 1962 artifact

Patras 1962

Brochure
Patras 1963 artifact

Patras 1963

Brochure
Rhodos 1964 artifact

Rhodos 1964

Brochure
Pylos Messinia Grèce 1965 artifact

Pylos Messinia Grèce 1965

Brochure
Akronafplia Xenia Hotel in 1961 artifact

Akronafplia Xenia Hotel in 1961

Photograph
Postcard
Vytina Xenia Motel artifact

Vytina Xenia Motel

Photograph
Kalamata Xenia Motel artifact

Kalamata Xenia Motel

Photograph
Poseidon Resort Hotel Loutraki artifact

Poseidon Resort Hotel Loutraki

Postcard
Dusk at the Port of Patras artifact

Dusk at the Port of Patras

Postcard
Diakofto Kalvryta Rack Railway artifact

Diakofto Kalvryta Rack Railway

Postcard
George I Square, Patras artifact

George I Square, Patras

Postcard
Akronafplia Xenia Brochure of 1965 artifact

Akronafplia Xenia Brochure of 1965

Brochure
Sparti Mystras Monemvassia 1967 artifact

Sparti Mystras Monemvassia 1967

Brochure
Sparti Mystras 1962 artifact

Sparti Mystras 1962

Brochure
Argolis 1960 artifact

Argolis 1960

Brochure
Argolis 1963 artifact

Argolis 1963

Brochure
Argolis 1967 artifact

Argolis 1967

Brochure
Pylos Grèce 1963 artifact

Pylos Grèce 1963

Brochure
Argolis 1972 artifact

Argolis 1972

Brochure
Corinthia Argolis 1986 artifact

Corinthia Argolis 1986

Brochure
Gortynia Peloponnese 1957 Guide artifact

Gortynia Peloponnese 1957 Guide

Book
Olympia in Japanese artifact

Olympia in Japanese

Brochure
Map of Peloponnese 1962 artifact

Map of Peloponnese 1962

Brochure
Tourist guidebook of the Peloponnese artifact

Tourist guidebook of the Peloponnese

Guidebook
Akhaia and Ilia (guidebook) artifact

Akhaia and Ilia (guidebook)

Guidebook