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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. Please note that all images and materials remain the property of their respective copyright holders, and may not be reproduced, distributed, or otherwise used without their prior permission.

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 95 artefacts
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Onesiphorus Mosaic detail, Rotunda Thessaloniki artifact

Onesiphorus Mosaic detail, Rotunda Thessaloni...

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12 Motor Coach Tours artifact

12 Motor Coach Tours

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The Island of Hydra 1956 artifact

The Island of Hydra 1956

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Mineral Springs in Greece artifact

Mineral Springs in Greece

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Myrtos Beach Kefalonia artifact

Myrtos Beach Kefalonia

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Horse from the Hekatompedon artifact

Horse from the Hekatompedon

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The Calf-bearer artifact

The Calf-bearer

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The Lenormant Relief artifact

The Lenormant Relief

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The Head of Apollon at Olympia artifact

The Head of Apollon at Olympia

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Epidaurus Festival 1956 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1956

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Epidaurus Festival 1957 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1957

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Epidaurus Festival 1961 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1961

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Epidaurus Festival 1966 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1966

Brochure
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Epidaurus Festival 1967 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1967

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Epidaurus Festival 1969 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1969

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Athens Festival 1974 artifact

Athens Festival 1974

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Epidaurus Festival 1973 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1973

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Athens Festival 1956 artifact

Athens Festival 1956

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Athens Festival 1957 artifact

Athens Festival 1957

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Grèce 1929 artifact

Grèce 1929

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Parthenon of Athens Greece artifact

Parthenon of Athens Greece

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Acropolis of Mycenae, The Lions Gate artifact

Acropolis of Mycenae, The Lions Gate

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TWA flies to Greece in the 1950s artifact

TWA flies to Greece in the 1950s

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Athens Festival 1963 artifact

Athens Festival 1963

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Athens Festival 1964 artifact

Athens Festival 1964

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Athens Festival 1967 artifact

Athens Festival 1967

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Athens Festival 1971 artifact

Athens Festival 1971

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Athens Festival 1973 artifact

Athens Festival 1973

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Callas as Norma at Epidaurus artifact

Callas as Norma at Epidaurus

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Promoting Greece in Germany artifact

Promoting Greece in Germany

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1962 Epidaurus Festival Poster artifact

1962 Epidaurus Festival Poster

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Promoting Greece with a Sun artifact

Promoting Greece with a Sun

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Ancient vase with flowers artifact

Ancient vase with flowers

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Hellas - Sun, sea, sand and a balcony artifact

Hellas - Sun, sea, sand and a balcony

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Grèce - A ship-figurehead 1960 artifact

Grèce - A ship-figurehead 1960

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Griechenland - Island Reflection 1961 artifact

Griechenland - Island Reflection 1961

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Greece 1963 artifact

Greece 1963

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Greece as a mosaic artifact

Greece as a mosaic

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Greek Weaving Art 1963 artifact

Greek Weaving Art 1963

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A littoral on the Aegean Sea artifact

A littoral on the Aegean Sea

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Temple of Athena Nike artifact

Temple of Athena Nike

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The sun and the moon over a golden sea artifact

The sun and the moon over a golden sea

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Visit Greece in the 1930s artifact

Visit Greece in the 1930s

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An imaginary landscape in 18th century Athens artifact

An imaginary landscape in 18th century Athens

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Travel to sunny Mediterranean with Olympic Cruises S/A artifact

Travel to sunny Mediterranean with Olympic Cr...

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1955 Aegean Cruises with M/S Semiramis artifact

1955 Aegean Cruises with M/S Semiramis

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12 Tours by CHAT artifact

12 Tours by CHAT

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Peloponnese by train artifact

Peloponnese by train

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Panagia Platsani Church in the Isle of Santorini artifact

Panagia Platsani Church in the Isle of Santor...

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1951 Homecoming Year artifact

1951 Homecoming Year

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Flying to Greece with Air France artifact

Flying to Greece with Air France

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The golden sun of Greece artifact

The golden sun of Greece

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Minoan goddess terracota figurine artifact

Minoan goddess terracota figurine

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Mount Athos monastic architecture 1963 artifact

Mount Athos monastic architecture 1963

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Athens Festival 1960 artifact

Athens Festival 1960

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Statue of the Kore with almond eyes artifact

Statue of the Kore with almond eyes

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Epidaurus Festival 1963 artifact

Epidaurus Festival 1963

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Window with a view artifact

Window with a view

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The southeast corner of the east pediment of the Parthenon artifact

The southeast corner of the east pediment of...

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Embroidery from Crete artifact

Embroidery from Crete

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Hand-woven textile from Crete artifact

Hand-woven textile from Crete

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Scrape mural in Pyrgi artifact

Scrape mural in Pyrgi

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Cretan fringed embroidery artifact

Cretan fringed embroidery

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Sound and Light 1959 artifact

Sound and Light 1959

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Sound and Light 1968 artifact

Sound and Light 1968

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Sound and Light 1969 artifact

Sound and Light 1969

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Sound and Light 1970 artifact

Sound and Light 1970

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Sound and Light 1975 artifact

Sound and Light 1975

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Wine Festival 1977 artifact

Wine Festival 1977

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The Blue Bird Fresco at Knossos artifact

The Blue Bird Fresco at Knossos

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The Port of Aegina artifact

The Port of Aegina

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The jetty at the port of Hydra artifact

The jetty at the port of Hydra

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The Grand Staircase at the Palace of Knossos artifact

The Grand Staircase at the Palace of Knossos

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The islet of Pontikonissi in Corfu artifact

The islet of Pontikonissi in Corfu

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The Acropolis of Lindos Rhodes 1954 artifact

The Acropolis of Lindos Rhodes 1954

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The Antikythera Ephebe artifact

The Antikythera Ephebe

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Fly to Greece with TWA Jets 1959 artifact

Fly to Greece with TWA Jets 1959

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Fly to Greece with TWA artifact

Fly to Greece with TWA

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Yachting in Greece 1969-1970 artifact

Yachting in Greece 1969-1970

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Heniochos of Delphi artifact

Heniochos of Delphi

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The White Tower in Thessaloniki artifact

The White Tower in Thessaloniki

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Grèce 10 Tours en Autocar artifact

Grèce 10 Tours en Autocar

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View of Mikrolimano Bay and the Kastella district in Piraeus artifact

View of Mikrolimano Bay and the Kastella dist...

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A balcony with a view of the Athens Acropolis artifact

A balcony with a view of the Athens Acropolis

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1956 Aegean Cruises with M/S Semiramis artifact

1956 Aegean Cruises with M/S Semiramis

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Hydra's port photogrphed by N.A. Tombazi artifact

Hydra's port photogrphed by N.A. Tombazi

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Minoan Snake Goddess artifact

Minoan Snake Goddess

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Α windmill in Mykonos artifact

Α windmill in Mykonos

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Mount Athos artifact

Mount Athos

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Delphi in 1960 artifact

Delphi in 1960

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The 30th International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki artifact

The 30th International Trade Fair of Thessalo...

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1965 Poster of Austrian Airlines promoting flights to Athens artifact

1965 Poster of Austrian Airlines promoting fl...

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1958 Air France poster promoting flights to Greece artifact

1958 Air France poster promoting flights to G...

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Hellenic Air Transport 1947 artifact

Hellenic Air Transport 1947

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1928 Hellenic State Railways promote Sounion artifact

1928 Hellenic State Railways promote Sounion...

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