Lands of Tourism

21
22 144 -
ANGELOS VLACHOS
HELEN FESSAS-
38 EMMANOUIL
MICHALIS NIKOLAKAKIS
156 ,
52
GERASIMOS ZACHARATOS
ELENI KALAFATI,
60 DIMITRIS
VASSILIS KOLONAS PAPALEXOPOULOS
86 170 -
DIMITRIS PHILIPPIDES
MARO KARDAMITSI-
96 ADAMI
MEMOS FILIPPIDIS
180
106 .
YANNIS AESOPOS DIMITRIS A. FATOUROS
120 - 184
THEANO TERKENLI
ALEXANDROS-ANDREAS
KYRTSIS 200
DIMITRIS PLANTZOS
136
212
PANTELIS ELEANA YALOURI
NICOLACOPOULOS
228
ALEXANDRA MOSCHOVI
238
EMILIA ATHANASSIOU
256
STAVROS ALIFRAGKIS
274 ADRIAN LAHOUD
290

KONSTANTINOS
KALANTZIS
22 tourism landscapes: remaking greece

:
,
Greek Tourism on its First Steps:
Places, Landscapes and the National Self
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ANGELOS VLACHOS . -
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Angelos Vlahos holds a , ,
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Tourism, a multi-level phenomenon has laid claim to its history quite recently. Far
removed from the traditional journey that, in previous societies, characterized hu-
man mobility, the origins of modern tourism in the western world are inextricably
linked to the social, cultural and economic developments of the industrial period
as well as on the demand for modernization.
But tourism did not merely constitute a vehicle for economic growth: it
was also a way of conceiving the Nation, understanding its individual constitu-
ents and articulating the joints of its construction. It was a modernist vision, which,
though fashioned by urban elites in national capitals, was chiefly addressed to the
populations of far flung regions, incorporating creatively their geography, history,
mythology, climate, as well as their rural traditions and vernacular architecture.
Class divisions, local disputes and political differentiations became ideally dif-
fused within such a context of reconstruction and consolidation of a national self
image.1 In the interstices between those two ideals, i.e. the sought attraction of tour-
ists (with the objective of getting them to spend foreign exchange) and the strength-
ening of the image of the national state, has vacillated the entire history of tourism
in Greece, from the outset of the 20th century up to the end of the turbulent 40s.
23 essays
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The evolution of the international excursionist current in the late 19th cen-
tury (popular excursions organized by the Thomas Cook agency), international
developments (British rule in the eastern Mediterranean), and the archaeological
excavations carried out during those times (Mycenae, Delphi, Olympia, Knossos,
etc.) contributed decisively to the increase known even since ottoman rule in the
flow of foreigners within the Greek realm. The wave of travelers arriving at the
south-eastern boundary of the European continent followed itineraries and sea-
routes2 inscribed centuries earlier by travelers, merchants, and others, already
since the 16th century. Those journeys usually focused on a cultural experience,
in the tradition of the Grand Tour of the British aristocracy. However, at the dawn
of the 20th century, circumstances had changed substantially: travelers no longer
travelled with large retinues, their social profile tended to include sections of the
by now strong bourgeois class, while there were also instances of women who
travelled on their own, proof of their political and social emancipation.
Up to the belle poque, given Greeces remote geopolitical situation,
most travelers would exhaust their curiosity for the past through their contact with
the classical culture of Italy. Though classical antiquity was a key-stone in the hard
core of post-renaissance European culture, obstacles in accessing it discouraged
direct contact. Consequently, this trip to what was regarded as the European
boundary either in search of mythical Arcadia or as a bridge to the mysterious
Orient,3 was a complicated undertaking for a Western traveler. At the same time
the increase in volume of the flow of usually well-to-do and cultivated foreign
1
travelers to the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, raised the issue of the hos-
pitality infrastructure available in the Kingdom of Greece with some urgency. 4
.
Excavations of the stadium of Ancient
Inadequate public reception facilities, and low-quality private hospitality infra-
Olympia. structure for travelers, made a rather fraught experience of touring the hard-to-
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Landscape, Lesvos, 1964.
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access realm. Numerous inns, known as locandas, would cater to local sojourners
while few hotels, usually under foreign management, would cater to the needs of
travelers from Europe. 5 A milestone event, the successful organization-revival of
the Olympic Games in 1896, marked an increase in incoming tourist flows, mainly
in the region of the capital.
At the turn of the 20th century, Athens boasted some luxury hotels, decent
restaurants, travel bureaus, guides, and means of conveyance for hire, but was
still lagging significantly behind the corresponding offerings of Western Europe.
Inland, however, an exceedingly inadequate road network and a dearth of de-
cent accommodation, practically ruled out travel in a mountainous and generally
difficult terrain. Inevitably, the range of options open to the traveler were limited
to the safety and comfort provided by steam ships, and later still, by the limited
routes served by railway.6 In this light it should not be surprising that cruises were
extremely popular for western travelers from early on,7 a travel practice that esca-
lated at an astonishing rate in the 30s.
If something did put a stamp on the experience of western travelers it
was an intense sense of contradiction between expectations and experience.
For most of them the trip was very often a regression between a literary fantasy
and a dispiriting reality.8 The record of travelers experiences either in the form
of personal journals, or not infrequently, through reports in the European Press,
is prolific, and of crucial importance for understanding this acute ambivalence.
And, having found a ground of existence in the form of the narratives and images
supplied by western travelers,9 through such sturdy conceptual references, travel
literature re-embraced then the territory of Greece, and it was reintroduced into
the kingdom, which was in search of its identity, and was reproduced en masse,
and it shaped attitudes and mind sets.10 It was re-appropriated, essentially, as
25 essays
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a locus that contributed to the shaping of the indigenous discourse on develop-

ment, and its subsequent connotations. The archaeological digs, the Games, the
pilgrimages to the birth-places of Democracy, the various residual traces (places,
buildings, remains and relics, artifacts) of a remote antiquity, were inscribed in pre-
cisely this regard, of tracking down everything that constituted the Nation.11 Such
travelers were becoming essentially different from their counterparts in Central
Europe, to the degree that neither recreation, nor spa tourism were to be found in
what motivated their peregrinations. For that matter, as E. Hobsbawm observed
characteristically: To go to the Mediterranean in mid summer, without looking for
artistic and architectural monuments, was considered to be madness, until the first
decades of the 20th century, which brought with them the adoration of the sun
and of sun-tanning.12
There is no doubt that in the early 20th century, the rapid growth of travel
was based on the mass production and diffusion of visual stimuli that had come
earlier. This is a process that is well-documented by visual historians: the tourist
product needs to become familiar and recognizable before it is consumed.13
The process had its basis on an extensive culture of images in which photog-
raphers,14 engravers, publishers of travel guides, and others participated within
the context of a broad publishing circuit with a proliferation of specialist publica-
tions.15 Tourists were educating themselves. And they went after things. In spring
and in autumn, on the quay of Piraeus, Gaston Descamps would write, the Cook
agency disembarks a strong contingent of rosy ecstatic faces, cameras trained on
the Acropolis, and pith helmets [] Everybody is an a fever. They dont want to
miss any of the wonders promised them by Joanne, Murray and Baedeker.16 Their
brow is furrowed with thought. They are pondering which Museum they should
go see, that they should, naturally, visit the Kerameikos and the main Museum,
.13
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to which theyll probably need to devote an entire afternoon, and that their ship
would be sailing.17
At that stage, following international trends, tourist mobility had two dis-
tinct faces: foreign travelers (mainly Anglo-Saxons, Germans and French) and lo-
cal excursionists. The need of resolving the problems of the emerging tourist sector 3
arose as an obligation which no European country could overlook in those years.
.
On the one hand transport networks were sparse,18 and the promotion of the coun- Thermal baths of Aidipsos.
try abroad minimal, and on the other hand, prior to World War I, the hotel industry
was the most deficient sector of the Greek economy in terms both of its regulatory
framework and its business orientation.19
The first time that the Greek state resolved to engage in the regulation
and management of tourist flows was just after the end of the Balkan wars. The
initial political plan for tourism unrolled as a mixture of the management mod-
els prevailing in advanced European countries for tourism, in the form of a small
Bureau of Foreigners and Expositions (1914). Beyond looking after foreigners, it
supported and supervised bodies, committees and societies, seeking to organize
excursions, competitions, festivals, [] the establishment and development of ho-
tels, or other similar aims [] [as well as] the collection and supply of information
related to all of the foregoing.20 At the end of 1918, the Bureau was raised to the
status of independent Service for Foreigners and Expositions after the now ac-
knowledged operational model of the French Office Nationale du Tourisme. The
scope of the Foreigners Service included: a) attracting foreigners to Greece, and
their sojourn there and extensions of it, b) organizing domestic expositions aimed
at promoting the national produce, and ensuring the countrys participation in
international expositions. The competences it exercised included care for means
of arrival and circulation of foreigners, road building to archaeological sites, and
sightseeing spots and generally, providing persons touring Greece with the req-
uisite conveniences and amenities by all suitable means. 21
27 essays
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Office Nationale du Tourisme.
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The unstable political and social conditions of the time, the world war,
and subsequently the Asia Minor debacle, and the imperative need of providing
shelter to refugees, saw state intervention in tourism dwindle until the mid 20s. At
this juncture of national introversion, excursionism emerged as a new flourishing
phenomenon, and the clubs promoting it gathered in their membership important
representatives of the bourgeoisie. Intellectuals and the bourgeoisie, oriented ide-
ologically toward the Greek countryside, the extra-urban landscape, the natural
beauties but also the study and preservation of historical monuments.22 The
conduct of regular excursions, tours of archaeological sites, investigation of flora,
organizing lectures and competitions, publishing maps, historical, scholarly or sci-
entific publications, etc., constituted the main axes of activity of such bodies, which
proliferated. The image of the countryside, apart from having been purged of the
dangers of the past (robbers, diseases, etc.) was beautified by means of disparate
or overlapping discourses of increasing appeal (medical, naturist, nationalist, so-
cialist) furthering a desire to be in touch with nature.
In this socially turbulent era, the ideological void left by the paradigm
of irredentism and the transcendental state, was gradually replaced by the ideal
of hellenicity: a premise deeply linked to an awareness and glorification of the
uniqueness of the land of Greece. To this purpose, an almost pagan worship of
Greek landscape was to be found in various writings and references that imparted
special nuances to approaches of touring. On this basis, the Greek Land became
an emblem not only of the natural expanse, but chiefly, of the cultural continuity
4 and the metaphysical riches that characterized the country. It was assumed that it
carried within it the sterling symbols of the past, which, organized into an integral

, 1971. narrative-synthesis had immediate bearing on the current challenges under what-
Delphi archaeological site, 1971. ever circumstances prevailed at any given time.23
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But if for foreign travelers tourism was identified with antiquities, for in-
digenous travelers it coincided with spas. In the first decades of the 20th century,
Greek spa towns were modernized and they sought to place amenities such as
those offered by their foreign models, at the disposal of their public. The develop-
ment of some of those (Loutraki, Aidipsos) was rapid, but it was beset by numerous
problems, (relating to local conditions, infrastructure, spatial planning, ownership,
form of development, etc.)24 To a major degree the very notion of tourism was
encapsulated therein; essentially there was no other domestic Tourism prior to
1925 was noted with emphasis.25 Bourgeois Athenians, entrepreneurs from the
Greek community in Egypt, members of the Greek Diaspora, mingled there in the
balmy months of the warm Greek summer along with the petty bourgeoisie and a
few foreigners.26 From that time onwards tourism would follow a gradual path of
organizational constitution at an institutional level. The needfulness of promoting
the country and its natural and cultural riches dominated public debate. One out-
come of this was the establishment in 1929 of the Greek National Tourism Organi-
zation, a tangible vehicle of a modernizing agenda for the benefit of the national
economy during the last four-year-term in power of Eleftherios Venizelos.27
In any case, the backbone of the tourist offering from the age of the
Grand Tour up to World War II, remained unchanged: it was the cultural stock,
with an emphasis on the famous monuments of classical civilization.28 As has
been said repeatedly, not without a few objections, however,29in the sculptures
of the Acropolis, Delphi, Olympia and Epidaurus, foreigners are looking for the
ancient Greek spirit, the source of humanitys modern spiritual culture.30 The rem-
nants of the Mycenaean and Minoan cultures (Mycenae, Knossos, Phaestos), the
natural paradoxes (Santorini), the historical sites (Marathon, Thermopylae), in
combination with byzantine and post-byzantine monuments, made up the comple-
29 essays
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ment of those poles of attraction. However, while in the mid 30s local tourism
committees had already been set up at the behest of the GNTO, it appears that no
archaeological site had been afforded full care. In the key events that were held
at monumental sites during the interwar period, the Delphic festivals of 1927 and
1930, civilized people had to stay in accommodation suited to Hottentots. 31
The possibility of viewing, the multiplicity of experience, the contact with

nature in its various forms, the process of synthesizing the emotion of the trip were
the new characteristics that were reflected eloquently in wayfarers travelogues.
The issue wasnt only about touring, but also about becoming trained in observ-
ing;32 how to look at Greece: tourist snapshot, was the revealing title in the
special section of a journal,33 exemplifying this effort. In that time are found the
roots of a series of approaches that endeavor to discover new sightseeing spots:
foremost among them are the beaches. In 1931, writer Themos Potamianos was
stressing the person who would wish to tour around Greek beaches and coves
would need a cicerone, a tour-guide, a pilot []. Because our beaches are no less
unknown to the many than are the distant seas away from regular shipping-routes
or the inaccessible forests in far-away Africa.34 The metaphors hyperbole cannot
conceal the weight of the observation.
Without a doubt, the roots, not so much of an initial, but certainly of a co-
hesive approach to seascapes should be imputed to the 30s. Through the concert-
ed activity of a set of artists photographers (e.g. Nellys and G. Vafiadakis),35 art-
ists (Sp. Vassiliou), lithographers, architects (D. Morettis), journalists (S. Melas, K.
5 Ouranis, N. Zarifis, and others) who were involved in the tourist circuits emerging
, , 1964.
at the time, arose what might be described as the first construction of the quintes-
Coastal landscape, Lesvos, 1964. sence of the Aegean spirit.36 Assignments on behalf of the state organizations for
,
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tourist management were given to this heterogeneous group that, in due course,
would be published, with the aim of highlighting new themes and motifs.37 I am
suggesting here the construction of a discourse that sought to codify aspects of the
Greek landscape for the purpose of its tourist (i.e. commercial) capitalization.38
The creation of new, strongly charged landscapes (with seascapes
gradually achieving dominance) constituted one of the most striking declarations
generated by the imperative demand for leisure and recreation.39 Essentially, the
latter part of the interwar period signaled a new phase in hydrotherapy as well
as in tourist exploitation, as a result of the horizontal changes that put their stamp
on Greek society. The state had embarked on a course of reorganization: welfare
and public health were emerging as issues of paramount concern, new econom-
ic opportunities were coming about to the benefit of the mercantile/industrialist
class, the incorporation of the New Lands into the nation broadened the options
available, while, despite the political instability, the prospects of domestic tourism
were enhanced, as was patently the case during the Metaxas dictatorship. 40 Mat-
ters, however, did not evolve in a balanced way. The tourist enhancement of spa
towns arose as a result of an unpropitious international milieu, not as the result of
restructuring, therefore the impression of development was just incidental.
In late 1933, the programmatic plan for tourism announced under the Lib-
erals appeared to have lost momentum or, even, to have been abandoned. In the
31 essays
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years of the authoritarian rule of the 4th August regime under I. Metaxas (1936-
1940), tourism, in the form of a Sub-Ministry of Press and Tourism, was institution-
ally upgraded into a crucial state ideology, with a broad scope of objectives, as
other related state agencies were abolished. Evidently, this Ovidean metamorpho-
sis was linked to the regimes agenda rather than to sectoral performance.
In addition, the invocation of the national constitution as statutory ingre-
7
dient of a self-image geared to consumption, was not the prerogative of Greece
alone. Sasha D. Pack makes an exemplary case of Francos Spain, just as Tain H

Syrjaama does with Mussolinis Italy, in which the popular spirit was integrated , 1956.
into the core of the nation by means of a forceful and systematic processing. 41 In The reconstruction of the Stoa of
Attalos and the Ancient Agora
the Greek case, the ideal of hellenicity was raised to the level of national matrix excavations, 1956.
in the process of the quest for the nations personality, in thinking, and in the arts
as well. Greek nature was transformed into a field of ideological reference, 42
inextricably bound to the inner life of Hellenism: the canvas into which its history
was woven and which contained the moral measure of its life. Construed in this
manner, it became sensible as a baptismal font for washing away foreign influ-
ences, grandiose visions and humiliating defeats43
Clearly, the leading factor in this intellectual construct was to be found in
the nature-loving versions of the exuberant excursionist movement. Our soil is the
most beautiful on earth. And in this belief we worship it, as a constituent part of our
civilization, as the cradle of new offshoots and new eras is stated in the articles
of association of the nature-lovers association Countryside Living. 44 Along this
course, the dictatorial regime of 4th August tangibly supported, through a series
, Taina Syrjaama ,

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of concerted actions, the claim of a clear image not of nature only, but also of
the studiously picturesque built environment. 45 At an ideological level the com-
bination of nature-ruins emerged as the preponderant and privileged axis of the
regime. Contrary to the older stormy debates related to bloodline, language or
history, which were consumed internally, in this parameter, which was privileged
within the Metaxas regime, the commercial exploitation of the Greek tourist offer-
ing would find its post-war underpinning, for its promotion abroad.
The war functioned as a split for the tourist phenomenon. In its crucible
social relations were transmuted, beliefs were radicalized, bold plans were pre-
pared, and given relations with authority were renegotiated. The profile of post-
war travelers was reshaped, while the countries themselves exploited the phenom-
enon more intensively in order to benefit from an economic activity seen in tandem
with a human right that was now safeguarded under the UNs founding declara-
tion (1948). At the dawn of post-war Reconstruction, the planning of Greek tour-
ism evolved gradually, constituting a significant part of the Marshall Plan. In this
same momentum should be traced in terms of its genealogy the reversal of tourist
demand: the first model of mass tourism in the form of the package tour is consid-
ered a posteriori as coinciding with the landing on an airstrip in Corsica of the first
ever charter flight. 46 From the 50s onward nothing would ever be the same as be-
33 essays
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:
package tour a posteriori
charter
. 46 1950, :
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fore: types of facilities, form of tourist demand, private entrepreneurship, etc. 47 The
images, however, of the tourist offering, the natural landscape and the built envi-
ronment deemed as being the sights, no matter how much enriched since then,
remained anchored to those primeval points of origin in the inter-war period.
1. . Rudy Koshar, (.), Histories of Leisure, Oxford: Berg, 2002. 1. See Rudy Koshar, (ed.), Histories of Leisure, (Oxford: Berg, 2002).
2. 19 , Bickford-Smith - 2. Close to the end of the 19th century, Bickford-Smith mentioned that
28 there were 28 steamships plying the shipping routes (1892). See R. A. H.
(1892). . R. A. H. Bickford-Smith, Bickford-Smith, Greece in the time of George I, (Athens, 1992).
, , 1992.
3. I would clarify here, for the needs of this hypothesis, that as Greece I
3. , , - consider the par excellence imaginary place that emerged on the margin
, of the Orient, charted by the multitudes of foreign travelers of the 18th and
, 19th century. Not infrequently, the concept is reconstituted geographically
18 19 . , on the basis of a cultural rather than an administrative context.
.
4. On the issue of the evolution of the touring phenomenon there are as
4. - yet very few scholarly papers; see M. Dritsas, History and the History of
. M. Drit- Tourism Industry in Greece in Business History: Wissenschftliche Entwick-
sas, History and the History of Tourism Industry in Greece Business His- lungstrends und Studien aus Zentraleuropa, (Wien, 1999).
tory: Wissenschftliche Entwicklungstrends und Studien aus Zentraleuropa,
, 1999. 5. For the most important of them, see Angelos Vlachos, Grande
Bretagne: A hotel symbol, (Athens: Economia, 2003).
5. , . Angelos Vlachos, Grande
Bretagne: A hotel symbol, Athens: Economia, 2003. 6. Greece was linked to the Balkans by rail after 1918.
6. 1918. 7. See Greece: The Voyage of the Hellenists, 1896-1912, (intr.) Haris
Yakoumis & Isabelle Roi, (Athens, 1998).
7. . , [] : , 1896-1912, [-
.] & , , 1998. 8. Ross Balzaretti in Victorian Travellers, Apennine Landscapes and the
Development of Cultural Heritage in Eastern Liguria, c. 18751914, His-
8. (-) tory, vol. 96, no. 4, pp. 436-458, recalls this dimension (past-present) in
respect of the aims and reflections of travel writing in Italy in those years.
, Ross Balzaretti Victorian Travellers,
Apennine Landscapes and the Development of Cultural Heritage in Eastern 9. See Olga Augustinos, French Odysseys: Greece in French Travel Liter-
Liguria, c. 18751914, History, . 96, . 4, . 436-458. ature from the Renaissance to the Romantic Era, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1994), and for the previous period, Nasia Yakovaki, Eu-
9. . Olga Augustinos, French Odysseys: Greece in French Travel Litera- rope through Greece: A turning point in European self-conscience, 17th-18th
ture from the Renaissance to the Romantic Era, Baltimor: Johns Hopkins Uni- century, (Athens, 2006).
versity Press, 1994 , ,
: , 17- 10. See Artemis Leonti, Topographies of Hellenism: Mapping the Mother-
18 , , 2006. land, (Athens, 1999), pp. 45-122, and Stathis Gourgouris, Dream Nation:
Enlightenment, Colonization, and the Institution of Modern Greece, (Stan-
10. . , : ford, 1996).
, , 1999, . 45-122, Stathis Gourgouris, Dream
Nation: Enlightenment, Colonization, and the Institution of Modern Greece, 11. On the relationship between the material manifestations of antiquity
Stanford, 1996. and the constitution of the modern nation, see Yannis Hamilakis, The Na-
tion and its Ruins: Antiquity, archaeology and the national imagination in
11. - Greece, (Athens: Ekdoseis tou Eikostou Protou, 2012).
, . ,
: , , : 12. See Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital, (1848-1874), (Athens, Na-
, 2012. tional Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, 2000), p. 311.
12. . Eric Hobsbawm, , (1848-1875), : 13. See arita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, Practices of Looking: An in-
, 2000, . 311. troduction to visual culture, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) and
Paul Burke, Seeing for Ones Self: The use of images as historical witnesses,
13. . arita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, Practices of looking: an intro- (Athens, 2003).
duction to visual culture, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003 Paul
Burke, : , , 14. The most important of all, for Greece, was the indefatigable Frederic
2003. Boissonas.
14. , 15. The most emblematic among them was perhaps the Excursionist, pub-
Frederic Boissonas. lished by the Thomas Cook group; see Pierce Brendon, Thomas Cook: One
Hundred Years of Popular Tourism, (London: Secker and Warburg, 1991),
15. , Excursionist - p. 326.
Thomas Cook . Pierce Brendon, Thomas Cook:
One Hundred Years of Popular Tourism, : Secker and Warburg, 16. See Margarita Dritsas, From travelers accounts to travel books and
1991, . 326. guide books: the formation of a Greek tourism market in the 19th century,
Tourismos, vol. 1, no.1, 2006, p. 32.
16. . Margarita Dritsas, From travelers accounts to travel books and
guide books: the formation of a Greek tourism market in the 19th century, 17. See Gaston Descamps, Greece Today, Travelogue 1890: The world
Tourismos, . 1, .1, 2006, . 32. of Charilaos Trikoupis, (Athens: Trochalia, 1992), p. 88.
17. . Gaston Descamps, , 1890: 18. Up to World War II, regarding the condition of the roads [] the
, : , 1992, . 88. telling fact that they were selected for sporting records in difficult crossings
(rally Monte-Carlo), On Tourism in Greece (NBG, 1944).
18. ,
() , - 19. See Gerasimos Zacharatos, Hotel Chamber of Greece, (Athens,
(rally Monte-Carlo), - HCG, 2010).
, , 1944.
20. See Law 241/1914.
19. . , ,
: , 2010. 21. See Nikolaos Lekos, The Industry of Foreigners in Greece, (Athens,
1920), p. 8.
20. . . 241/1914.
22. See proceedings of the first BoD meeting of the Mountaineering Soci-
21. . , , , ety (Athens, 1922).
1920, . 8.
23. Essentially, all of that was nothing else than variations of a cultural
22. . .. , - nationalism manifested at the time in a number of states, which frequently
, 1922. incorporated standards from abroad. Already since the beginning of the
20 th century, mass movements of people for recreation purposes were sig-
23. , - nified in the US as a patriotic duty, one more factor in the forging of a
national identity. See Marguerite S. Shaffer, See America First: Tourism
, . and National Identity, 1880-1940, (Washington D.C., Smithsonian Institu-
20 , - tion Press, 2001).
, , -
. . , Marguerite S. Shaffer, See 24. See Greek National Tourism Organization, Spa Towns and Medici-
America First: Tourism and National Identity, 1880-1940, Washington D.C., nal Waters (Athens, 1966).
Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001.
25. See General Secretariat for Tourism, Second Stage Study for the
24. . E O T, I Reconstruction and Development of Greek Tourism, Athens, September
, A, 1966. 1946, [Introduction Comments on the development of Tourist Traffic in
Greece prior to the War], p. 15, HANBG, Doss. 1, 40, 68, 1126.
25. . /, -
, , 26. Op. cit., M. Dritsas, Water, Culture and Leisure, pp. 200-204.
1946, [
], . 15, , . 1, 27. See Angelos F. Vlachos, Tourist Development and Public Policies in
40, 68, 1126. Greece (1914-1950): the emergence of a modern phenomenon, [unpub-
lished doctoral dissertation], National Capodistrian University of Athens,
26. ., M. Dritsas, Water, Culture and Leisure, . 200-204. 2013.
27. . . , 28. See Vasiliki Galani-Moutafi Tourism Research on Greece: A Critical

(1914-1950): , - Overview, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 31, no. 1, (2004), pp. 171-
, , 2013. 172.
28. . Vasiliki Galani-Moutafi, Tourism Research on Greece: A Critical 29. remarkable number of commentators in the press took exception to
Overview, Annals of Tourism Research, . 31, . 1, (2004), . 171- this perception, regarding it as fetishistic and hidebound.
172.
30. Op. cit., On Tourism..., p. 15.
29. , -
, 31. See Leon Makkas, The Greek Problem: Scheme for a Solution, (Ath-
. ens, 1933), p. 34.
30. ., ..., . 15. 32. See Heraklis Papaioannou, Photographing Greek landscapes: ideol-
35 essays
31. . , : , ogy and aesthetics, [unpublished doctoral dissertation], (Aristotle Univer-

, 1933, . 34. sity of Thessaloniki, 2005).
32. . , : 33. See N. Bastounopoulos, How to look at Greece: Tourist Snapshot,

, , Trapezitiki, 1st quarter 1937, pp. 43-44.
, 2005.
34. See Themos Potamianos, Akrogialia, (Athens, 1931), p. 200.
33. . . , :
, , 1937, . 43-44. 35. In 1927 and 1930, Nellys photographed the Delphic Festivals. Her
photographs became postcards making the Festivals known internation-
34. . , , , 1931, . 200. ally.
35. Nellys 1927 1930 . 36. The establishment of the GNTO in 1929 was a catalyst in this effort.
, See Angelos F. Vlachos Iris Kritikou (ed.), Greek Tourist Posters, (GNTO:
. Athens, 2007) and Christina Bonarou, Visual culture and civilization. Rep-
resentations of Greece in tourist postcards, (Athens: Papazissis, 2012).
36. 1929
. . . - ()., 37. Service for Foreigners and Expositions, GNTO, Ministry of Press and
, : , 2007 , Tourism, as well as the General Secretariat for Tourism (up to 1950, when
. it was dismantled).
, : , 2012.
38. See Irini Boudouri, The Greek countryside in El. Traiou (ed.) Greece
37. , , through Nellys lens, special issue in Hepta Hemeres, Kathimerini,
, ( 1950 30/06/1996, p. 20.
).
39. See Jean-Didier Urbain, At the Beach, (Athens: Potamos, 2000).
38. . , .
(.), H E Nellys, 40. See Ministry for Press and Tourism, The account of two years: 4th Au-
, , 30/06/1996, . 20. gust. 1936-1938, Athens, 1938, pp. 220-227.
39. ., Jean-Didier Urbain, , : , 41. See Sasha D. Pack, Tourism and Dictatorship: Europes peaceful inva-
2000. sion of Francos Spain, (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2006) and Syrj-
maa Taina, Visitez l Italie: Italian State Propaganda Abroad, 1919-1943:
40. . , : Administrative Structure and Practical Realization, (University of Turku,
4 . 1936-1938, 1938, . 220-227. 1997).
41. . Sasha D. Pack, Tourism and dictatorship: Europes peaceful inva- 42. With similar considerations the Scottish landscape was also aesthe-
sion of Francos Spain, New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2006 Syrjmaa tized to showcase the purity of the Scottish soul; see John R. Gold and
Taina, Visitez l Italie: Italian State Propaganda Abroad, 1919-1943: Admin- Margaret M. Gold, Imagining Scotland: Tradition, Representation and
istrative Structure and Practical Realization, University of Turku, 1997. Promotion in Scottish Tourism Since 1750, (Aldershot, 1995).
42. , 43. See Heraklis Papaioannou, Photographing Greek landscapes: ideol-

. John ogy and aesthetics, [unpublished doctoral dissertation], (Aristotle Univer-
R. Gold and Margaret M. Gold, Imagining Scotland: Tradition, Representa- sity of Thessaloniki, 2005), p. 153.
tion and Promotion in Scottish Tourism Since 1750, (Aldershot, 1995).
44. An association with major activity, and later among the founding con-
43. . , : stituents of the Hellenic Touring Club (1937).
, ,
, 2005, . 153. 45. Part of this perspective that arose in the same period was the re-
quirement of maintaining Cycladic island settlements whitewashed. This
44. was imposed by an ordinance of the dictatorships Public Health Service,
(1937). and it related too, of course, to the containment of epidemics. Conversely,
however, the overall perception on the aesthetic force of white on island
45. settlements found its theoretical origin and foundation in the references
- made by Le Corbusier from the podium of the 4th CIAM (Athens, 1933), re-
. - garding the plasticity of forms, the alternation of sun and shadow, and the
scenic liveliness of houses in the Cyclades. According to the architect, who
, , - was the chief exponent of modernism, the strong sun on the mainly insu-
. , , lar Mediterranean settlements (Turkey, Greece, Tunisia, Spain) composed
a dynamic chromatic effect, befitting to the adjacent built environment. By
Le Corbusier 4 his perception, considering white as background, for a new formatting
(, 1933), aesthetic, within the integrated geographical, historical and cultural land-
, , scape of the Mediterranean, he deeply influenced his architect-contem-
. , poraries, while his vision ended up by being adopted refractively in the
- ideology of cohesive uniformity pursued by the 4th August regime.
(, , , ), -
, . 46. See Orvar Lfgren, On holidays: A History of Vacationing, (Berkeley:
, University of California Press, 1999), p. 157.
, ,
, , 47. For post-war Greek tourism, see Michalis Nikolakakis, Tourism and
- Greek society in the period from 1945 to 1974, [unpublished doctoral dis-
4 . sertation], (University of Crete, 2013).
46. . Orvar Lfgren, On holidays: A History of Vacationing, (Berkeley:

University of California Press, 1999), . 157.
47. , . ,
1945-1974, -
, / , 2013.
:

1950

The tourist paradox:
On the History of Tourism in Greece,
from 1950 to the Present Day

,
.1 MICHALIS NIKOLAKAKIS

1976 Dean MacCannell, -
- . ,
.2
Michalis Nikolakakis
, . holds a PhD in
Sociology,

University of Crete
-
.
. -
. 3
,
Just as the tortoise in the fable awaits the panting hare at the finishing line, so
does the negation of tourism precede tourism itself. 1
In 1976, Dean MacCannell, a pioneer of sociological and anthropological re-

search in tourism formulated his theory of a dialectic of authenticity.2 According
to this American thinker, tourism has unavoidably led to the gradual profanation
of tourist destinations, a fact that has transformed the receiving community in each
such case. In reaction to this tendency, tourist destinations have staged themselves
in such a manner as to seem to preserve their authenticity. We find similar ques-
tions arising also a decade before, apropos of the architectural rethinking of
Greece. In the first issue of the journal Architecture in Greece, A. Kalinski3 formu-
lated the notion of the tourist paradox, the gradual tendency of tourist areas to
lose those specific attributes, cultural, environmental or societal, that had rendered
39 essays
, , , -
-
. 4 ,
,

.
-
,5

. , , -
,
-
.6 ,

.7

..
1565/1950
1953.8

,
,
.
them potentially attractive; in that same issue similar questions were also posed by
Aris Konstantinidis. 4 Naturally, this critical discourse did not appear in a temporal
vacuum, rather it emerged precisely at the time when it had become evident that,
in the international division of labor, Greece was about to take up the role of play-
ing host to tourists.
Despite an intense process of engagement in the development of insti-
tutional infrastructure and entrepreneurial experimentation during the interwar
period, 5 the assumption of such a role by Greece cannot be distinguished from
the tectonic changes occurring throughout Europe in the early post WWII years,
i.e. the domination in Western European countries of full employment policies,
the emergence of the welfare state and the ascendancy of Keynesian regulation
as the economic doctrine of the era.6 And naturally, it cannot be distinguished
either from the procedure to bring the country into the western camp through
the mechanism of a pan-European division of labor that was promoted for Greece
through the Marshall Plan.7
The onset of this procedure in the post civil war period was brought about
through the re-foundation of tourist institutional infrastructure by means of Emer-
gency Law 1565/1950, whereby the Greek National Tourist Organization was
established, and also with the monetary reform of 1953.8 The attempt to organize
a tourist economy in the same period came up against the unwillingness of the
private sector to get involved in long-term investments within the sector and thus,
gradually, through many false starts and much vacillation, the first stepping stones
were laid of a national plan for the sector. In the 50s, tourism in Greece would
exist under state tutelage, which would undertake, either through the GNTO, or
through its key banking pillar the National Bank of Greece to organize its tourist
50 , ,
, -
, .
..
.
: , , -
, .
1
, 50,
,
. , Grand Hotel ,
Summer Palace, , 1963.
N. Chatzimichalis, Grand Hotel .9
Summer Palace, Rhodes, 1963.
. -

-
.
-

.
, -

,
-
1958 .10
50
offering. The fruits of those efforts were to be seen in the Xenia chain of hotels
and the units of the Astir corporation. In this framework tourist traffic focused
mainly in three regions: Rhodes, Corfu and Athens, with whatever of their territory
was accessible by road.
The Greek tourist product that was being reshaped in the 50s had pre-
viously been geared toward a narrow choice of social elites, occasionally to
Greeks of the Diaspora, and put its emphasis on spas and archaeological tours,
in an outdated adherence to the interwar model.9 At the same time, summer resort
and recreation facility infrastructures reflected the countrys orientation and desire
to attach itself to the West. Tourism is the symbol of an eagerly sought social mod-
ernization and is the corner stone providing cohesiveness to the cultural aspira-
tions of the upper strata of Greek society. Ideologically, the discourse on tourism
is still construed as a supplement of an economic policy that leads to the countrys
industrialization and enjoys the approbation of the entire political power spectrum
in Greece.
The key principles of this planning, i.e. the enhanced role of the state and
the focus on well-to-do visitors, remained the same even when the stabilization
and growth of the economy permitted the fiscal relaxation of the stifling restric-
tions of the Monetary Commission from 1958 onwards.10 Towards the close of
the 50s the emphasis focused on the creation of prominent luxury structures such
as the Athens Hilton, Mont Parnes, or the Golf course in Glyfada, and the policy
to showcase the countrys cultural reserves through institutions such as the Athens
Festival, and regeneration projects such as that of the archaeological site in the
broader area around Plaka and the Acropolis.
The countrys transport orientation is focused on the necessity of a ship-
ping route connecting it to Italy, which is achieved in August of 1960, as well as
41 essays
, , Mont Parnes

-
.

, -
1960, -
. , 60
11
, 1961
1 3.12
60 -
, baby boomers,
.13 , -
-
. -
60 ,
,
,
. -
, ,
.
-
.

the parallel expansion of road works and tourist infrastructures. Thus, while the
60s are a time of explosive growth in charter flights11 and the emergence of tour-
ist destinations such as Mallorca, the ratio in Greece of arrivals by air to overall
travel traffic in 1961 hardly exceeds 1 to 3.12
The 60s, however, are the time when the first post-war generation, the
baby boomers, attains its majority and gradually becomes part of the consumer
world.13 Those are the new visitors to Greece, whose touring preferences often
go beyond state planning or organized tourist agencies. Their travels to Greece
by car in the 60s via Yugoslavia, or by cruiser in the Aegean, and later by hitch-
hiking to Ancona and thence by boat, will establish new tourist destinations such
as Hydra and Myconos. Tourism at this stage involves new production subjects
small-medium family enterprises, which lay claim to their spot in the sun of state
planning.
The demand for state-controlled support to small to medium tourist enter-
prises shall be met by the military dictatorship. The regime leaders sought to con-
solidate their position and looked for support in the provinces, thus tourism, along
with infrastructure works and the cancellation of agricultural debts,14 participate
in the attempt to mobilize community consensus. State infrastructures (starting in
1965) are privatized, or ceded to private management, while a new elite of hotel-
iers is emerging. Those new hotel proprietors, who often enjoy privileged relations
with the regime, shall undertake to re-orientate the demand for tourist services to
the charter flight model, through the creation of large facilities with no regard for
taste or urban planning limitations.
The motive force behind all those developments was the ex-
pansion of the financing available to the sector, initially through liberalizing the
regime of banking credit and subsequently through policies of direct funding by
,
,14 .
( 1965) -
, ,
. , ,

-
.

,
-
.15 -
1.590.543 1966 1973
3.899.083. -
, ,
-

,16 -
... 1972.
-
, .. 1313/1972,
,

.
. ,
, , 1961.
P. Mylonas, Mont Parnes Hotel,
Attica, 1961. 2
the state.15 The result of this policy was that from 1,590,543 incoming tourists in
1966 the figure rose to 3,899,083 in 1973. The tourist development of the period
swiftly gave rise to ecological tensions, which, though in a limited manner, are
reflected in the public sphere along with reactions from the institutional representa-
tives of other economic sectors who voice a concern over their being neglected
by the state in favor of the new kid on the block 16, to use the phrase employed
by the spokesperson of the Association of Greek Industrialists, in 1972. Toward
the end of the dictatorship policies were implemented for the first time that would
regulate tourism in spatial terms, through the institution of the Legislative Decree
1313/1982, Regarding measures in support of Tourist development, which intro-
duced zoning and would subsidize new facilities in inverse proportion to the size
of their existing tourist infrastructure.
The boom in tourist traffic during the military dictatorship made of tourism
a vehicle for the middle- and lower-classes to come into contact with an expand-
ing consumerism and its attendant materialism. Thanks to the frequency of inter-
cultural contact and encounters, it created tension in gender relations, ruptures
in established patterns of work and readjustments in individual biographies and
family strategies. Ultimately, through the broad intermingling of foreigners with
the middle and lower income bracket strata of society in the provinces, tourism
functioned as the vehicle of an absolution offered to the popular elements of so-
43 essays
-
-
.
, -
, ,
-
. , -
,

,
.17

1973, .
, Horizon, -
, .18 , -
,

-
,
. ,
-
1975
1992.19

. ,
. 20 -

ciety, and incorporated elements of the material popular culture into the national
narrative in a selective, distortive and kaleidoscopic manner.17
The international shock occasioned by the first oil crisis of 1973, created
rifts in the international tourist agency system. Pioneering corporations, such as
Horizon, which had played a leading part in the charter revolution, collapsed.18
Thus, with the fall of the junta, the agenda adopted by the political leadership,
aside from token moves illustrating the rupture with the practices of the military
regime, such as the decision to demolish all illegitimate buildings within the shore-
line zone, focused on managing the consequences of the crisis and attempting
to salvage the countrys tourist infrastructure. At the same time, the announced
departure from the excesses of the seven-year dictatorship is reflected in the
GNTOs program for traditional settlements, inaugurated in 1975 and destined to
continue until 1992.19
After the return to democracy, the fordian manner of organization of
Greeces tourist offering is a given a material reality that is reflected in a plethora
of diverse cultural evidence. For instance, both the literary reflections of tourism in
the work of V. Vassilikos20 and the early sociological and anthropological treat-
ments of tourism focusing on Greece are inoculated by a critical disposition vis-
-vis an ostensible cultural decline to which tourism is leading Greek society. This
critical stance goes along with post-dictatorship political discourse and frequently
links skepticism against tourism to cultural imperialism.21
The tabling of a Memorandum with the positions of the Greek govern-
ment as to the relations of Greece with the European Communities in 198222
.

.21

198222 -
.23
, ,
, ,

-
. 1982
24
-

.
25 -

.26
80 -
-

,
. 80
,
, -

.

, .
Traditional settlement of Vathia,
Mani. 3
would coincide with the first hints of a European policy on tourism.23 At that
time, on a European level, apart from the case of Greece, the debate had been
broached as to the accession of countries such as Spain and Portugal, whose dis-
tinct position in the international division of labor made it clear that the prospect of
full convergence of the European economies was soon to reach its limits. The de-
velopment law of 1982, initially, and, subsequently, the Integrated Mediterranean
Programs24 systematized the spread of tourism throughout the land and adjusted
the claim for tourist development to the ruling European economic narrative of the
day regarding a balanced regional development. The relative weight of rooms-to-
let businesses is well nigh trebled25 while the first decisions are issued which define
as saturated those areas with an excessive tourist offering.26
The cultural ambivalence of the 80s pervaded the development, on the
one hand, of a kind of cultural euro-skepticism, with the public discourse that was
45 essays
90
. -
-
-
. 1989 (
1996)
( .. )
.27 , -

(....), (..),
1994.28

-

.29

2004.

.
, 1998,
-
, ,
, , .

-
, Lampsa Hellenic Hotels SA
produced in this regard about transforming the Greek population into Europes
waiters, and, on the other, of a conception of tourism and summer vacationing as
a social entitlement. In the 80s the institution of community tourism is established,
which until that time was the privilege of only certain employees of major state-
owned enterprises, and internal tourism now constitutes a monitored economic
indicator, counterbalancing shortfalls in international arrivals.
Internationally, the 90s mark the spread of the effort of post-fordian spe-
cialization of the tourist offering. The challenge facing the economic and political
elites of the day was whether state and private planning would be able to meet the
need of catering to specialized types of demand. The formation of the first Minis-
try of Tourism in 1989 (which was to survive until 1996), and the creation within
the GNTO of specialized directorates (e.g. Marine Tourism or Cultural Events)
reflects this development.27 At the same time, a political resolution is attempted of
the festering problem of where to site tourist activity, through the institution of Inte-
grated Tourist Development Areas (ITDAs) on the model of Industrial Areas (IAs)
and their inclusion in the 1994 development law funding framework.28
The close of the decade would identify tourist policy with a broader
modernizing agenda that included the liberalization of the money markets and
the expansion of the countrys transport infrastructures.29 This effort is distilled, as
regards tourism, into the ideologically fraught undertaking by Greece of the 2004
Olympic Games. This development would reverse the tendencies of spatial expan-
sion of tourist activity giving yet another new direction to the states plans to regen-
erate Attica as a tourist destination. The tools used in pursuit of this objective are
.30
,
Grecotel.31
-
, 4 5
.32
,
all-inclusive, ,
,
.

-
.33 -
,34 par excellence ,

.
-
-
-
. ..

2001, -
.
the repeal of saturation regimes for the region of Attica, the 1998 development
law, which would include as distinct categories, eligible to funding, certain types
of differentiated tourist product, and of course, the financial support packages
coming from the European Community on its way to monetary union.
In the new environment of liberalized money markets, large hotel cor-
porations gradually come under composite ventures with foreign participation,
such as the historic Lampsa Hellenic Hotels SA, owners of the Grande Bretagne
Hotel.30 In other instances large domestic chains are created following mergers
and acquisitions, as was the case with Grecotel.31 This trend of concentrating own-
ership of the countrys hotel capacity is further assisted in the post-Olympic games
period by state support for ultra-luxury facilities, four- and five-star hotels, and golf
courses.32 Greek tourism gradually incorporates practices of spatially sequester-
ing incoming tourists from the local communities, with, by now familiar, all-inclusive
packages, while opening up to new markets, beyond its traditional attachment to
West European countries, such as Russia.
In societal terms the new tendencies in tourism are inscribed in the trans-
formations that lead toward what is identified in the literature of sociology as a
risk society.33 The international tourist circuit,34 a phenomenon par excellence of
internationalization, becomes that much more vulnerable to international upheav-
47 essays

. ,
,35
-
. ,
AIDS

,
2009.
, -
-
-
. , 2008

.
, , -

.36
,
, , -
.37
-
. , , -
,
.
-

.38 -

als, the more the international economic environment is liberalized. As information

networks spread and as international tourist agencies constitute ever more special-
ized mechanisms of reaction to contingencies, each receiving country becomes
more vulnerable to unforeseeable fluctuations in annual demand levels. For in-
stance, the events of the Arab Spring were a boon to Greece during the crisis, and
the same is true, though in reverse, with the terrorism hysteria of 2001, which
partially contributed to Greece not capitalizing on the benefits of the Olympic
Games.
The risk economy, however, impinges on the very object of consumption.
The tourist product, but also the forms of enjoyment that establish it post-war as
the symbol of middle-class affluence,35 are presented in the public debate within
Greeces society as always being under risk. Skin cancer blights sun-bathing, the
spread of AIDS inhibits the sexual libertinism that came to be identified with sum-
mer holidays in the Mediterranean, and the natural environment is constantly un-
der threat, reaching a peak with the disastrous wildfires of 2009.
Ultimately, in the public discourse of Greek society, tourism appears as a
strong signifier to such a degree that it can oppose the societal or political prerog-
atives that are found in the core of citizenship. Thus, for instance, even before the
crisis of 2008, the endeavor to shape a national tourist policy was presented offi-
cially as at risk from social protest and the alternation in power of political parties.
.
39

.
,
,

.
60 1950 2010 -
.
Marshall Berman
, -

. 40

;

;
,
2004.
Closing Ceremony, Olympic Games
Athens 2004.
At the same time, however, the spread of information networks and the
differentiation of means of transport once again individualize tourist travels.36
New travelers constitute the object of their interest, their stops along their way,
and the trip overall, through their individual peregrination through the internet
and thus, through their practice, question the hegemony of established global tour
operators.37 In this way the prerequisites are put in place to preserve the great-
est perennial advantage of Greek tourism: its ability to diffuse socially generated
wealth toward the middle and lower classes, contrary to what is the case in other
Mediterranean countries.
Nowadays Greece is facing the challenge of transport differentiation
given that the rising trend in fuel prices internationally will unavoidably impact
the ability to compress flight costs over the medium term.38 Above all, however,
Greece is facing the challenge of public intervention so that the multitude of cul-
tural and social resources may be interlinked with the tourist offering, beyond the
traditional emphasis on the heritage of ancient Greece. The international tenden-
cy of reviving urban centers as tourist destinations39 poses the challenge of the
transition of Greek cities to a cultural economy. Through that, Greek tourism may
repeat its ancestral feat, the involvement in other words of new societal subjects
with it and the containment of emigration, at a time when unemployment becomes
the definitive event-horizon of any economic or political reflection.
49 essays
-

;
, 60 -
, .
, ,
,

. 41
,
,

.
.
In the sixty years from 1950 to 2010, tourism was the biggest under-
taking in the countrys economic and social modernization. A modernization,
however, of the type that Marshall Berman would call the modernism of under-
development, forced to subsist on fantasy and dreams of modernity, obligated
to feed on the familiarity and struggle with mirages and ghosts. 40 How else to ex-
plain the continual incongruity between the necessities of the tourist economy and
the priorities of tourist policy? And how else to construe the perennial promotion,
as national goal, of a cosmopolitan hereafter, when it is so out of synch with the
paucity of policies to exploit existing live cultural resources? And under what other
viewpoint should the fact be regarded of a perennial absence of linkage between
tourism and other major economic sectors, when it so often makes of tourism their
competitor rather than their supporter?
But, as architectural thought was pointing out in the 60s, tourism is the
economy of the paradoxical. Another figure of European letters, Albert Camus,
marked by the Mediterranean landscape, described the irrational condition as a
sojourn at that place where the subject is at the borderline between the realization
of the inexistence of a meaning in his life, without, however, giving in to resigna-
tion. 41 Tourism, after half a century of frustrations for Greek society frustration of
the promise for inter-cultural communication, frustration of the expectation to con-
tribute to the showcasing of the countrys cultural heritage, and frustration of the
social expectations to contribute to the reduction of inequality vis--vis the other
European economies is presented as a paradox. Greek society finds it impos-
sible, as yet, to ascribe any positive meaning to itself through tourism, at the same
time, it is condemned to persist in this effort.
5
/
, Michel Borne,
,
,

, 1998-2004.
PLEIAS/ Dimitris Diamantopoulos,
Michel Borne, Katerina Giouleka,
Orestis Vigopoulos,
Dionysiou Areopagitou & Apostolou
Pavlou Archaeological Promenade,
1998-2004
1. Hans Magnus Enzensberger, (: Scrip- 1. Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Politics and Culture (Athens: Scripta,
ta, 2004), 100. 2004), 100.
2. Dean MacCannell, The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class 2. Dean MacCannell, The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class
(Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1999), 43-48, 155-160. (Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1999), 43-48, 155-160.
3. . , , 3. . Kalinski, Long-term tourist planning, Architecture in Greece, issue

, 1 (1967): 116-121, 320. 1 (1967): 116-121, 320.
4. , , 4. Aris Konstantinidis, Architecture and tourism, Architecture in

, 1 (1967): 109-112, 318. Greece, issue 1 (1967): 109-112, 318.
5. , 5. Angelos Vlachos, Tourist Development and Public Policy in Contem-

, (1914-1950): porary Greece (1914-1950): The Emergence of a Modern Phenomenon,
( , Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, National and Capodistrian University
, 2013). of Athens, 2013.
6. Tony Judt, Postwar (London: Penguin, 2005), 63-99,360-389. 6. Tony Judt, Postwar (London: Penguin, 2005), 63-99, 360-389.
7. . , : 7. G. Stathakis, The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan: A History of

(: , 2004). American Aid in Greece (Athens: Vivliorama, 2004).
8. , : - 8. Panos Kazakos, Between State and Market: Economy and Economic

1944-2000 (: - Policy in Post-war Greece 1944-2000 (Athens: Patakis Editions, 2006),
, 2006), 165. 165.
9. Margarita Dritsas, Water, Culture and Leisure: From Spas to Beach 9. Margarita Dritsas, Water, Culture and Leisure: From Spas to Beach
Tourism in Greece during the Nineteenth Centuries, Water, Leisure Tourism in Greece during the Nineteenth Centuries, in Water, Leisure and
and Culture: European Historical Perspectives, . Susan Canderson and Culture: European Historical Perspectives, ed. Susan Canderson and Bruce
Bruce H. Tabb (Oxford: Berg, 2002), 199-204. H. Tabb (Oxford: Berg, 2002), 199-204.
10. ... 276, 21 1959, 10. Government Gazette Issue 276, 21 December 1959, Monetary
Committee Resolution Regarding the Banks grant of loans to hotel cor-
., 2340 ... 70, 24 1960, porations, 2340; Government Gazette Issue 70, 24 May 1960, Mon-
etary Committee Resolution Regarding the authorization of commercial
banks in Greece to invest available cash from deposits to cover share
capital of newly formed Industrial, Mining and Hotel Corporations.,
, ., 702.
702.
11. Orvar Lfgren, On Holiday: A History of Vacationing (Los Angeles:
11. Orvar Lfgren, On Holiday: A History of Vacationing (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999), 174-186.
University of California Press, 1999), 174-186.
12. Statistical Yearbook of Greece 1974, (Athens: Greek National Statis-
12. 1974, (: , 1975) 336. tical Service, 1975) 336.
13. Judt, Postwar, 331 & 347-353. 13. Judt, Postwar, 331 & 347-353.
14. , , 268. 14. Kazakos, Between State and Market, 268.
15. , : , 15. Paris Tsartas, Greek Tourist Development: Features, Explorations, Rec-
, (: , 2010) 136. ommendations (Athens: Kritiki, 2010) 136.
16. : ;, - 16. Tourism: The only solution for Greece?, Oikonomikos Tachydromos,
, 1027, 1972, 9-10. issue 1027, 1972, 9-10.
17. , 17. Michalis Nikolakakis, Tourism and Greek Society in the Period from
1945-1974 ( , 1945 to 1974 (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Crete,
, 2013) 298-310, 377-459. 2013) 298-310, 377-459.
18. Roger Bray & Vladimir Raitz, Flight to the Sun (London: Continuum, 18. Roger Bray & Vladimir Raitz, Flight to the Sun (London: Continuum,
2001), 161-171. 2001), 161-171.
19. . , : 19. Gerasimos . Zacharatos, Hotel Chamber of Greece: Milestones

(: in the Development of the Greek Hotel Sector (Athens: Kerkyra Editions),
), 196 . 196.
20. , (: , 1989). 20. Vassilis Vassilikos, The Harpoons (Athens: Gnosi, 1989).
21. ..: Susan Buck-Morss, Semiotic Boundaries and the Politics 21. See for instance: Susan Buck-Morss, Semiotic Boundaries and the
of Meaning: Modernity on Tour A Village in Transition, New Ways Politics of Meaning: Modernity on Tour A Village in Transition, in New
of Knowing, . Marcus G. Raskin & Herbert J. Bernstein (Totowa: Rowman Ways of Knowing, ed. Marcus G. Raskin & Herbert J. Bernstein (Totowa:
and Littlefield, 1987), 205. Rowman and Littlefield, 1987), 205.
22. , , 366-371. 22. Kazakos, Between State and Market, 366-371.

51 essays
23. Margarita Dritsas, Tourism and Business during the Twentieth Cen- 23. Margarita Dritsas, Tourism and Business During the Twentieth Century
tury in Greece: Continuity and Change, . Luciano Sagreto, Carles in Greece: Continuity and Change, ed. Luciano Segreto, Carles Manera &
Manera & Mabfred Pohl, Europe at the Seaside (New York: Bergham, Manfred Pohl, Europe at the Seaside (New York: Bergham, 2009), 61.
2009), 61.
24 Ioannis Papageorgiou, MIP (Mediterranean Integrated Pro-
24. , ( grammes), in ed. Vassilis Vamvakas & Panagis Panagiotopoulos, Greece
), . & in the 80s: Social, Political and Cultural Dictionary (Athens: To perasma,
, 80: , 2010) 340-342.
(: , 2010) 340-342.
25 Alexis Hadzidakis, Some comments on the architecture of tourism in
25. , post-war Greece, Synchrona Themata, issue 34 (1988), 42.
, , 34
(1988), 42. 26 Rhea Kalokardou-Krantonelli, Tourism: Policy and Implementation,
Synchrona Themata, issue 34 (1988), 16.
26. -, :
, , 34 (1988), 16. 27 Zacharatos, Hotel Chamber of Greece, 202-203.
27. , , 202-203. 28 Panayotis Komilis, Tourist policy and Integrated Tourist Develop-
ment Areas (ITDAs), Synchrona Themata, issue 55 (1995) 78-80.
28. ,
(....), , 29 On the political project of modernization see: Giorgos Stathakis,
55 (1995) 78-80. The Ineffective Modernization (Athens: Vivliorama, 2007) 33-56.
29. : 30 Angelos Vlachos, The Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens (Athens:

, (: , 2007) Kerkyra Editions, 2003) 155-157.
33-56.
31 Dritsas, Tourism and Business, op.cit., 70
30. Angelos Vlachos, The Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens (:
, 2003) 155-157. 32 Nellie Psarrou, Trip to Samothrace a Political Journal (Athens: .
Spyrou S.A., 2009) 187-201, 222-231, 248-252, 260-264.
31. Dritsas, Tourism and Business .., 70
33. Ulrich Beck, Risk Society, Towards a New Modernity (London: Sage
32. , Publications, 1992), 260.
(: . .., 2009) 187-201, 222-231, 248-252, 260-264.
34. Marie-Franoise Lanfant, Introduction: Tourism in the Process of
33. Ulrich Beck, Risk Society, Towards a New Modernity (London: Sage Internationalization, International Social Science Journal, issue XXXII
Publications, 1992), 260. (1980) 22-24.
34. Marie-Francoise Lanfant, Introduction: Tourism in the Process of 35. Lfgren, On Holiday, 271
Internationalization, International Social Science Journal, XXXII
(1980) 22-24. 36. John Urry, The Tourist Gaze (London: Athens, 2002) 84-92.
35. Lfgren, On Holiday, 271 37. Urry, The Tourist Gaze, 45-50; Gerasimos Zacharatos, Package Tour
(Athens: Propombos, 1999) 240-245.
36. John Urry, The Tourist Gaze (London: Athens, 2002) 84-92.
38. John Urry, Climate Change & Society (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011)
37. Urry, The Tourist Gaze, 45-50 , Package Tour 78-81.
(: , 1999) 240-245.
39. Steven Miles & Malcolm Miles, Consuming Cities (London: Palgrave,
38. John Urry, Climate Change & Society (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011) 2004) 66-85.
78-81.
40. Marshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts into Air (London: Verso,
39. Steven Miles & Malcolm Miles, Consuming Cities (London: Palgrave, 2010) 232.
2004) 66-85.
41. Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (Athens: Boukoumanis Editions,
40. Marshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts into Air (London: Verso, 1973) 61-62.
2010) 232.
41. , (:
, 1973) 61-62.

Postwar Tourist
Development in Greece

. GERASIMOS ZACHARATOS

,

,
. ,
.
-
-
: Gerasimos Zacharatos
. is Emeritus Professor,
, University of Patras;
, - he is General Director,
Institute of Tourist Research
and Forecasting
: , [ -
] -
, .
1950
2013.
Greek post-war economic policy conformed to the logic of the Marshal Plan.
Though in its early stages its general focus was on the countrys most pressing
needs, in order to jump-start the Greek economy, left in ruins by the war, the Plan
also included key strategies for tourist policy and development, pursued almost to
the present day.
They shaped the Greek governments program of interventions in the tour-
ist sector, and involved a qualitative dimension that, for long, influenced the overall
progress of tourist development, and particularly its mainstay: the hotel industry.
Those interventions were also an outcome of a widely held Keynesian
view of the states role in economic development, manifested in the post-war
period through two key developmental tools: Economic Development Plans, as
guidelines [the main ones are listed in the table below], and related Development
Laws, backed by financial instruments. Their effect is seen in the way key indicators
evolved from 1950 to 2013.
It should be noted that the post war inclusion of tourism in overall devel-
opment policies largely determined both tourisms growth rate in terms of infra
53 essays

(-
)
, , -
.
-
, -
, -
,
.
and super structure (hotel and recreation facilities) and the rate of modernization
of the countrys tourist-related natural, cultural and technical wherewithal.
The process of putting up hotel facilities throughout the land with increas-
ing spatial concentration came in tandem with capacity growth, both as a ratio
of rooms/beds per individual hotel, and as a ratio of individual units per hotel
enterprise especially in the top categories..
A brief account of the evolution of tourism begins in 1951, when the
Greek National Tourism Organization was re-established the agency mainly

1951, -
, .
1960,
,

(..2176/1952,
..2687/1953, ..3213/1955, ..2176/1952 .4171/1961).

1960 1964
tasked with pursuing tourist policy. Until the early 60s, tourism gathered steam
without any reliance on an overall development policy or any strategic guidelines,
save for five pieces of legislation generally geared toward industrial growth, with
provisions on tourism (legislative decrees 2176/1952, 2687/1953, 3213/1955,
2176/1952, and Law 4171/1961).
Official state interest was first manifested in the Five-year Plan for Eco-
nomic Development 1960-1964 and, until recently, the financing of Greek tourist
policy was regulated by successive Economic Development Plans, related Devel-
opment Laws, and statutory arrangements boosting investments. This was a sig-
nally privileged investment incentives policy in support of tourist development, and
55 essays
-
,
.

(1967-1974) .. 543/1968, -

. , ,
, -
(1975).
it peaked under the military regime (1967-1974) with Emergency Law 543/1968,
which resulted in a massing of large hotel capacities over a fairly short time. It is
telling how the highest average increase rate in rooms per hotel unit of the post-
war era coincides with the end of that particular period (1975).
Following the juntas collapse, tourist credit policies continued under pre-
dictatorship development framework practices, with added support in the shape
of new programs and statutory arrangements.
Tourism kept on growing after Greeces accession to the European Un-
ion in 1981 and until the end of the 80s, becoming more regionalized thanks
to investment schemes implemented under the Economic & Social Development
Plans of 1978-1982 and 1983-1987, and development laws 1116/1981, and,
especially, 1262/1982.
, -
-
,
( ...
95/14.10.1975).
-
, 1981,
1980,
-
1978-1982
1983-1987, .1116/1981 , ,
.1262/1982.
1990,

:
(1989 1993) , -
-

.
In the 90s, economic policy and public debate focused on the drive to
meet the Maastricht Treatys convergence criteria: the funding earmarked for tour-
ist development under the 1st Community Support Framework for Greece (1989-
1993), was released almost exclusively in support of private investments in hotels,
under new statutory rules geared to meet emerging needs and approaches.
Hotel capacity growth slowed down in 1990-1999, reaching 7,624 units
and 563,206 beds in 1997, compared to 6,457 units and 425,615 beds respec-
tively in 1990.
The liberalization begun in the 80s produced development law
1892/1990, supplemented by law 2234/1994, introducing significant restric-
tions on subsidies, and an element of competition among enterprises filing funding
requests. The financial policies of the time introduced the new concept of Integrat-
ed Tourist Development Regions (ITDRs), signaling the development of large-scale
tourist installations.
The period 1998-2004 saw the adoption of the euro as Greeces curren-
cy, along with CSF constraints, prospects, specifications and recommendations,
57 essays
T , 1990, -
, , 1997 7.624
563.206 , 6.457 425.615
, 1990.
,
1980 .1892/1990 -
.2234/1994, -
-
. , ,
, -

(....)

1998-2004 -
, ,
, -
.
2004 -
, -
,
.
2006, -

.3522/2006

.
,
, 1950 , ,
, -
(, , , )
,
.
greatly facilitating the tourism sector. Hotel capacity continued to grow, but at an
even slower rate than previously.
In 2004 the Ministry of Tourism was reinstated as Ministry for Tourist
Development, to be the key strategic and coordinating body for shaping tourist
policy, with the GNTO as its executive arm.
In late 2006 the European Commission adopted stricter guidelines on
state grants. Law 3522/2006 was enacted and by the end of the decade the
logic introduced by the NSRF shaped a new investment regime, streamlining the
incentive schemes promoted under previous legislation.
With a few fluctuations, tourism kept rising from 1950 on, as seen in
terms of arrivals, revenue, and hotel capacity, and in a breakdown by key markets
(France, Germany, UK, USA and Italy); this trend has remained strong, despite the
ongoing crisis.

1950-19741
Tourist Facilities in Greece
1950-1974 1

VASSILIS KOLONAS . -

O
. -

,
,
.
1840, .

Vassilis Kolonas is a -
historian of architecture,
Professor, University .
of Thessaly , Grand Hotel -
.

,
1903
(. ), -
, .
,
The offer of hospitality to travellers is inextricably tied to the history of civilization.

Rest-stop areas catering to the transport of people and goods evolved in tandem
with the means and infrastructures of transport. The siting of inns usually had to do
with their proximity to trading routes rather than with urban plans or architecture.
This conception of hospitality was to change in 1840 when railways became the 1
dominant mode of transport. Rising living standards among sizeable parts of the
. ,
population and the gradual diminution of the importance of geo-physical bounda- ,
ries resulted in a greater number of people being able to travel longer distances . , 1903.
P. Karathanassopoulos, Aktaion
for purposes of recreation. Hotels became commercial concerns and consumer Hotel, N. Faliron, 1903.
commodities, with Grand Hotels constituting their most luxurious offering world-
wide.
Such hotels were to enjoy a boom until the interwar years, and in Greece
setting aside the ones in the capital or in the well-known resorts of Kifisia and
Faliron, where, in 1903, the Aktaion (P. Karathanassopoulos) was to be built they
were to become poles of attraction in destinations already popular for spa tour-
ism, such as Aidipsos and Loutraki. Apart from spa towns, archaeological sites and
monuments continued to attract the interest of travellers, while the landscape and
61 essays
,

. ,
, 1906 -
() , , 1927

.
-
,
-
1914. ,
, , ,
, -
,
2. 1929 -
.

-
,

.

-

. Messageries Maritimes, Lloyd Triestino,
Hamburg America Linie American Express Wagons-lits Cook,
folk culture in Greece were gradually to supply additional incentives for potential
visitors to come to Greece. Among the archaeological sites that were exploited
beyond Attica were Olympia, where in 1906 the Peloponnese Railway Company
(SPAP) established its own hotel, and Delphi, where in 1927 the Delphic Festival
was first held on the initiative of Angelos and Eva Sikelianos.
The first attempt to create a legal framework for tourism that would gradu-
ally replace excursionism, dated to the end of World War I with the founding of
a Bureau for Foreigners and Expositions in 1914. Among the responsibilities of
the newly established service were transport issues, an oversight of hotel opera-
tions, care to beautify towns and archaeological sites, the duty to look after the
operation of spa towns, organizing and supervising festivals and performances,
and advertising the country abroad2. In 1929 the Bureau for Foreigners and Ex-
positions had its status upgraded to become an autonomous outfit: the Greek Na-
tional Tourism Organization. Among the important responsibilities it was assigned
were those of ensuring the further facilitation and protection of travellers with the
parallel removal of legislative barriers to movement within the land, providing a
measure of support to hotels by means of supplying sufficient appropriations or
credit-lines and, of course, the enhancement of the countrys promotion abroad.
In the context of those initiatives, Greece had become an important des-
tination for cruises organized in the East Mediterranean by major shipping com-
panies and travel bureaus of international standing. The literature published by
Messageries Maritimes, Lloyd Triestino, Hamburg Amerika Linie, along with Amer-
ican Express and Wagons-Lits Cook testifies to the increased demand for Greek
destinations. Illustrations in those luxury brochures were not restricted to monu-
ments any longer, but included subjects from the historical past and landscape
of Greece, as characteristically depicted in the National Shipping Company of
. -

, ,
-
,
.

, -
, 1931
-
, ,
. -
-
, -
.

Art Deco, -
,
19303. , ,
-
. -
-

.
Greeces brochure for Patris II, a vessel that is emblematic for architects, but which
did not garner the preference of an international clientele.
Greece was also advertised to motoring enthusiasts as a destination for
mountain tourism, while in a brochure issued in five languages by the GNTO in
December 1931, pavilions were presented for the first time tourist that were built
in the archaeological sites of Sounion, Corinth, Delos and Phaestos, in forms that
alluded to ideal representations of excavation data. It was the first state initiative
in the field of tourist facilities, a practice that, after the war, would spearhead the
countrys tourist development.
Private initiative enhanced the building stock of spa tourism, while the
luxury of Art Deco, a commonplace in Mediterranean spa towns, supplied the
choice par excellence for design proposals, realized or not, during the 30s3.
The hotels in Aidipsos, Kamena Vourla, Kylene and Methana, brought interna-
tional standards of urban architecture into the landscape of the springs. A special
case was the Kaiafa Baths facility, where various typologies and forms gradually
evolved a tradition of reductive eclecticism and calmly became a part of the
distinctive landscape of the lake.
For Greek architecture, the period from 1940 to 1952 was transitional as
to both the introduction and elaboration of international standards, and the extent
and importance of architectural production. After a decade of war and political
instability the country presented a picture of ruin, destruction, and devastation.
Under the Marshall Plan would come the reconstruction of the road network and
transport, the repair of railway stations and ports, the enhancement of know-how
in agriculture and farming, all this to be followed by major energy and initial in-
frastructure projects in cities, towns, and regions. Schools, health and welfare
facitilities, low-cost housing and public buildings were erected swiftly, while the
foundations were laid for modernizing the buildings used by commerce and indus-
63 essays
2. 1940-1952
, .
Patris II Brochure, National Shipping , ,
Company of Greece. .
3. I. B, -
, , 1929, , .
A, K, 1936,
. ,
I. Vassiliou, Olympia and Geranio , ,
Hotel, 1929, and Arini Hotel,
Kaiafa Baths aerial phot. , -

. , ,
-
,
.
,

1952, , -
,
,
.
(1948-1952),
,
.
1949 :
-
,
try. Tourism would constitute one of the foremost priorities for Greeces economic
recovery, though it would remain on the drawing board for some while given that
very few projects were realized by 1952, the final year of American funding,
which had chiefly been funnelled to the restoration of older hotels in Athens, Corfu
and Rhodes the latter already possessed of an excellent hotel infrastructure from
its period under Italian rule.
3
Though never realized, the Four-year Recovery Program (1948-1952)
introduced the concept of public intervention through central planning in the tour-
ism sector. In the February 1949 issue of Xenia magazine there was this typical
statement: because it is anticipated that, for several years, private initiative will
be particularly wary of creating large-scale tourism enterprises, in certain parts of
the country it is thought desirable that the state should create the first tourist facili-
ties in those locations.4 Meanwhile, at a press conference in August 1949, Paul
Hoffman, the man in charge of implementing the Marshall Plan in Europe said that
Greece should abandon its strategy of setting the foundations for industrialization
and face the future realistically by focusing on growth sectors such as tourism.
Your country is literally crying out for tourism! You have the most celebrated natu-
ral landscapes, traditional hospitality, world-renowned archaeological sites and a
wonderful climate. Much needs to be done of course, but you shall succeed if you
remember that you are Greek5.
, -
4. ,
1949,
Paul Hoffman -
-
:
!
, ,
. ,
5.

1950 -
.
1950
, ,
. -
, Paradores,
(, , -
) .
. .

6, , -
(, , ),
.
Under those circumstances, and with an air of perhaps excessive op-

timism, the GNTO was re-established in 1950 and a period of intense activity
was launched in Greece in the field of tourist and infrastructure projects. From
the outset of the 50s the GNTO built a series of modern and functional hotels
that subsequently became known as Xenia, units of a generally small capacity
with high quality services. The model for this policy is considered to have been
the corresponding hotel chain in Spain, the Paradores, which in their majority
were historical buildings (palaces, monasteries, castles) that were used as tourist
accommodation. Both the GNTO administration and the then Minister for Public
Works, K. Karamanlis, were familiar with this successful tourist model and felt that
circumstances were propitious given the unwillingness of private investors to en-
gage in tourist investments to have something along those lines applied also in
Greece6, with the difference that in the Greek case, barring very few exceptions
(Hydra, Meteora, Hosios Loukas), it involved new buildings designed by the ablest
architects of the time.
They constituted the most important initiative of the Greek state in the
area of public architecture since the educational reform of the El. Venizelos gov-
ernment (1928-1932), when a plan had been drawn up and implemented for
building 4,000 schoolrooms throughout Greece. In that instance also the most
important architects of the day had been employed, and their designs published
in the international architectural press.
The two distinct phases in the construction program of the state-owned Xe-
nia hotels were distinguished by the personality and work of architects Charalam-
bos Sfaellos, who was in charge of the GNTOs Technical Department from 1951
to 1958, and Aris Konstantinidis, design section head in the decade from 1957 to
65 essays

-
. (1928-1932).
4.000 .

.

-
,
1951 1958, , -
1957-1967, ,
. , . , . , . , . . -
.
1951 ..
, -
,
. .
(), . , (-
), . () . ().
. (1955),
(1956), (1957), (1958) (1960),
.
(, 1955), (, 1955), .
, . , . (, 1955).
Corfu Palace
(1953).
1967, with D. Zivas, K. Stamatis, K. Dialeisma, I. Triantafillidis, Ph. Vokos and G.

Nikoletopoulos as his regular team of associates.
The four hotels initially designed in 1951 by the GNTOs Technical De-
partment were in well known tourist destinations, i.e. Delphi, Nafplion, and My-
conos, but also in borderland Kastoria, for evident policy reasons. The designs
were undertaken by Ch. Sfaellos himself (Kastoria), Kl. Krantonellis, head of the
design section (Nafplio), Professor D. Pikionis (Delphi) and Pr. Vassiliadis (My-
conos). Ch. Sfaellos would also be designing the Xenia hotels in Argostoli (1955),
Thassos (1956), Hypati (1957), Corfu (1958) and Tsangarada (1960), while other
assignments were given to renowned architects of the day such as K. Kapsambellis
(Paros, 1955), the Doxiadis practice (Skyros, 1955), Em. Vourekas Pr. Vassiliadis
Per. Sakellarios (Zakynthos, 1955). The latter would also design the emblematic
Corfu Palace on Corfus Garitsa Bay (1953).
Assignments to extra-mural associates continued also under A. Konstan-
tinidis, even though most Xenia projects, along with the remaining tourist facilities
(tourist pavilions, organized beaches, border stations, etc.) were designed by the
GNTOs design section. By way of example we should mention the Xenia hotels
in Portaria (K. Kitsikis, 1960), Sifnos (Al. Papageorgiou-Venetas, 1961), Edessa (I.
. ,
Hotel du Lac, , 1951.
Ch. Sfaellos,
4 Hotel du Lac, Kastoria, 1951.

. ,
( , , -
.) . -
(. , 1960), (.
-, 1961), (. , 1961), -
(. , 1959) (. ,
. , 1960-62).
. . -

, -
. . . -

, 1957 -
1967 .
. -

, . -
.
,
.

, 7.
5. . , Rizos, 1961), Ouranoupolis (P. Sakellarios, 1959) and the facilities in Lagonissi (P.
, , 1951.
P. Vassiliadis, Leto Hotel, Mykonos, Tsolakis - Al. Zannos, 1960-62).
1951. Both Ch. Sfaellos and A. Konstantinidis expressed their views on the ar-
6. , chitecture of the new buildings and particularly their appropriateness to their sur-
, , 1955. roundings, thereby rendering an unplanned account of their tenures in the GNTO.
Doxiadis Office, Thetis Hotel, Skyros,
1955. Two journals, Architektoniki and Architecture in Greece were to be inaugurated
with papers on architecture for tourism by Ch. Sfaellos and A. Konstaninidis in
1957 and 1967 respectively.
Specifically, Ch. Sfaellos stated in Architektoniki that the function and
purpose of those new buildings impose certain solutions and shapes that should
be harmonized with this extraordinarily vulnerable environment without, however,
any romanticism or falsification. And he continued by dismissing any thought of
copying older forms. Such an imitation would not only be ugly and outside real-
ity, but is in fact impossible. The scale of the works is totally different and the con-
67 essays
, -
-
, .
,

. - 7

. ,
, , 1960.
. A. Konstantinidis, Xenia,
Mykonos, 1960.
1957, -
, .
1960
, ,
, -
, .
-
, , -
. 8.
:

,
,
. ,
-
cealment of the organic composition of the new facilities that address additional
requirements would be to the detriment of their regular function7.
However, it was, in fact, precisely the sheer scale of the projects that over-
shot the possibility of organically incorporating the new buildings into an insular
or mainland landscape, on the outskirts of traditional settlements mainly. Avoid-
ance of imitation led to reductive interpretations of form, but not to the degree that
the perennial principles of spatial organization became evident, with the result
that they became entrapped in a discreet use of traditional materials. The result
for the island settlements was less pronounced, due to the correlation of the white
surfaces with modern architecture as conceived by the architects of the day.
In 1957 after a successful term in the Low-cost Housing Organization, A.
Konstantinidis began his collaboration with the GNTO, and by 1960 he would
design the Triton Xenia Hotel in Andros in his own, very distinctive style, the result
of his experience with the LHO, the Xenia Motels in Larissa and Igoumenitsa in
a first attempt to standardise forms and the Xenia of Myconos, now regarded as
archetypal.
The Myconos Xenia, which broke down the overall volume into wings, fol-
lowing the model of Motels, raised a storm of recriminations in the Athenian press
as well as rejoinders from A. Konstantinidis supporters8. He explained the starting
point of his design proposal himself: And I built the hotel with the local stone,
which I left in its natural hue and texture, while I had the parapets on the roofs,
which were reinforced concrete, whitewashed, just like the locals of Myconos did
with drystone walls and their hump. And this in such a way, that when one saw
the Xenia from afar, one would think that the Xenia buildings also were drystone
walls with their hump, among the property walls that were strewn throughout the
landscape of Myconos9. And if with regard to the siting of the facilities the wings
were rigid and beyond the settlements scale, the forms, made part of the island
landscape in an exemplary manner, were subsequently adopted in many bunga-

9.
, ,
, -
bungalows , -
Creta each (. , 1964) Arriadni each (. , 1965). 8
, -
. ,
(. , 1961), , , 1958.
. - A. Konstantinidis, Triton Hotel,
Andros, 1958.
inos Beach (. , 1958),
Miramare .
(1958-1960) (1962) Club
Mediterran (1952 . .)
-
,
10.
60, -
, -
: ,
, , ,
. (.
, 1960) (. , . , 1960-62),
fully integrated

.
low complexes, especially in Crete, in the Creta Beach (R. Arvanitis, 1964) and
Ariadni Beach (M. Kostika, 1965) complexes.
The Myconos Xenia, which served as the model for Makryammos Motel
in Thassos (Sp. Tsaoussis, 1961) was not the first attempt at breaking down vol-
umes into wings or pavilions. Before it had come Minos Beach in Agios Nicolaos
9 (El. Soufli, 1958), the Miramare hotel chain complexes designed by Ch. Sfaellos
in Rhodes (1958-1960) and Corfu (1962), and, of course, the Club Mediterran
. , ,
, , 1961. facilities in Corfu and in Lambiri of Aigion (1952 onwards) the first tourist villages
S. Tsaoussis, Motel Xenia, in the country with Polynesian type awnings, and bungalows with one or two
Makryammos, Thassos, 1961.
beds, and a common dinning room, bar and dance floor, as well as several facili-
ties for games and sports10.
Gradually, and on a case-by-case basis, several of the Xenia hotels of the
60s, set aside single building solutions and followed town planning principles of
the modern: free deployment in space, possibility of extending in every dimension,
avoidance of axiality, landscaping, prioritization of movement patterns. Typical
examples were the Spetses Xenia (Ph. Vokos, 1960) and the Lagonissi Coast (P.
Tsolakis, Al. Zannos, 1960-62), the first fully integrated tourist village in Europe
so it was presented in tourist brochures built in a similar locality as, and to the
standards of the facilities of the Astir Hotels, at Laimos of Vouliagmeni.
We should not be enumerating all the hotels of the Xenia program and
their individual architectural virtues, but what we could say is that, just as in the
case of the schools in the 30s, the functional forms of modernity were adopted
once again in the way it had evolved internationally after the war. Despite any
differences in the personal approaches of each individual architect, the construc-
tional and functional clarity, the handling of the volumes, the palettes of color and
materials converged toward a homogenization of form, necessary to achieve rec-
ognizability for the states bid at modernization in the area of tourism. The adop-
69 essays

, ,
30, -
-
. -
, , ,

,
. -
, -
,

19 .
, . ,

, (
,
),

. , ,
.
,
, .

, ,
[]
11.
tion of the modern may have been definitive as to the architecture of the buildings;
still, the intentional avoidance of including them into an urban or rural landscape
revealed the stance underpinning the states modernization bid vis--vis neoclassi-
cal towns or cities, and the traditional architecture bequeathed by the 19th century.
As to the natural landscape, according to A. Konstantinidis, the architect
in charge of each hotel always had a say in the choice of location, so that cor-
rect orientation would be achieved (which in Greece is of paramount importance:
ideal conditions would be plots with a slight grade, facing east or south), close to
a road and with a view to a characteristic landscape or one of particular natural
beauty. The most difficult problem, he stressed, was that of placing a building cor-
rectly within the landscape. The new construction must be in harmony with nature
so as not to appear outlandish or at odds, but seem, rather to have been forever
part of the specific landscape. That is why we should be careful not only in how we
shape the volumes or the outline of the new hotel, but also regarding the construc-
tion materials, their hue, their texture, (...) so that they contribute to a harmonious
and gentle integration of the building in its surroundings11.
The Poros Xenia (A. Konstantinidis, 1961), however, followed a grid logic
and grouped the guestrooms in wings, adopting a break-down of volumes, without
utilizing the marked incline of the ground, which resulted in an awkward elevation
10 facing the sea, one that hardly persuades that it had been part of the landscape
. , Minos
as if it were always there. By contrast, in the Motels in Paliouri (A. Konstantinidis,
Beach, , 1960) and Itea (K. Dialeisma, 1960), the linear development of the wings along
, 1958.
E. Soufli, Minos Beach complex,
the coast enhanced the tranquility of the landscape by adding an additional hori-
Agios Nikolaos, Crete, 1958. zontal band of low buildings, in between the bands of sea, sand and plantings. A
(. , 1961),
,
,
,
,
. , (. -
, 1960) (. , 1960),

, -
, .
(. , 1961),
(. , 1960), . (. , 1961) (.
1960).
-
. , -
,
(,
1957) , (, -
) (, ). (1959)
-
: -
-
,
, .
,
11
12
11. . , similar arrangement was found in the GNTOs organized beaches in Kavala (G.
Miramare, , 1958-1960.
Ch. Sfaellos, Miramare complex, Nikoletopoulos, 1961), Patras (R. Koutsouris, 1960), Agios Cosmas (Ph. Vokos,
Rhodes, 1958-1960. 1961) and Voula (I. Triantafillidis, 1960).
12. Club Mediterrane, , A special mention is due to the work of the sole woman architect in A.
1952. Konstantinidis team, Kaiti Dialeisma, and the sensisitivity with which she generally
Club Mediterrane, Corfu, 1952.
handled the issue of integration, both of additions to existing buildings, neoclassi-
cal or traditional in form (Hydra, Olympia SPAP Hotel (1957)) or within a natural
landscape seaside (Itea, Eretria) or mountainous (Karpenissi, Andritsaina). The
Xenia in Andritsaina (1959), in particular, can be regarded as the epitome of a
creative interpretation of tradition: the base of the building, which follows the mor-
phology of the ground, could be paralleled to the masonry of the ground floor of
a traditional house, while the main body of the hotel, with the exposed frame and
enclosed balconies, to the timber frame construction of a houses superstructure.
Of course the problem of the buildings scale remains, exceeding as it does, by
far, the dimensions of a large mansion in the times of Ottoman rule: it can only be
compared to the accommodation wings of a monastery, a layout, by the way, that
was followed in the Ouranoupolis Xenia (P. Sakellarios, 1959).
71 essays

,
(. , 1959).
-
(. ,
1958) (. , 1958),
,
().
13

. , . , -, -
, 1960-62.
P. Tsolakis, A. Zannos, Lagonissi
-
Coast, 1960-62. ,
.
(. , 1961)
(. , 1959). .
1967, -
, ,

12.
-
, , -
,
, : .
, , -
. Athens Hilton (. , . , . , 1963)
,
Xenia hotels built on the bastions of byzantine fortifications replaced

older prison buildings in Arta (D. Zivas, 1958) and in Nafplion (I. Triantafillidis,
1958), without this automatically justifying the choice of siting, nor the demolitions
under summary proceedings (Chania). In any case, the thing sought in all the
siting choices that were made apart from accommodating local petty political
interests was an unhindered view toward the pair of poles monument-landscape,
without the least bit of concern for those who might wish to admire the view from
the monument to the landscape or vice-versa, without the intrusion of a tourist ho-
tel. Typical instances of vociferous protests in the Press were occasioned by hotels
Vouzas in Delphi (P. Sarlis, 1961) and Aigaion in Sounio (Ch. Sfaellos, 1959). It
was this latter that A. Konstantinidis was refering to in the first issue of Architecture
in Greece in 1967, while attempting some self-criticism of sorts over the Xenia
hotels that had been built side-by-side with, or on top of certain medieval castles,
blighting their appearance and historical dignity12.
The initiation, for that matter, of a more generalized soul-searching as to
issues of inclusion arose apropos of the imposition, almost simultaneously, of two
new reference points in the capitals architectural horizon, both in its urban, and its
suburban, natural landscape: the Hilton and the Mont Parnes Hotels. The former
had to be juxtaposed to a monument, the Parthenon; the latter to a landscape,
the mountain of Parnes. The Athens Hilton (E. Vourekas, S. Staikos, P. Vassiliadis,
1963), third in a row in the SE Mediterranean, after Cairo and Istanbul without 14
ever managing to overshadow the prestige of its two predecessors constituted
another typical example of an international hotel with American standards of
hospitality: yet another Little America, as Conrad Hilton was wont to call his . , ,
hotels. Vincent Scully lambasted the visual relation between the Hilton and the , 1960.
A. Konstantinidis, Motel Xenia,
Parthenon in the Architectural Forum13, at the time when Athens was boasting of Paliouri, 1960.
15. . ,
, ,
1957. standards -
K. Dialeisma, SPAP Hotel extension, , Little America
Olympia, 1957.
Conrad Hilton. O Vicent Scully --
6. . , , Architectural Forum13,
, 1960.
K. Dialeisma, Motel Xenia, ,
Itea, 1960. .
, P. M,
(1966),
, ,
, : And from here yu can
see the Hilton Hotel! 14
(. , 1961), -
,
-
, .

-
15.
,
. . -
, ( 1961) (1964),
. ,
-
15
16
its first international hotel, with a whole neighborhood upgraded as being be-
hind the Hilton. As for the stand taken by the citys inhabitants in the architects
controversy, it was recorded in R. Manthoulis film, Face to face (1966) where a
modern Athenian, who had taken upon herself the duty of showing a few foreign
visitors around, arrived at the Parthenon and, turning her back on the monument,
exclaimed proudly: And from here yu can see the Hilton Hotel!14
The Mont Parnes (P. Mylonas, 1961) was an attempt the transpose the
mountain tourism model to Greece in vain, since the distance from the city-center
and the rival claims of the Astir beach and sea-side vacationing did nothing to
boost the number of visitors to the hotel. For that matter, with construction of the
mountain hotel in Parnes in progress, the GNTO had announced that ground-
breaking works would begin at Mikro Kavouri and Vouliagmeni, to prepare the
locations for the construction, thanks to private and other funding, of a major
73 essays
,
,
.

,
17
: (. , 1964),
. , , , (. , 1966).
1959. , , -
K. Dialeisma, Xenia, Adritsaina,
1959. ,
, -
, 10
. , ,
. . ,
, ,
, .

196316 -
,
(. , 1959)
.
,

, , -
.
: , ,
. ,
. -
hotel and sea-bathing facilities15. Notwithstanding the question of integration, or

the high cost involved, which was at issue in the controversy between Ant. Kitsikis
and P. Vassiliadis through the architectural journals of the day - Architektoniki (July
1961) and Zygos (1964) - the solution proposed by P. Mylonas was imaginative,
featuring a broken line and curve, seeking to tone down the monolithic volume
of the central building, while he also designed all the furniture, endeavoring to
render abstractly the traditions of various geographical regions, as well as of the
historical eras of the country. The hotel was used as exclusive venue for the action
in several films which made it familiar around the land, though that didnt succeed
in increasing the number of visitors to it: The Emir and the pauper (O. Laskos,
1964), A man for all chores (G. Konstantinou, 1966).
In the meantime, on the year when Mont Parnes was inaugurated, the
Committee for National Landscape and Cities, which aimed at pursuing action to
combat the destruction of the natural landscape, the distortion of city and village
and disrespect against archaeological treasures marked its first ten years in exist-
ence. Ten active years, its president, professor Pikionis, observed sadly. Active
both on the part of the Committee, which gave a series of brave battles, but also,
and chiefly, on the part of the persecutors of the Athenian landscape, who won
most of them. This was the melancholy conclusion drawn at the first exhibition of
the Committee which was opened in the spring of 1963 and where there was natu-
rally no reference at all to state interference, with all of the Committees ire fall-
18
ing on Aigaion (Ch. Sfaellos, 1959) which had sullied the view toward Sounion.
From all that has been said to this point it is clear that the hotels in the . , ,
, , 1958.
states plans were not catering exclusively to well known archaeological sites, nor I. Trantafyllidis, Xenia, Akronafplia,
to the much frequented summer resorts of Rhodes, Corfu or the Argo-Saronic gulf. Nafplion, 1958.
, , ,
. 1954 .
. .
. -
,

, ( )
( -
).
, ,
, , -
, ,
, , , ,
, , . , -
, ,
17.
1961, , -
.
, ,
,
, , -
. ,

, ,
Until now Tourism meant Archaeology: Delphi, Olympia, Knossos, etc.,

famous place names, all of them beacons for attracting foreigners. But time went
by and the numbers of foreigners tourists with a love for antiquity did not grow,
while in neighboring Italy, they had begun counting the tourists by the millions.
From 1954, the then Premier, K. Karamanlis solved the tourist problem of the
country in the only fitting way. Without sidelining the value or import of the archae-
ological sites, and while the works to develop them continued, the thrust of the
19
entire tourist effort shifted and was geared now to the exploitation of the Greek
. , landscape which was both unique (as were our antiquities) and inspiring or inter-
, , 1961.
P. Mylonas, Mont Parnes Hotel,
esting to all foreign visitors (which wasnt necessarily the case with our antiquities).
Mount of Parnes, 1961. The purest of air, thousands of beaches and coves, a sea of unparal-
leled loveliness, an agreeable climate, plus many other inestimable, unique, un-
exploited, enthralling elements, and along with them, of course, Delphi, Olympia,
Knossos and Phaestos, and also Meteora, Mystras, Pella, Ioannina, etc. The pro-
jects under this new orientation had begun and the number of foreign visitors was
constantly multiplying, while increasing amounts of foreign currency were brought
into the country and stayed here16.
In 1961, the year when this article was published, the first five-year plan
for the countrys tourist development was launched. Its basic principles were the
showcasing not only of the monuments, but also of the natural landscape, the devel-
opment of marine tourism, tourist development of new regions chiefly in the main-
land while it was now addressed not only to the upper but to the middle class too.
More specifically, as regarded the former parameter, it was characteristically said
that Greek tourism should no longer be based only on the ancient monuments,
as was the case in the past, but should also put emphasis on the natural beauty of
our landscape, which responds to humanitys new turn toward nature, and should
emphasize modern comforts and amenities and the sheer luxury of life17.
75 essays
,
, -
18.
-

,
,
. 20
- -
, . ,
, , 1959
(1959), - Ch. Sfaellos, Aigaion Hotel,
Sounion, 1959.
, , ,
, .
, ,
.
21
. , . , Another important fact was that tourist policy was now mindful of visitors
. ,
Athens Hilton, 1963. from Central Europe too, not just from the US, while an effort was launched to de-
E. Vourekas, Sp. Staikos, velop the coastline of the Northern Aegean, which, though it included some of the
Pr. Vassiliadis, Athens Hilton, 1963.
most beautiful spots in the Mediterranean, remained largely unknown.
Already, two highways, the Athens-Thessaloniki road and the Western
Greece road, which was designed apropos of the Greece-Italy shipping route
from the port of Igoumenitsa (1959), presaged the economic revival of many inac-
cessible parts of the country, with the emergence of a dense network of motels,
hotels, and border stations in Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace. It was diffi-
cult to ensure sufficient numbers of overnight stays in the motels, particularly in Epi-
rus, when an alternative sea-route to Italy was inaugurated from the port of Patras.
The situation was similar in the borderland prefectures of Macedonia and Thrace,
where the establishment of tourist hotels was serving apart from the overall policy
planning priorities in the region, also the petty political party interests of the local
politicos. The fact that, in all Xenia hotels, provision had been made for additional
common areas, beyond those strictly needful for their clients, in order that they
might be used by the local communities, merely delayed their inevitable decline.
The national monuments-landscape bipolarity was also to be discerned
in Greeces promotion campaign abroad. To the Parthenon, Sounion, and Lin-
dos would be added the Meteora and the island landscapes (Life Magazine, in
the 50s and 60s); Holiday presented Slim Aarons well-known piece on Athens,
where monuments served as the background of a sophisticated lifestyle (Decem-
ber 1961) while Paris Match devoted an entire issue exclusively to the islands
(July 1966). Greece started being promoted abroad with posters and advertis-
ing brochures created by well-known artists who depicted the Greek landscape,
par excellence, along with the virtues of everyday life in the Greek countryside.
, -
-
, .
,
,
, .
- -
. ,
( Life, 50 &
60), o Holiday Slim Aarons ,
back stage life style (-
1961), Paris Match -
( 1966).

. -
: ,
, -

(Jules Dassin, 1960)
.
(M. , 1964), J. Dassin
, ,
, , -
,
.
Foreigners discovered the innocence of the Greek summer at the same time that
Greeks were singing: A few pine trees, a few pieces of white marble, and a sea
sparkling with freshness, this is what Greece is about The country was adver-
tised through foreign motion picture productions filmed in Greece, and Never on
A Sunday (Jules Dassin, 1960) functioned as an international passport for Greek
tourism. Just like Zorba the Greek (M. Cacoyannis, 1964), which was to be filmed
a few years later, J. Dassins film did not promote an idyllic picture of the country,
let alone its history, but just the Greek way of life even though idealized, with
a common denominator of fun and recreation that would soon become the key
goals of mass tourism.
Conversely, for Greek film, a significant pole of attraction was offered
by vacation resorts, with a transfer of the action from the capital to the centres of
domestic tourism. Corfu Palace and the facilities of the Club Mediterran in Corfu,
SHELL

,
. .
Shell brochure for the new Western
Greece road and the Greece-Italy
shipping route from the port of
Igoumenitsa, V. Kolonas. 22
77 essays
, -

. K, Corfu Palace -
Club Mediterran bungalows Miramare
P K (.
, 1960), N M (. , 1960).
23
,
. ( , 1960), (- . ,
, 1963), ( ; 1961) , , 1958.
I. Trantafyllidis, Motel Xenia,
(, , 1966) - Messolonghi, 1958.
.
. (1967), road movie
(. , 1958),

.
,
. -
.

(..
) . -
: -
- -

and the bungalows of Miramare in Rhodes would serve as the main location of
action in the films Rendezvous in Corfu (D. Dadiras, 1960) and Nights at Mira-
mare (O. Laskos, 1960). The state-owned Xenia hotels would rarely be shown on
Greek films, with the exception of the one in Lagonissi. The Xenias of Paros (Once
A Thief, 1960), Poros (Children and Grownups in Action, 1963), Kos (Who is Mar-
garita?, 1961) and Spetses (Jenny, Jenny, 1966) exhausted the options of Greek
film directors to use them as a venue for their plots. A special case was the film
Silhouettes of K. Zois (1967), a road movie of sorts that incorporated the Messo-
longhi Motel (I. Triantafillidis, 1958) as a road stop in the leading characters trips
between Athens and the provinces. At the same time, shots of the temporary rigs in
the lagoon made a symbolic reference to all the dialectic about sheltered areas,
natural materials and integration in the landscape coursing through the works of
A. Konstantinidis and his associates at the GNTO.
The Hotel Chamber objected to the Xenia project because it introduced
specifications that were new to Greece (e.g. bathrooms en suite) which it would
have to compete with. That, in fact, was the aim of the states planning: that they
should be offering standards for private initiative to aspire to, so that the role of
the state as hotel operator should cease, and so that public expenditure in tourism
as concerned the hotel aspect be replaced by investments of private capital, so
that the GNTO should be able to put its main thrust behind other tourist facilities
(tourist pavilions, beaches, development of archaeological sites). New, modern
hotels adopted not just the operational and building concept of the Xenia hotels,
but also their undeniable prestige, as a brand of tourist architecture in post-war
Greece. Among them should be noted the Grand Hotel Summer Palace in Rhodes
(N. Chatzimichalis, 1963) of the Astir Tourist and Hotel Corporation SA, hotel
Amalia in Delphi (1965) - the first of a private chain of hotels with Nikos Valsama-
(-
, , ). ,

, , -
.
Grand Hotel Summer Palace
(. , 1963),
(1965), -
bungalows Green Coast

. ( 1964).
,
1965 -
,
. 88

( ). -
-
,
19.
.
1965,
1.000.000 .
kis as architect - and the Green Coast bungalows complex in Sounion, designed
by Aristomenis Provelengios, with an integration logic similar to that of A. Konstan-
tinidis (prior to 1964).
In the evolutionary course of this phenomenon, 1965 was a milestone
year. It saw the launch of the new program of tourist development, the key objec-
tive of which was to cater to both Greek and foreign tourists, en masse. The
GNTOs program included 88 new tourist facilities to be constructed in select
locations in the Greek provinces to establish new poles of attraction for tourist
flows (package tours). Those new units were intended to generate interest among
potential private investors for them to undertake the creation of tourist zones,
i.e. the implementation of a series of tourist projects for the exploitation in full of
privileged areas18.
Greek Tourism broke through the barrier of underdevelopment. The
foreigners that visited Greece in 1965, when counted with those arriving on cruis-
es, exceeded 1,000,000 people.
A journalist in an Athenian newspaper posed the question: What kind
of tourist installations shall be organized from now on so that our guests can enjoy
themselves and our economy can benefit? More specifically: Shall we be build-
ing more Xenia-type hotels, motels and bungalows, or shall we accept the new,
modern forms of tourist facilities, tourist villages for instance? What measures shall
we be taking to ensure that we dont spoil this famous couleur local, our Greek
tradition and landscape19.
Among those asked about the eternal problem of form, Ch. Sfaellos, spe-
cial technical advisor to the GNTO at that time, fifteen years after the first hotel he
had designed for the GNTO in Kastoria, said that there is no question of a prede-
termined form for the facilities. To this issue a response has been given thirty years
ago by the CIAM International Architectural Conferences, and Le Corbusier, who,
in the Charte dAthnes, determined that, without seeking to imitate the traditional
79 essays
: -
-
, ; :
, ,
, ,
;
, ;20.
,
. , ,
,
.
30
(CIAM)
( )
,
-
.
,
24
25
24. . , forms of historical contexts, new facilities should be put at a sufficient distance from
Grand Hotel Summer Palace,
, 1963. the former so that they not be juxtaposed with them and distort the entire whole.
N.Chatzimichalis, Grand Hotel Whenever this proves impossible, due to particular geographical constraints, it
Summer Palace, Rhodes, 1963.
suffices that those new facilities be m o d e s t not only in volume, but in style and
25. . , appearance too. In the final analysis, it is not the new form that disturbs, but out-of-
Elounda each, 1969, .
Sp. Kokotos, Elound Beach. scale constructions that degrade, or even destroy the old environment, due to their
volume, and that disturb the urban tissue and the circulation of our habitations20.
Among the interesting proposals of the day for a further break down of
volume in hotel facilities and the creation of vacation villages, were ydra each
of S. and D. Antonakakis (1965, 1968) and Elounda each of Sp. Kokotos
(1969). If the fundamental organizational principles for the layout of the Hydra
each complex followed a set of hierarchies of smalllarge, tallshort buildings
and the free siting of the various units and wings in relation to one another21,
Elounda Beach constituted a transition from the town planning found in the mod-
ern paradigm, to the transcription of tradition, both at the level of types and forms
(church, arches), as well as at the level of urban planning (lines, fabric).
. ,
,
-
21.

-
ydra each . & . (1965, 1968)
Elounda each . (1969). Hydra each -
-,
-
22, o Elounda Beach
,
(, ), -
(, ).
60
70,
.

. -
,
,
Towards the end of the 60s and chiefly during the 70s, the explosive
growth of tourism in Greece related to the regime of that era too brought ab-
solute confusion to the hotel sector. In the name of a swift tourist development
that was much sought after, everything was permitted by derogation. In view of
the unstoppable wave of mass tourism invading the country along with the tourist
agents holding sway over it, and in view also of the low-interest loans and sub-
sidies with state backed guaranties that were on offer, the average capacity of
hotels increased (to 150-200 beds), volumes became monolithic, state-owned lots
were ceded ad hoc to private individuals for tourist exploitation, in exchange
of a token, minimal consideration, eminent domain was invoked for the expro-
priation of private tracts of land, and barricades of hotels were erected along
the coastline, enclosing immense tracts of beach frontage for the exclusive use of
their clients as bathers22. Under law 395/1968 maximum heights were increased
(specifically, licenses were granted for two additional storeys in Athens and Thes-
saloniki) and multi-storey hotels were built in Rhodes, Crete, Argolis, Halkidiki,
Corfu and the Saronic gulf littoral.
Their main standard of reference, were the monoblock hotel designs
brought over from American resorts on the Pacific (Acapulco) and spreading over
. ,
Pallini each, , 1973.
A. Stragalis, Pallini Beach Complex,
26 Chalkidiki, 1973.
81 essays
(150-200 ), -
,
- ,
, -
-
23. .395/1968
( 2 -
) , , ,
, .
, monoblock -
(Acapulco)
Costa Brava Costa del Sol.

-

.

,
-
. -
20
1999: PLM, AKS (.
, . , 1971) Kontokali Palace (. -
, . , 1968). -

the beaches of the Costa Brava and Costa del Sol. It would quickly become ap-
parent even there, however, that they did not in fact meet the demands of an ever
increasing flow of tourism that was looking for a new type of vacation, and so
the big complexes broke down their volumes into smaller units which sought to
become integrated with the natural surroundings.
In Greece a significant number of those hotels continued to implement
modern architecture successfully, on a different scale, and to specifications that
rendered Greek tourism internationally competitive. Among them we should men-
tion two hotels of this type that were presented in the exposition of 20th century
Greek architecture held in Frankfurt in 1999: PLM, now AKS hotel in Porto Heli (K.
Fines, K. Papaioannou, 1971) and Kontokali Palace in Corfu (D. Koutsoudakis, V.
Bogakos, 1968). Another special case may also be found in certain autonomous
tourist complexes geared mainly to high-income tourists looking for greater free-
dom of movement and the ability to be in touch with the environment which due
to the greater area of their plots, their being removed at some distance from the
settlements in their vicinity, and, chiefly, due to the break down of their volume
into individual buildings (wings, bungalows) reflect a diversity of architectural ap-
proaches, both at the design level, and at that of adapting to the existing environ-
ment, whether natural or built: Myrina Coast, (J. Empeyta, 1964 & Alex. Tom-
bazis, 1971), Icaros Village in Crete (Huesler, Thanou, Stylianidis), and Lychnos
Beach in Parga (Ch. Iakovidis, Gr. Mavromatis, 1969).
Along general lines, however, and within an escalating construction
boom and a reckless exploitation of land, architecture was relegated to the back-
, , , ,
(, bungalows), -
, ,
, : , (J. Empeyta, 1964
& . , 1971), Icaros Village (, , -
), Lychnos Beach (. , . , 1969).

,
-
. -

-
.
1975-1976 -
(, , )
, -

, -
. . -
. , ,
bungalows, ,
, -

. ,
ground while indifference regarding integration within the landscape and the
state of the environment reached a peak. The establishment of tourist facilities,
either in monoblock buildings or complexes with their volumes broken down, of an
indifferent, ho-hum modern architecture that had enjoyed such favor, brought
about, as collateral damage, a demotion of the importance of traditional settle-
ments and of their architectural identity.
The GNTOs initiative in 1975-1976 of declaring certain selected settle-
ments as cultural heritage meriting protection (Cycladic islands, Pelion, Mani) and
. , . ,
Kontokali Palace,
, 1968.
D. Koutsoudakis, V. Bogakos,
Kontokali Palace Hotel, Corfu, 1968. 27
83 essays
,
24.
,
bungalows , , -
.
-
. -
. -

, , 25.
, , , -
. ,
,
Empeyta, 1964, . ,
1971,
, .
J. Empeyta, 1964, A. Tombazis,
1971, Myrina Coast facilities,
Lemnos. 28
of using them as hospitality accommodation through the Program for Traditional

Settlements and Rooms-to-Let realized the potential of abandoned building ca-
pacity for tourist exploitation, implementing thus at long last the proposals tabled
a decade earlier by Ch. Sfaellos and I. Despotopoulos.
Sfaellos, in contrast to tourist villages, i.e. large complexes of motels
and bungalows, had proposed real villages, which, due to their excellent situa-
tion, climate and interesting architectural and town planning forms, could poten-
tially serve as points of attraction for foreign vacationers. The role of tourism then
is without altering the genouineness of its form to impove the living conditions
within it and, at the same time, provide amenities to vacationers23.
Despotopoulos also proposed that, apart from the mixed complexes of
bungalows and hotel units, there should be tourist villages, mainly as extensions
and supplements of existing villages. He admitted that the latter constituted the
most difficult case, since a tourist village would be emerging from a village that
wasnt touristic. The reversal usually creates a false setting for a village, one that
is stillborn from the start. Finally he proposed to the GNTO that it should make
the most of well-nigh abandoned old settlements on islands and elsewhere, aban-
doned monasteries, towers and castles24.
Be that as it may, time has shown this intiative as confirmation of the
worst fears of I. Despotopoulos: it has degraded the modern within the collective
memory and has turned the common feeling toward every sort of revival, a far
cry obviously from the authentic vernacular of each region. Thus arose all those
neologisms in the architecture of tourism which, instead of utilising a reduction in
.

,
,
.

,
, .

.
/ -

/
60,
,
, ,
!
scale as their main feature that having been perhaps the sole negative element
of the last phase of the modern demonstrated in a most offensive manner how su-
perficial was their interpretation of tradition and historical forms, not only with new
constructions, but also with vulgar renovations of the heritage of the modern.
The attempts to beautify this heritage and integrate it into the Greek
landscape were exhausted in a superficial and decorative use of certain spuri-
ous elements of traditional architecture, irrespective of their historical reference
period, provenance or functionality.
Perhaps there is still room to reverse the influence of this pious and by-
the-book revival of traditional settlements. So that it will not, once again, lead to
a sanctification/standardization of tradition along with a further devaluation of
the heritage of the modern both at the level of form and at that of deployment/
density in space but rather to an equally exemplary modernization of the tourist
facilities of the 60s, through revisited forms of the modern, which renew, without
defiling, the vision of a generation of architects, government functionaries and
investors who wanted a Greece that would be modern!
. , . ,
Lychnos Beach,
, 1969.
Ch. Iakovidis, G. Mavromatis,
Lychnos Beach Complex,
29 Parga, 1969.
85 essays
1. 1. This paper is based on the authors research project of the same title,
. . (2009-11) supported by the I. Ph. Costopoulos Foundation (2009-11) and the Min-
(2011-14) - istry of Culture (2011-14), and also on announcements and publications
. related to it to date.
2. . , 1945-1974, 2. M. Nikolakakis, Tourism and Greek Society 1945-1974, Unpublished

, , - Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Crete, 2013,
, 2013, . 173 p. 173
3. . . , E 3. See V. Kolonas, Greek architectural creation during the Interwar

M, H E 20 , B2 period, Greece in the 20 th century, volume B2 (1922-1940), (ed. Chr.
(1922-1940), . X. X, B, A 2003, . 460- Hadziiosif), Vivliorama, Athens 2003, pp. 460-539.
539
4. A. Vlachos, Tourist Development and Public Policies in Contempo-
4. . , - rary Greece, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of History-
, , -- Archaeology, National and Capodistrian University of Athens, 2013, p.
, , 2013, . 214.
214
5. A. Vlachos, op. cit., p. 434.
5. A. , .., .434
6. Authors interview with Ap. Doxiadis, VP of the BoD of the Lampsas
6. . , Greek Hotels Corporation SA

7. Ch. A. Sfaellos, Architecture and Tourism, Architektoniki, No 1,
7. . . , , , . 1957, p. 20.
1, 1957, .20
8. V. Kolonas, From Xenia to Tourist Villages: From an Architecture to a
8. . , . - Town Planning of Tourism in Greece (1950-1975), Proceedings of the 5th
(1950-1975), Scholarly Meeting of the Greek DOCOMOMO on the topic of The Greek
5 DOCOMOMO City and the Town Planning of the Modern Movement, Department of Ar-
, - chitecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, June 2010 (forthcoming)
, A, 2010 ( )
9. The architect Aris Konstantinidis, GNTO Calendar, Athens, 2008
9. O , , , (w.p.)
2008 (..)
10. Eleftheria, 18/10/1960
10. , 18/10/1960
11. . Konstantinidis, The Architecture of Xenia Hotels, World Architec-
11. . Konstantinidis, The Architecture of Xenia Hotels, World Archite- ture 3, New York 1966, pp.145-146.
cure 3, New York 1966, .145-146
12. A. Konstantinidis, Architecture and Tourism , Architecture in Greece
12. . , , 1967, p. 111.
1967, .111
13. V. Scully, The Athens Hilton: A study in Vandalism, Architectural Fo-
13. V. Scully, The Athens Hilton: A study in Vandalism, Architectural Fo- rum, Jul.1963, pp. 100-103.
rum, .1963, . 100-103
14. V. Kolonas, The Greek city and architecture in the films of Greek
14. . , cinema in the 50s and 60s, Architektones, No 35, Oct. 2002, pp. 63-
50 60, A, . 35, 65. The specific excerpt was identified and first commented on by Marc
. 2002, . 63-65. T Gastine and Soula Drakopoulou in their film: Athens: Looking for the Lost
Marc Gastine City (1993).
: A, (1993)
15. Kathimerini 5/6/1958
15. , 5/6/1958
16. Kathimerini, 30/9/1961
16. , 1963, . 15-16
17. Xenia, July 1961, No. 48 p. 6
17. , 30/9/1961
18. Annual Album of the International Exposition of Thessaloniki, 1966
18. , 1961, . 48 . 6
19. A. Alexandropoulos, Where is our tourism headed for?, Eleftheria,
19. , 1966 26.3.1966.
20. . , , , 20. Eleftheria, 26/3/1966

26/3/1966
21. Hotel complex in Hermionis. Atelier 66: D. Antonakakis and S. Anto-
21. , 26/3/1966 nakaki, Architecture in Greece, 8/1974, pp. 158-165.
22. . 66: . 22. Kalokardou-Krantonelli R., Tourism and Architecture in Tsartas

. , , 8/1974, . P. (ed.) Social Impact of Tourism in the Prefectures of Corfu and Lasithi,
158-165 NCSR/GNTO, Athens, 1995, pp. 233-270
23. - ., 23. Eleftheria, 26/3/1966

. (.)
, /, , 1995, . 233-270 24. Eleftheria, 3/4/1966
24. , 26/3/1966
25. , 3/4/1966

Architecture in the Era
of Mass Tourism
-
, DIMITRIS PHILIPPIDES
,
1950,
. , ,
,
, -

,
Dimitris Philippides is an
. architect, Professor
, Emeritus, National Techni-
, , cal University of Athens
.
,
, -
. -,

The critical point marking the shift in Greek post-war tourism was when it was trans-
formed into mass tourism, which happened, of course, not because of any momen-
tous local change, but because, as affluence spread in the world after 1950, this
was what was demanded by the growth of the international leisure travel industry.
Whatever might have been enounced or planned earlier as national development
policy, had to be put on new foundations, since, transnationally there emerged
strong economic dependencies by dint of the decisive role of intermediary played
by multinational tour operators. The impact of those new conditions on the Greek
market, and therefore on architecture for tourism, was profound, and it was to
leave indelible traces on the Greek urban and natural landscape.
A while earlier, the GNTO, having designed and built an exemplary set
of Xenia hotels throughout the country, had made a turn towards another direc-
tion, and was finding it hard to adjust promptly. As was usually the case, initiatives
for dealing with the new circumstances passed into the hands of private capital.
Thus, symbolically, the inauguration of the new period for tourist development was
held in Athens, with the completion, almost simultaneously, of two emblematic ho-
tels, the Athens Hilton (P. Vassiliadis, E. Vourekas, S. Staikos, 1958-63) [pl. 1]
in the heart of the city, and Mont Parnes (P. Mylonas, 1958-61) in neighboring
mount Parnes. There was a tremendous spontaneous furor occasioned by both,
given their luxury and their plentiful excesses, which were in marked contrast to the
air of virtuous simplicity achieved by the Xenia hotels.
87 essays
. , -
, , ,
, (. , . -
, . , 1958-63) [. 1]
(. , 1958-61) . ,
,

.
.
:
, ,
,
. 60
, ,

.
No one seemed to have an inkling of what exactly was to follow. One

thing was already clear, however: the element that the Xenia typology sought
to keep under a tight rein, i.e. its strict control over the dimensions of tourist facil-
ity buildings, so as for them to be integrated harmoniously with the environment,
would be jettisoned as a matter of course. The clumsy complexes built before
1960 purely for reasons of speculation, would now enjoy a come-back with a
vengeance, with the withering excuse that it was the only way for package tours
to be properly catered to.
Thus the first charter planes landing on Greek soil in the 60s, mainly
in Rhodes and Corfu, and, somewhat later, in Crete, found a hotel infrastructure
ready in place to receive the waves of organized tourism unprecedented in their
numbers and frequency that flew in from Europe and America.
If all the above define the dominant, growing trend in tourist develop-
ment in Greece for the ensuing decades, we should imagine that there were other
forces operating in parallel, but in an opposite direction. Because, in some ways,
what the design of the Xenia hotels had laid the ground for, even though the tim-
ing may have been slightly off, was the turn to the conservation of the natural and
man-made environment. At the same time, and irrespective of the GNTOs strategy
. , . ,
. ,
, 1958-63
P. Vasilliadis, E. Vourekas, S. Staikos,
1 1958-63, Athens Hilton Hotel

o 60, ,

.
, -
, -
.
, ,
, -
. , ,
,
.
, ,
, .
.
-
. -
: ,
, ,
.
60 , , .
for action, the so called traditional settlements had emerged as a value in them-
selves, which of course did not come about by accident. The explosive growth in
the vogue for vacationing had come earlier, with a great exodus into the country-
side of the urban population, which had recently had its first taste of the fruits of
affluence. A start had been made by some daring foreigners, and, before long,
they were followed by locals. Part of this seasonal flight turned to the better pre-
served zones of the natural landscape, which best combined with old unspoiled
settlements. The example of Hydra is typical: its preservation, thanks to the dra-
conian measures of the archaeological service, succeeded to have it evade the
general rule, i.e. disaster through development. For that matter, the motto of the
era, beginning with the 60s, had been this magical buzzword, or perhaps better
call it an euphemism: development. Under this catchall term were denoted vari-
ous forms of, often inexorable, exploitation of the natural resources possessed by
the country.
. , . ,
. , . ,

, 1970.
C. Decavalla, A. Georgiadis,
V. Grigoriadis, E. Vourekas, Stro-
phylia, Tourist Development, 1970. 2
89 essays
-
, , .
, -
, -
[. 2] -
.
, ()
.
-
1966
3
(), .
. ,
. , . ,
, Palace,
, . ,
1970-1975.
, Th. Papayannis, J. Benehoutsou,
1967-74 R. Arvanitidou, Xenia Palace Hotel,
Nafplion, 1970-1975.
, ,
.
: -

.
(
), ,
. ,
,

.
, ,
(. ,
1971, . , . , 1972)
, Palace,
(. , . , . ). [. 3]

,
At the same time, the assignment was being advanced to large foreign
firms of regional development design projects, bombastic schemes of all-encom-
passing tourist development were being announced for certain selected regions
[pl. 2], and the investment prospects of leading capitalists were having their foun-
dations laid. Tourism had already turned into a trump card, on a par with (fabu-
lous) industrial development the other big lure of that time.
The only rays of light in this gloomy outlook were the pioneering designs
of 1966 for tourist development by Takis Zenetos involving two beaches south of
Rethymno (Crete), Plakias and Agia Galini. Though the unimaginably bold design
proposals of those two projects were never realized, they succeeded at least in
demarcating, in general lines, the correct manner of development of those areas,
so as to prevent their destruction.
Even though often considered the cause of all subsequent evils, the dic-
tatorship of 1967-74 continued with tourist development policies that, as men-
tioned before, had already been laid down, and it managed to run them aground
through its appalling economic mismanagement. And, moreover, it added what
would bring about disastrous consequences for the immediate future: its strategy,
, . . , -
, Elounda Beach A -
1973.

. -
,
, -
-
. , 24
, ,
. 4
Atheneum Intercontinental (630 , . , . ) [.
. , . ,
4] Nafsika Astir Palace , 1974-79 (360 Athenaeum
, . , . , . ). [. 5] Intercontinental, .
Rizos-S. Koukis, Athenaeum
, Intercontinental Hotel, Athens.
, -
. , . , dictated by populist considerations, of granting uncontrolled loans for tourist de-

. ,
Nafsika, , velopment. The outcome was immediately felt in cities and in the countryside, with
, 1974-1979. all the loans that were actually used on tourist infrastructure projects (and werent
E. Vourekas, A. Georgiadis,
C. Decavalla, Nafsika Astir Palace funneled away) leading everywhere to a mushrooming of abominably bad and
Hotel, Mikro Kavouri, flagrantly illegal buildings. There was such a mania, not only by individual but
Vouliagmeni, Athens, 1974-1979.
even by the state itself, of developing whatever tract of land was available that
only the economic crisis of that time and the subsequent collapse of the junta man-
aged to put a stop to the destruction.
Typical hotels of that period, as to magnitude and siting, are, respectively,
the Corfu Hilton (N. Chatzimichalis, 1971, P. Tsolakis, A. Zannos, 1972) and Xe-
nia Palace, the GNTOs first luxury hotel, built on the historically loaded site of
Akronafplia in Nafplion (Th. Papayannis, J. Benehoutsou, R. Arvanitidou)[pl. 3].
The leaders in the emergence of large scale luxury complexes, particular-
ly in Crete, which was subsequently to experience a great tourist boom, were the
brothers S. and G. Kokotos, active in the area of Elounda, whose Elounda Beach
was awarded 1st prize in the GNTOs related competition in 1973.
The change of regime brought tourism back on an even keel, after years
of upheaval. Following the previous borrowing frenzy, it was necessary to get
financing for the completion of the hotels that had remained incomplete, to look
into any signed agreements that were suspect and to block the building of new
facilities in congested areas. Despite all that, and with the blessing of section 24 of
91 essays
, . -
(
, 147 , 1977-79 [. 6] 350 ,
1980-83).
, , -
, -
(1975-92).
, -

.
-
.
, , -
.
20 (. , . -, 1974) 50
, (. )
, -
.
, , -

the revised constitution, large hotels continued to be built, even in Attica. The more
felicitous among those cases include the Atheneum Intercontinental (630 rooms, .
Rizos, S. Koukis) [pl. 4] and Nafsika Astir Palace in Mikro Kavouri of Vouliagmeni,
1974-79 (360 beds, . Vourekas, . Georgiadis, C. Decavalla). [pl. 5]
Particularly in the Greek countryside, the architect who summarized the
trends of the time, and offered the most thoughtful forms of hotels, was Nikos Val-
samakis. His morphological explorations and experimentations yielded an exem-
plary series of facilities, the Amalia hotels (such as the one in Olympia, 147
rooms, 1977-79 [pl. 6] and in Nafplion 350 beds, 1980-83).
The GNTO, ever faithful to its intentions, had come back to play a didac-
tic role for one last time, with the ambitious project of conserving and develop-
ing traditional settlements (1975-92). This project responded to a real need, the
restoration of traditional buildings mainly for private use as houses, as well as the
procurement of guest houses, with a small capacity in beds, within traditional set-
tlements. Before long the GNTO would cease designing its exemplary facilities
and was henceforth to play an exclusively supervisory and monitoring role.
Along the same lines, but more extreme in form, was the restoration of
small abandoned settlements so that they could be used as guest houses. The
20 houses in Koutsounari (T. Zervas, V. Zerva-Bozineki, 1974) and the 50 build-
. ,
, , 1977-79.
N. Valsamakis, Amalia Hotel,
Olympia, 1977-79. 6

, ,

. , -

. -
,
,

.
7 8
7. Walter Gropius/TAC,
Porto
Carras, , 1973-1980.
.
Walter Gropius/TAC, Porto Carras , -
Tourist complex, Chalkidiki,
1973-1980.
, .

8.
, .
-
Oia traditional settlement, Santorini. . :
.
, , -
( ) ( ,
)
. - 1980-90, -
,
, , -
. -
ings of Aspros Potamos, close to Ierapetra in Crete (S. Karandinos) belong to this
specialized category, which later on came to be identified with the creation of
eco-tourism facilities.
The foregoing, extremely sketchy presentation of the typical directions fol-
lowed by Greek tourism after the war shows that initially there was a parallel course
embarked on by public and private initiative, which subsequently, with the domina-
tion of mass tourism, was substituted by private concerns, with financing provided
by state borrowing, or imported from abroad. Correspondingly, the initially small
differentiations in the tourist offering gradually took on a greater variety in order
to respond to different categories and preferences of visitors. On the one hand
luxury hotels multiplied in number, which was where organized tour clientele was
headed, and on the other hand there was the spread practically everywhere in
the landscape, of cheap rooms-to-let, that were competitive, affording just the bare
necessities by way of amenities, and were managed by the local petit-bourgeoisie.
93 essays
Porto Carras 477

(
W. Gropius, . , 70)[.7]. -
Navarino Dunes (Westin
Resort) 1900 (. , 2004-10).
, , -
-
,
. ,
-, , -
, -

.
.
-
, , .
, , -

( ), -
, Minos Beach
60. [. 8, . 9]
, -
, bungalows,
60 (. , .
, . , , 1957-59).
It will now be necessary to complement this picture with a search for the
most suitable form in each instance of the facilities discussed. The question had,
of course, been mooted quite a while earlier, and had been responded to by
the GNTO during its initial steps, with its Xenia hotels, a little after the war had
ended. Now it would recur with a sense of urgency since the importation en masse
of standardized models lifted from popular foreign resorts and the progressive
gigantism of the building volumes of hotel facilities exacerbated the problem pro-
portionately. The way this was dealt with followed two paths: addressing aesthetic
considerations, and management of massing.
In the former instance, that of the aesthetic exploration, a juxtaposition
of cosmopolitanism (the ever-youthful international style) and localization (pictur-
esque forms with Greek or broader Mediterranean motifs/patterns) would gradu-
ally incline toward the former tendency. After the neo-traditionalist excesses of
1980-90, boosted by the post-modern trends of the time, more abstract forms
prevailed, with purposely indefinable references, and at a perceptible remove
from clumsy imitations. The simultaneous grouping together of all the relevant ca-
pabilities was attempted in cases such as Porto Carras, 477 rooms with three
types of hotel facilities in Sithonia of Halkidiki (initially by W. Gropius, a section
by K. Kapsambelis, 70s). [pl. 7] Of a similar scale and intention was the later
Navarino Dunes (Westin Resort) 1900 beds in Romanos of Messinia (A. Tomba-
zis, 2004-10).
9
In the latter instance, that of volumetric management, the GNTO had un-
dertaken a crusade from the outset to break down the building volume in its hotels,
, mitigating thus the unpleasant startle caused by huge monoblock bulks literally
.
House Interior in Oia, Santorini. sprouting from within the natural landscape. Thus the multi-storey block units, de-

, , -
, -
25 ,
1984-85, , Gran Melia Daios Cove 717
(2010). [. 10]

670 . , 1988-91, [. 10
11]
3SK ,
. Gran Melia
, , Daios Cove, ,
, 2006-2010.
, - 3SK Stylianidis architects, Gran
. 1983-85 (.. Melia Daios Cove Hotel, Agios
Nikolaos, Crete, 2006-2010.
.. ) [. 12] .
, ,
(. , 2002).

. . .

, boutique hotels
, Periscope,
22 , 50 (Deca
Architecture, 2005). [. 13]
-
, -
,
11
ployed vertically or in tiers, were abandoned and replaced by dense arrays of

complex, low height shapes that imitated organically emerging settlements so
called villages. The employment of such small volume configurations in varia-
tions was accompanied by a simplified cubist shaping.
The villages had initially appeared as an imitation of groups of rudi-
mentary rural buildings, such as those used in the countryside by shepherds or
12
farmers. Apart from the re-use of such small settlements, mentioned earlier, and
the related applications essayed by the GNTO for groups of traditional buildings
.
Monemvasia settlement.
(such as in Oia of Santorini [pl. 8, 9] and in Mesta of Chios), there were attempts
to transcribe them into series of independent units, such as the one in Minos Beach
in Agios Nicolaos of Crete, by Eleni Soufli in the early 60s.
In their typology, villages bore affinities to another highly regarded
tourist product, bungalows, already known since the 60s from the bathing fa-
cilities in Saronikos of Attica (P. Vassiliadis, E. Vourekas, P. Sakellarios, Astir in
Glyfada, 1957-59).
The practice of Antonis and Vangelis Stylianidis was dominant, especial-
ly in Crete, designing, among other things, complexes with units and apartments
for rental, particularly in the wider Herakleion area, such as the complex of 25
apartments for rental in Koutouloufari of Herakleion, 1984-85, and more recently
elsewhere, such as the Gran Melia Daios Cove, 717 beds, in Agios Nikolaos
(2010). [pl. 10]
To this category belongs the tourist complex Daidalos of 670 beds, by
N. Valsamakis, in a secluded area of Kos, 1988-91, [pl. 11] which represents one
of the best examples of an all-inclusive tourist village in Greece.
95 essays
11. . , . , -
,
,1988-91,
N. Valsamakis, Daidalos Tourist . ,
Complex, Kos, 1988-91, site plan.
,
(. . , 2000-03), -
ISV
. .
Continuing once again with the GNTOs tradition, and after many an ob-
stacle had been eased, there was the operation, subsequently, of discreet facilities
within historical settlements. The Malvazia hotel in Monemvasia 1983-85 (A. G.
Kalligas and H. A. Kalliga) [pl. 12] belongs to this group. More striking, for its exot-
ic style, is Imaret, a converted ottoman almshouse in Kavala (I. Kizis, 2002). Here
also should be included the small units of high quality houses for rent, designed by
A. and G. Varoudakis in the region of Chania in Crete, during the past decade.
The urban counterpart of the change toward something of a more spe-
cial character, with a measure of restraint, is the spate of boutique hotels appear-
ing over the past two decades, utilizing old building shells, such as Periscope
hotel, 22 rooms, in Athens, housed in a polykatoikia of the 50s (Deca Architec-
ture, 2005). [pl. 13]
As tourist Greece was passing the point of half a centurys worth of tourist
development, and beyond the, until that time, untouched regions that were made
part of a network that was ever expanding, the pronounced need of renewing
and modernizing the existing building stock was becoming obvious. Those inter-
ventions were made for a number of different causes: adjustments to new sets of
regulations, clear expansions of capacity in number of beds, or even changing
architectural styles. As an instance of expansion, the restoration, rearrangement
and extension of the Athens Hilton could be mentioned (A. Tombazis and Ch.
Bougadellis, 2000-03), while in the category of a style renovation respectively,
there is ISVs reconversion in the Kos Xenia of Ph. Vokos.
Deca Architecture: . ,
C. Loperena, E. Zambeli,
K.J. Gudsell, M. Doxa,
Periscope,
, 2005.
Deca Architecture: A. Vaitsos,
C. Loperena, E. ,
K.J. Gudsell, M. , Periscope
13 Hotel, Athens, 2005

The New Luxury of the Interior
O
MEMOS FILIPPIDIS -
:
boutique hotels
. -
Memos Filippidis
Ian Schrager ,
is an architect
Philippe Starck, -
.1
(
), , .

-
:
, , . -
,
ready made
, -
.
, :
. :
The way in which hotels were designed in Greece over the past decade was sig-
nificantly influenced by a shift in design achieved on an international scale: I am
referring to the increasing interest in boutique hotels compared to large scale hotel
chains, often known for their wings of rooms in lineup. At the crux of this shift were
the initiatives of Ian Schrager who, especially after his collaboration with Philippe
Starck, began systematically to work along with architects for his buildings in-
teriors.1 It was a decision that signaled a shift from the geometry of space (the
specialty of architects until recently), to textures, staging and furniture. The reex-
amination of the interior coincided in Greece with how a large proportion of hotel
accommodation had standardized their external appearance: their exterior had
in many instances become bound by law determining proportions of openings,
balconies, or obligatory roof shapes. Typical examples, the repetitious domed
doll-houses in Santorini that gained an alibi of vernacularism in a ready-made
way, bizarrely transposing on a storey the domes that, as a rule, covered single-
storey traditional buildings on the island. And when there were no domes, again
another solution would be opted for: arches in sheltered, ground floor spaces.
Things werent much different on other islands: on the incline of a slope that would
ensure the unhindered view of tiered series of rooms, a stepped section such as
that of the top floors in a Greek polykatoikia, where it was well-nigh impossible
to deviate from a rectangular plan rationale. The idiom of the external design of
97 essays

, ,
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,
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-

.
-
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, -
interior design, Le Corbusier Richard
Meier2,
, .
hotels had thus become fixed, more or less, leaving the field open to exploration
of possibilities of the interior.
This shift to the interior was neither completely painless nor automatic it
required in fact many new skills for many of the architects. In this sense spatial at-
tributes relating to a spaces throughness or its section, were, until recently, recog-
nized as qualities of the interior. Double-height sitting rooms in particular, were
for years a safe, prestigious haven in the architects quest for interior design,
following the model of the houses of Le Corbusier and Richard Meier.2 Otherwise,
interior design had been removed from the architects domain and was the field in
which the owner had become the person in charge. The type of furniture, the com-
panies that made it, lighting fixtures, design objects, the Salone del Mobile had all
been regarded as falling outside the competence of architectural practice in any
case, for many years, had not been part of the syllabus in schools of architecture.
During the past decade, when a few architects started to become involved with in-
teriors, using branded furniture, the academic system objected, criticizing them for
occupying themselves with life-style trivialities. This misunderstanding that required
architects not to get involved with an owners lifestyle, i.e. not to touch the own-
ers preferences for their private space, made several able architects, who were
otherwise distinguished in competitions for public buildings (projects in which one
works), to impose upon themselves a peculiar exclusion from leisure buildings and
habitations/houses (projects in which one lives). Evidently this wasnt the result of
a protestant ethic but rather part and parcel of a broader mistrust regarding the
commercial function of architecture.
It is in this climate that the demand for boutique hotels first began to
be addressed with furniture that was international in character. Plastic chairs by
Charles & Ray Eames or occasionally by Kartell, white or transparent, were often
the proof of an owners awareness of design. Conversely, the proof of Greek-
Divercity & Mplusm,

Santorini Grace, ,
2008-2010.
Divercity & Mplusm, Santorini Grace
1 Hotel, Santorini, 2008-2010.
, , ,
design,
-
. ,
, -
: life style.

,
,
( ), -

( ).

.

. -
Charles & Ray Eames Kartell,
,
. , ,
,
.
design ,
,
. -

Divercity & Mplusm,

Santorini Grace, ,
2008-2010.
Divercity & Mplusm, Santorini Grace
Hotel, Santorini, 2008-2010.
ness raffia caf chairs or directors chairs were withdrawn a few years prior
to the disappearance from those hotels of their Greek frequenters, on account of
the crisis. Thus, with their designer furniture, those hotels were able to address an
international clientele at the same time that they were promoting the local element
by dint of their location and their building faades. This bias in their interiors to-
ward a modern international branded interior architecture did not reach universal
proportions the exemplars of agrotourism, such as the Lemonies Estate in Andros
(the work of Michalis Gryparis) or the Olive Grove hotel in Rovies of Evia com-
bine organic farming with an architecture of simplicity, which in certain instances
comes close to interiors in Aix-en-Provence.
In a number of hotels of which the external form has been fixed by the
legislative framework, renovations became the weapon par excellence every
99 essays
,
( )
,

Aix en Provence.

, ,
lifting interior designer
-
. -
. Santorini 3
Grace ( Divercity Mplusm) -
,
- , , 1982-.
, . Mary Kavagia, Perivolas Hotel,
Santorini, 1982-.

.
.

( , -
),
-
. ( ,
)
,
.
five years, a lifting or catching up with the latest in fashions sort of operation in
which there was never any mention of interior designers as if their contribution
had been accepted in order to enhance the profitability of the facility in ques-
tion. In any case, a competitive advantage wasnt necessarily to be sought in the
importation of branded furniture. For example, in the case of Santorini Grace at
Imerovigli (designed by Divercity and Mplusm) a reduction of the furniture to the
minimum was attempted in the interiors, with the wall taking the lead as being
inhabited, incorporating tables and closets. This scheme was the outcome of the
effort to reinterpret the local element within a modern design. Equally important
was the manner in which the place would be perceived by someone inside the ho-
tel. From the moment that it wasnt possible to do this visually through large picture
windows that would bring the outside in (a typical condition on the islands, i.e. the
negation of throughness) this purpose is assumed by the stone that comes from the
island or the photographs that seek to capture local characteristics. Such photo-
graphs (virtual windows on walls, for some the only acceptable dcor) and local
materials often become the protagonists in the photographing of the rooms, given
the relatively smallness of the interior spaces.
Santorini came to the point were it was able to support small hotel units
with French furniture, or done up in a minimal style. The whitewashed aesthetic
had taken root reinforced by a corresponding prevalence among Greek restau-
rants of the all-white taverna model. Santorini Grace, just like hotel Perivolas in
Oia of Santorini (which, by the way, for many people stands as one of the first
instances of cave-like interiors), were typical examples. In addition, the more re-
cent Perivolas Hideaway (design/supervision Mary Kavaya and Kostis Psychas)
in Thirasia has also become iconic: the way it came to be known showed that, at
first, it went by almost unnoticed by the domestic, and was picked up by the foreign

minimal .
-
-
. Santorini Grace -
(
) -
. Perivolas Hideaway (/
) :
-
.
- -
. -
-
:
.

,
, , 1982-.
Mary Kavagia, Perivolas Hotel,
Santorini, 1982-. 4
media. As interior it may have been plain, but there was a special emphasis on
detailing its sleekness suggested a superlative standard of construction. And, of
course, it afforded complete privacy to be on one of the worlds most popular is-
lands and go by unnoticed: this proved in fact one of the greatest inducements for
show-business celebrities. At the same time the interiors in the foregoing instances
also constituted a field of exploration where white Cycladic architecture could
converse with the plasticity of a contemporary architecture like that of Graft, and,
especially, like that of Zaha Hadid. Thus, with a different starting point than the
domed shells of Santorini, an architecture with curved geometries endeavored to
make its own way between contemporary and traditional.
The interior design in the Santorini examples moots the question of luxury
on a new basis. Foreigners often go after a kind of luxury that is not just a question
of eating or shopping. In other words, the time is long past when a high street of
bling (with jewelry shops ranged one after another) sufficed to attract foreign-
ers. Luxury often begins with the journey itself. For the time being, the demand for
business class flights to domestic tourist destinations is met satisfactorily with heli-
copters, which, along with the desired degree of privacy at the hotel destination,
are particularly popular. From that point on, luxury is not necessarily a matter of
furniture as demonstrated by the characteristic plainness of the built furniture in
Santorini Grace or the build settees in Perivolas Hideaway.
101 essays
Graft
Zaha Hadid. ,

.
-
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. -
( )
. .
business class -
, -
,
. -

Santorini Grace Perivolas Hideaway.
:
, Blue Palace Resort
Occasionally, luxury became a question of scale: large tourist complexes

in Crete, such as Blue Palace Resort in Elounda (designed by 3SK) might embrace
a neo-traditional idiom, drawing inspiration from fortifications such as castles,
whose scale is appropriate. The same might be claimed for large tourist enterprises
like Costa Navarino in Messinia, where the architecture of the Tombazis practice
relies on roof shapes and masonry to handle the hotels multi-storey deployment.
On such large scales, the role of the landscape designer becomes crucial in an
approach where the landscape isnt a given, it isnt just what exists that matters,
but what is destined for reconstitution or organization. I am referencing here the
needfulness of creating a landscape in which to put the architecture, rather than
the more wide-spread notion of a planted landscape that adjusts to an architec-
ture that is already there. To a process, in other words, where landscaping comes
before the architecture, and isnt merely called upon to adorn the empty space
left over in-between buildings. In any event I am referring to a distancing from ur-
ban housing: landscape, hotel architecture and furniture see to it that this distance
is maintained. Jacuzzis are becoming a part of this new landscape initially they

. ,
: MKV Design,
Costa Navarino,
, 2010
Alexandros N. Tombazis and
Associate Architects, interior design:
MKV Design, Costa Navarino Hotel,
5 Messinia, 2010.
( 3SK)
,
.
Costa Navarino -
-
.
landscape designer
, ,
.

. -

.

,
. -

, , ,
-
.
.

model rooms -
. . -
.
.
-
: --
, ,
, -
.
, model room
were just an additional amenity, which certainly increased the value of a room,
but it was only in the last few years, when visitors from Asia started coming into the
picture, that the absolute needfulness of Jacuzzis was fully appreciated. Clients
demands do not always follow the same patterns, nor are they foreseeable. And
this makes distinguished hoteliers declare that it is not they who make the decisions
but rather their clients, to whom they show their model rooms, and, based on their
critique, proceed to further refurbishments of their hotels. Sometimes clients want
large spaces. Sometimes they want quality architecture. Sometimes the swimming
pool is of paramount importance, even though they are on islands with readily
accessible beaches.
The construction of villas as part of large hotel facilities demonstrates that
the market is changing due to the crisis: the Greeks, as traditional owners of real
estate, are progressively withdrawing from the housing market, which is opening
up more and more to foreigners who wish to purchase houses. The development
of luxury housing close to hotels affords a tangible experience, a model room
that can be sampled by hotel clients, so that, at a second stage they may become
interested in finding a house in a neighboring area. In any case, the amenities
and restaurants of the hotel will be available to cater to any immediate needs of
the client, should they decide to purchase a house which is always useful since
103 essays
,
. -

-

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,
Oliaros , -
,
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,

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.
the assurance of a fairly virgin landscape for this type of tourist development will
mean that theres a certain distance between the complex and surrounding villag-
es or towns. In such organized development of the countryside, where the density
would intentionally remain much lower than in the urban suburbs, a significant role
was played by the showcased investments of Oliaros in Antiparos, intended solely
for foreign buyers, in houses where one of the most difficult couplings of modern
and traditional had been achieved.
Under such conditions, where emerging needs give shape to the ideal
type of tour, to an internationalized interior with branded furniture, to a new
natural landscape which needs to be organized from scratch, so that, in it, tour-
ist accommodation may be integrated, despite the significant constraints that
determine its external appearance, the role of the architect has shifted already,
and calls for new skills. The design sequence itself, the priority of the landscape,
the necessity of suggesting a new relationship with the locality do not merely
change the methodology of an architectural design that was content with invok-
ing the local by means faades. They open design up to other values that had
long remained inhibited.
1. Ian Schrager : 1. I am referring to the projects assigned by Ian Schrager in New York:
Astor Place Hotel Herzog & de Meuron Rem Koolthaas Astor Place Hotel to Herzog & de Meuron and Rem Koolhaas in 2001;
2001, 40 Bond Herzog & de Meuron 2007, the 40 Bond apartments to Herzog & de Meuron in 2007; 50 Gramercy
50 Gramercy Park North John Pawson 2007, Park North to John Pawson in 2007; while recently he also assigned the
Residences Miami Beach Edition. Residences in Miami Beach Edition to the same architect.
2. Le Corbusier Unit d Habitation 2. I am referring to works such as Le Corbusiers Unit dHabitation

(1952) Richard Meier Douglas (1952) in Marseilles or Richard Meiers Douglas House (1973) on
House (1973) . Lake Michigan.
:

Tourism Landscapes:
Remaking Greece

YANNIS AESOPOS -
.

14
Biennale

2014
Commissioner - Greece,
50 60, .1
14th International , , -
Architecture Exhibition . -
La Biennale Di Venezia -
2014 ,
.
, , - ,
,
, , -
. -
,
, -
, ,
, .
Modernization
Greece emerged from World War II and the subsequent Civil War in ruins, both physi-
cally and economically. The American Marshall Plan provided economic and technical
assistance needed for the countrys reconstruction, as part of a broader, European re-
construction, and there was swift modernization in the cities and countryside of Greece
through the 1950s and 1960s.1
Spearheaded by the capital, cities became rapidly urbanized turning
into major urban centers. In the cities modernization was achieved through the
legal-economic scheme of consideration in kind known as antiparochi: exchang-
ing plot surface for apartments in the lot being built. The physical manifestation
of this process is the polykatoikia, a flexible, multi-programmatic building type,
which, though planned as housing, can support any other kind of use, and which,
on account of its reinforced concrete frame, can be completed in several discreet
stages. The polykatoikia, endlessly repeated, urbanizes city periphery, indiffer-
ently replacing the natural landscape such urbanization, in contradistinction to
107 essays
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, , , , , -
.

, , -

40. American Mission for Aid to Greece (AMG)
1947
1948 Economic Cooperation
Administration Mission to Greece (ECA/G) -

,
.2
-
, ()

. -
, ,
: , , -
, -
.
,
.3
the city, as a geographically defined area for habitation, work and recreation,
describes, in fact, a never-ending process.
The modernization of the countryside is effected by means of tourism.
Up until the war, tourism drew sight-seers of the famous monuments of antiquity
Olympia, Delphi, Knossos, Epidaurus and, of course, the Acropolis of Athens
but was not a mass phenomenon. Post-war tourist development in Greece as the
countrys main economic activity, which, thanks to specific and propitious circum-
stances, could assume a leading role on a global scale was put on course by
Greek governments, upon the instigation and with the close cooperation of the
Americans, toward the end of the 1940s. The leadership of the American Mission
for Aid to Greece (AMAG), which, since 1947, underpinned the reconstruction of
Greece under the Marshall Plan, and which was replaced by the Economic Co-
operation Administration Mission to Greece (ECA/G) in 1948, had realized that
Greeces development would not come about as the result of industrialization, but
only from tourism, a position publicly supported by its officials, and one toward
which they labored systematically.2
Mass tourism after the war would be based on the history-landscape
diptych, combining archaeological monuments of the (classical) past and land-
scapes of special natural beauty together history and monuments would estab-
lish the myth of modern Greece. But what had existed previously no longer sufficed
to attract tourists on a massive scale: it was necessary to build infrastructures that
were lacking; ports, airports, motorways, public spaces and the reconfiguration of
archaeological sites were projects built at an intensive pace to provide amenities
for a growing tourist influx. Tourism became synonymous to modernization: tour-
ism landscapes were modernization landscapes.3

, , -
, .
, 19 , -
.
-
-
, , , -
,
.
.
, ,
,
. , . ,
. , ,
, , 1962 .
P. Vassiliadis, E. Vourekas,
P. Sakellarios, Megali Akti Beach,
Vouliagmeni, Attica, 1962
History and Landscape

The presence of the past through history and the landscapes spiritual role as a
constituent of descent, were dominant in the constitution of the new Greek identity,
the collective self-determination of the Greeks. The establishment, in the early 19th
century, of the modern Greek state was based on cultural and historical continuity
with the glorious ancient past.
Archaeological digs and anastyloses served the ideology of continuity
faithfully, revealing the numinous archaeological traces of the past and, through
a process of selection, preserving such suitable elements as could contribute
crystallized didactic icons and intimations of cultural purity. The practice of ex-
cavating seemed to be guiding the rebirth of the Greek nation after centuries of
dormancy.
At the same time, the landscape a part of the land, in Greek having
remained unchanged since antiquity, offered also a historical and cultural sense
of continuity. The spirituality of the landscape was described by Dimitris Pikionis
as his very own experience obtained while walking on Attic soil, the ancestral
109 essays
. -
,
: ,
. -
. ,
, ,
-
. . 4 -
, :
. . -
. . , -
.
, ;
, , ;5
:
, , -
.

: , , :
, . , ,
,
, , , ,
, ,
.6
land: We rejoice in the flat expanse of the plain, we measure the earth by the
toil of our body. This desolate path is immeasurably better than the avenues of big
cities. Because, with each one of its folds, with its turns, the countless variations in
perspective of the space that it offers, it teaches us the divine substance of an indi-
viduality subsumed in the harmony of All. We meditate on the genius loci. 4 Pick-
ing up a bit of limestone, he addressed it: Within a Part you conceal All. And the
All is the Part. You constitute the design of this landscape. You are the landscape
itself. Even more, you are the Temple that shall crown the broken-off stones of your
Acropolis. For what else does it do, than work under this twofold law, which you
obey? Is it not also, before anything else, an account of all of architecture?5
The link between landscape and architecture is clearly formulated: architecture
and landscape are one, but this link is a construct of the mind, it does not include
composite activities or practices.
This position was also to be upheld insistently by Aris Konstantinidis, some
time later: And, after all, what else is architecture: but to make organisms that live
in the landscape. And then, of course, with human beings too that inhabit their
landscape, if human beings are not but a part of the landscape too, within the
existing natural world, if, in other words, the landscape, and human beings and
their architectural work, are not but just one thing, within just one world.6
Remaking
Whereas for Pikionis and Konstantinidis the landscape provided spirituality with-
out leaving room for its operative use, in Edmund Keeleys seminal book Inventing
Paradise: The Greek Journey 1937-47 the landscape appears through the writings
and actions of leading figures of the 1930s generation George Seferis, George
Katsimbalis, Henry Miller and Lawrence Durrell, among others as a setting for the

,
Edmund Keeley : 1937-47

30 , , Henry
2 Miller Lawrence Durrell,
, 1920.
, -
Athens Agora, 1920.
() .
, ,
-
.7

( ,
, , -
) ,
, ,
, .
Greek way of life, often redolent with enjoyment and hedonism, encompassing
anthropological components found in the character and behavior of the (simple)
people it embraces. The rambles in the natural landscape, the visits to cities and
villages in the land, swimming in the sea, feasting and celebrating, reinvest the
landscape with meaning making it a synonym of hellenicity.7
The change in how the landscape is perceived, from being regarded
as a spiritually charged field to becoming a field for action and ways of behav-
ing (eating and drinking, enjoying company, swimming, relishing the products of
anonymous folk culture), opens up the hermetic Greek landscape, permitting its
description, its lesser or greater standardization, its potential reproduction, ulti-
mately even in the creation of its stereotypical picture. The landscape can appear
as stereotype so that it can become a tourist product, be presented in advertising
posters, and be consumed: by which point, it has been remade.

,
, 1931-1940.

, ,
1931-1940. 3
111 essays
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-

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(1931-40 1953-56)

,
,
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, , -
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.8
+
50
,

. -
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,

20 -
.9
The tourist transformation of the landscape is followed by history. The

intensive excavation and restoration programs of archaeological sites and their
building structures were seen as essential, so as to allow for their potential re-use
and incorporation in the tourist process, as bits of the past that have come back
to life. The Agora of Athens was excavated and restored by the American School
of Classical Studies both before and after the War (1931-40 and 1953-56). This 4
required the demolition of an entire old Athenian neighborhood of simple home- . ,

steads that had stood on the lower slopes of the Acropolis, the full rebuilding of , , 1960-1962,
., K. .
the Stoa of Attalos that would become a museum, the planting of the site with the A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Guest
species of Attic flora and the creation of promenades for visitors circulation. The Quarters, Epidaurus, 1960-1962,
photo, K. Papaoikonomou.
archaeological site of the Acropolis, which now looks as if it had ever been there,
has been reconstructed by the archaeologists. Archaeological sites were the first
constructed landscapes of tourism in Greece.8
Modern + Local
The economic exigencies of Greece in the early 1950s were particularly harsh,
and there were no private funds available to invest in tourism for the construction
of the required hotel units to accommodate tourists. This role was assumed by the
state-run Greek National Tourism Organization, through its Xenia hotels project.
In looking for their architectural expression, the Xenia were called upon
to take up a position on the adoption of the modern in their design a fundamen-
tal issue for Greek architecture in the 20th century that was for ever vacillating

-
, -

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- 5
.
:

. [] -
.
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[]
.
.
,
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6
.10 , -
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,
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.
between modern and traditional.9 For reasons related to the desire that Greece be
presented as a progressive country that had set its sights on achieving its rebirth
after the tribulations of the war, the architecture of the Xenia hotels records the
incorporation of the modern particularly as regards the use of abstract forms
and the manner of construction with reinforced concrete, which, often, remains
7
exposed. However the local element remains strong, as it is expressed through
the materiality of the buildings and the specificity of the landscape that receives
5. . , the building. Konstantinidis was clear on this matter: The design for each hotel
, , 1960,
., K. . is based on a specific program which is formulated in the final plans in accord-
A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Motel, ance with the plot and the place. [] When selecting the plot for a given hotel,
Kalambaka, 1960, photo,
K. Papaoikonomou. the architect assigned to design it has to take part in the process. He must take
care that the plot is well orientated [] allowing the proposed building, to enjoy
6. . ,
, , 1959, a good view of some distinctive or beautiful landscape. The most difficult thing of
. all is how to place a building within the landscape, i.e. in harmony with its natural
A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Hotel,
Mykonos, 1959, room interior. surroundings so that the new construction does not stick out as strange or inap-
propriate, but appears as if it had always been in the place where it is now being
7. . ,
, , 1964. constructed.10 The Xenia hotels succeeded in creating an original, recognizable,
A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Hotel, modern Greek idiom which, in most cases, and aided by their relatively small
Poros, 1964.
scale, achieved the placement of the building in the landscape and ensured its
dialog with it. Also, compared to present standards, they provide a singularly pris-
tine, almost ascetic way of living with two narrow, single beds, separated by a
bed-side table, a small bathroom and exposed wardrobe. This condition of tourist
inhabitation called on visitors to acknowledge it as something special, possessed
of its own untrammeled value. But it failed to persuade the Xenia would swiftly
lose their prestige as the quest for opulence would take hold and prevail.
113 essays
8. . ,
, , 1960 .
I. Triantafyllidis, Xenia Hotel,
Nafplio, 1960.
9. . . ,
,
, , 1966.
. Ch. Zenetos, Agia Galini
Tourist Development, Rethymno,
Crete, 1966.
8
,11
,
,
, -
,
-
,
.
However, in certain instances,11 the relationship of hotel and landscape

did not present any spatial continuity between interior and outdoors space: the
building looked improbable, not at all as if it had always existed in that place.
It looked, in fact, as if it anchored itself on the landscape, or imposed itself upon
it, repudiating any relationship with the land and prefiguring the transition to the
next condition, that of detachment from the landscape and the questioning of the
modern post-war Greek identity a Greek hybrid that had combined the modern
and the local with originality.
Place-less
The reason why the State resolved to play the card of tourism is quite simple.
From $2.5m in 1950, tourist spending in Greece rose to over $40m in 1958.12
The success of Greek tourism would bring about a need of large-scale
tourist complexes, which, in turn, would jeopardize the fundamental relationship
of building to landscape. Takis Zenetos discerned the problem and, for the first
-

. 2,5 1950, -
40 1958.12
-

.
,

: -
, .
-
, , -
[...]

.13 T -
-

, -
.
.
,
.14

. ,
.
time, introduced the notion of the artificial, the planned intervention by the ar-
chitect, into what until then had been a natural landscape, so as to mitigate the
impact of the large-scale: The existing physical ground is not an inviolable thing
to which we should adapt. On the contrary, there is the possibility of shaping the
physical environment, of sculpting the ground, which is constructed just like the
structure that it shall receive [...] On the basis of this principle it becomes pos-
sible to develop a supplementary and intermediate link between construct and
nature.13 The links intervening between construction and nature might be horizon-
tal slabs which are adapted to the topography and do not distort the appearance
of the landscape, being reminiscent of the terraces found in Greeces countryside,
allowing cultivation on an sloping ground. Thus The only proviso that we should
adopt is that we shouldnt make permanent works. We must have respect for the
ground, the natural environment and our installations must be transformable.14
He was not destined to have any of his proposals realized, nor were any other
architects to follow his precepts. Zenetos path was always solitary and headlong,
it seemed as if it had come before its proper time.
Two alternatives loomed: the detached large scale, cut-off from the land-
scape, with buildings that were place-less, carrying the attributes of the interna-
tional style, and the preservation of a relation to the landscape through fragmenta-
tion into small volumes, the micro-scale. The latter would take hold, but the original
correlation of the modern with the landscape had been lost.
115 essays
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,
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1964 -
.
Aldo Rossi
-

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Robert Venturi
The
Language of Post-Modern Architecture Charles Jencks 1977.
70 -
-
Tradition and Interiors

The place-less international style caused feelings of insecurity both to Greeks and
tourists. The more the phenomenon of tourism was internationalized, the more it
sought intense localization, specific features that should be readily discernible,
recognizable, stereotypical. Tourist construction had to expand into tradition itself,
in a quest for identity.
In 1964 the Venice Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of
Monuments and Sites was signed. Two years later Aldo Rossis Architecture of the
City would be published which brought to the forefront of architectural discourse
the importance of urban artifacts large buildings or portions of a city for the
determination of the identity of cities and the collective memory of their inhabit-
ants. That same year, Robert Venturis Complexity and Contradiction in Architec-
ture marked the transition into post-modernity, which would become official a few
years later with the publication of Charles Jencks The Language of Post-Modern
Architecture.
In the mid 70s, the architecture-urbanism context referred both to the
re-appropriation of historical forms and to the protection of architectural heritage.
The state supported this approach at the highest level, through section 24 of the
new Constitution of 1975, entitled Protection of the Environment. In paragraph
6 therein it was stated that Monuments, traditional areas and traditional fea-
tures are protected by the State. A law shall determine the restrictive measures on
property required to effectuate this protection, as well as the manner and kind of
compensation offered to owners. A multitude of laws followed, which determined
specific morphological rules for designing new buildings in various traditional set-
tlements, restricting the design freedom of architects to a very great extent.
.
24
1975 . 6 -
: ,
. -
,
. -

-
,
.

-
: .15 -

: -
-
,
10
10. , 2014, The GNTO undertook a new pioneering mission, which was not related
., .
Kea, 2014, to producing new architecture this time, but to converting existing architecture:
photo, Yiorgis Yerolymbos. not through invention but through re-use.15 The restoration and development of
traditional settlements and their conversion into tourist facilities created a new
model for tourist inhabitation that would prevail: in those areas where morphologi-
cal rules were applicable for designing buildings, those adopted the traditional
dress, while their interiors were allowed to follow their own path autonomous,
cut-off from the outside, part of a different world. Thus it was either led directly
to folklore a palatable interpretation of the traditional with the contribution of
imitation traditional furniture and handcrafted ornament or, if more ambitious,
involved in design exploration and experimentation that sought to cater to increas-
ingly growing demands for opulence, international design and wellness amenities.
117 essays
, . , -

,
,
-
, design .

-
:
(rooms-to-let) .
,
. -
,
, -
.
.

:
,
.
11. , 2014, City and Countryside Meet

., .
Mykonos, 2014, The success of tourism led to the popularization and diffusion of the products on
photo, Panos Kokkinias. offer: each small owner had rooms-to-let and was transformed into a tourism en-
trepreneur. The fragmentation of tourist enterprises led to the micro-scale, while
the possibility of building anywhere led to dispersion throughout the landscape.
Having lost the correlation of architecture and landscape for some time already,
the buildings were placed without rhyme or reason and without any foresight at
all, in a process of continual urbanization of the countryside. This was the kind
of urbanization we find in cities peripheries, in miniature. As the dom-ino frame
building system, made of reinforced concrete, became dominant we would find
small polykatoikias in the landscape that were either left half-finished, or clad in
traditional costume: the shrunken polykatoikia, had made its way from the city to
the landscape, the modernization of the cities encountered that of the countryside.
11
--

,
. , -
, -
, .
, , .
-
, -

, , , ,
.
, ---,
,
( -
minimal),
,
. (
) . , -

.
Now Post-Crisis
Konstantinidis approach, based on the placement of tourist inhabitation on the
land was abandoned, overtaken by the speed and volume of tourist development.
Zenetos approach, which could have coped with the large-scale, never material-
ized to be put to the test, and was technologically too advanced to hold its own
as an alternative. Disillusioned, both architects put a premature end to their lives.
The democratized form of tourism that led to an urbanized tourist oc-
cupation of the landscape became dominant, applied the morphological rules
of the exterior traditional costume but failed to look for ways of reasoning that
would correlate with the ground and the landscape there being no rules for such
a thing thus remaining place-less, generic, occasional, self-indulgent and indolent
at the same time.
Now, in the post-crisis era, an era of limited resources and of a reorder-
ing of priorities and values, the new tourist inhabitation shall go after the less, and
not the more (though not in the older, aestheticized version of less-as-minimalism),
the simplicity of the material instead of excess, a conscious correlation with nature
and the least possible environmental footprint. It will not be modern (nostalgic
for the lost world of the Xenia hotels) nor yet internationalist. It will be sober, pri-
mordial and contained through a spiritual remaking it will have understood the
particular circumstances of the present.
119 essays
1. 1. The question of modernization in Greek architecture and cityscapes

was the object of our research along with Yorgos Simeoforidis (1955-
(1955-2002) Landscapes of Moderni- 2002) in the exhibition Landscapes of Modernisation: Greek Architecture
sation: Greek Architecture 60s and 90s 1999 60s and 90s presented in 1999 by the Netherlands Architecture Institute.
. Yannis The publications by the same name: Yannis Aesopos, Yorgos Simeoforidis
Aesopos, Yorgos Simeoforidis (eds), Landscapes of Modernisation: Greek (eds), Landscapes of Modernisation: Greek Architecture 60s and 90s, Ath-
Architecture 60s and 90s, , Metapolis Press, 1999 ens, Metapolis Press, 1999 and 2002, in English and Greek respectively,
, (.), : record this research. Yannis Aesopos, Yorgos Simeoforidis (eds), The con-
60 90, Metapolis Press, , 2002 temporary (Greek) city, Metapolis Press, Athens, 2001, further investigates
. , the issue of the modernization of urban space. Those projects were the
(.), () , Metapolis Press, basis for Tourism Landscapes: Remaking Greece, the Greek participation
, 2001 in the 14th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia.
.
: , 2. See Angelos Vlachos, Greek Tourism on its First Steps: Places, Land-
14 Biennale 2014. scapes and the National Self in the present publication, and Stavros
Alifragkis, Emilia Athanassiou, Educating Greece in Modernity: Postwar
2. . , Tourism and Western Politics, The Journal of Architecture, v.8, issue 5,
: , , Stavros 2013.
Alifragkis, Emilia Athanassiou, Educating Greece in Modernity: Postwar William C. Foster, Locum Tenens for the Special US Envoy on the Marshall
Tourism and Western Politics, The Journal of Architecture, .8, .5, Plan had declared the intention of the US to support tourism in European
2013. countries, making special mention of Greece which, on account of its his-
William C. Foster, torical and artistic past, and the present vitality of its people, Americans
particularly wish to become acquainted with, see Struggle for Survival,
, v. 3, issue 21, 25 January 1949, p. 34, C. A. Doxiadis Archive. For more
, on the American contribution to the development of Greek tourism see
, Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis, Reconstruction and the Modernization of
, . , .2, .21, 25 the Tourist Gaze in the present publication.
1949, . 34, . . .
3. See, Yannis Aesopos, Yorgos Simeoforidis (eds) Landscapes of Mod-
. - , ernisation: Greek Architecture 60s and 90s.
, .
4. Dimitris Pikionis, Synaisthimatiki Topografia [Sentimental Topogra-
3. . , (.), phy], in Agni Pikioni, Michalis Parousis (eds), Dimitris Pikionis: Keimena,
: 60 90. NBGCF, Athens, 1987, pp. 73-74.
4. , , 5. Op.cit. p. 76.
, (.), : , ,
, 1987, . 73-74. 6. Aris Konstantinidis, Meletes + Kataskeves [Projects + Buildings], Agra,
Athens, 1981, p. 262.
5. .., . 76.
7. Edmund Keeley, Inventing Paradise: The Greek Journey 1937-1947,
6. , + , , , 1981, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publications, New York, 1999
. 262.
8. On the issue of constructed archaeological landscapes see Emilia
7. , : Athanassiou The Archaeological Landscape in Epidaurus: Bearer of
1937-1947, , , 1999 Meaning and Vehicle of Modernization in the present publication.
8. . 9. See Yannis Aesopos, From the 60s to the 90s: Disengaging from
, : Place for a New Beginning in Yannis Aesopos, Yorgos Simeoforidis
, . (eds), Landscapes of Modernisation: Greek Architecture 60s and 90s, pp.
44-52.
9. . , 60 90:
10. Aris Konstantinidis, Gia tin Architektoniki [About Architecture], Uni-
(.), : 60 90, versity of Crete Publications, Heracleion, 2011, p. 203.
Metapolis Press, , 2002, . 44-52.
11. I am referring here to the Xenia hotels of Andros (1958) and Poros
10. , , (1964) of Aris Konstantinidis, and of Nafplion (1960) and Messolonghi
, , 2011, . 203. (1964) of Ioannis Triantafillidis.
11. (1958) (1964) 12. Dimitrios Papaefstratiou, Ellinikos Tourismos: Amesoi kai Apoterai
(1960) Prooptikai [Greek Tourism: Immediate and More Distant Prospects], 11
(1964) . February 1959 in I Economiki Anaptyxi tis Choras Eikosidio Dialexeis Ei-
dikon [Greeces economic development Twenty-two papers by experts],
12. , : Publication of the Athenian Institute of Technology, pp. 255-56. D. Papaef-
, 11 1959 stratiou was a senior GNTO official.
,
, . 255-56. . 13. Takis Ch. Zenetos House at Psychiko, Architektoniki, issue 56
. (March-April 1966), pp. 48-51.
13. . , , , . 56 14. Op.cit.

(- 1966), . 48-51.
15. See Preservation & Development of Traditional Settlements (1975-
14. .. 1992), Cultural Heritage Showcase 91993-2009), The GNTO Pro-
gramme, Ministry of Tourism Greek National Tourism Organization, Ath-
15. . Preservation & Development of Traditional Settlements (1975- ens, 2009
1992), Cultural Heritage Showcase 91993-2009), The GNTO Pro-
gramme, Ministry of Tourism Greek National Tourism Organization, Ath-
ens, 2009

Reconstruction and the
Modernization of the Tourist Gaze
- , -

ALEXANDROS-ANDREAS .
KYRTSIS
.
-
.

. -
, .
Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis
is a Professor f .
Sociology, National -
Capodistrian University . ,
f Athens , .
. -
,
. , ,
, -
.
.
. -
It is almost a truism to say that tourism is the industry which makes imagined places
of desire accessible. Less obvious is the connection between tourism and the idea
of progress. This was a central aspect of the ideational forces behind tourist de-
velopment in post World War II Greece. The awareness of the worth of attractive
places in this country emerged in parallel with the appearance of new life styles.
It was hardly ever the mere reverberation of history that awakened the emotions
of travelers. It is rather a sense of hope for personal and collective improvement
that appears from positive experiences in extraordinary places or sites of cultural 1
significance. Even nostalgia, as a motive to revisit places full of personal reminis-
cences, is driven by the longing to face the future. In this context, tourism is an
industry of positive dreams; of intimate dreams, but of collective dreams as well. ,
The concoction of impressions, the fictionality of perception, can even obliterate , 1946.
The Sacrifices of Greece in the
the marks of horrors of preceding cataclysms. Our relationship to ruins is intrigu- Second World War, cover, 1946.
ing. Through these, decay is perceived as glory not glory past, but glory of the
lived experience. For many noteworthy ruins it applies that, instead of melancholy,
they evoke a kind of a self-celebration in their observers. They make them feel as
121 essays
.
. .
.

. . -
,

.
.

2 1940 -
-
, EOT.
Pericles Vyzantios, GNTO poster. .
,
,
, .

. -
John Urry Jonas Larsen John Berger,
,

.1 -
. -
, .2

.3 , -
.
.
, -
. ,
successful survivors. Landscapes without the slightest trace of human works can
have similar effects on mood. This sometimes self-imposed optimism of the visitor
puts also the locals on stage. They become co-creators of dreams. If they are to
sell their tourist product, they will have to believe in the possibility of escape from
the misery and resentment of a deadlocked everyday life. They would have to let
themselves be carried by the streams of change.
We have plenty of evidence that those who, in the late 1940s, under-
took the concerted effort to transform Greece from a war-ravaged country into
a conglomerate of places of desire, were driven by reflections along these lines.
The idea of catching up with the wealthy nations in a new post-war world order
required not only a narrative of modernization. It presupposed also a new per-
ception of space. But it was not only space, as a relationship between places that
was commanded and controlled in the process of modernization. It was also the
experiences in places, the way these were supposed to be lived and experienced,
and that were to be designed and planned in the process of modernization. The
planners of development were determined to shape the tourist gaze as part of the
scenarios of modernizing life. As John Urry and Jonas Larsen stress, with reference
to John Berger, the tourist gaze is not a matter of individual psychology but of
socially patterned and learnt ways of seeing.1 Tourism as a way of visiting and
experiencing, and as a profitable operation, altered the interplay between space
and place; between movement and lived experience.2 And in practical terms,
, ,
.
. ,

.
.

-
. -
,
,
1948. 1949 William
C. Foster
,
. 4
.

. 5
1948
.6

.
1949
( )
.7
, -
1950-1951,
.
it altered the relationship between the various levels of human scale in spatial
planning and architecture.3 Small scale defined the large scale. The character
of places as magnetizing destinations defined various aspects of movement in
geographical space. It had also a significant impact on its evolution. Places gain
their worth through the experience of both in-bound and out-bound movement.
Approaching visiting staying for a while departing. And then, telling a story,
living ex post a myth. For this you need putting yours and other peoples self on
stage and the latter presupposes the right stage set. And you need the right design-
ers and architects who can shape the spaces and places of tourism, the dynamics
of which constitute crucial facets of modernization.
The imageries that this interplay between space and place implied be-
came amazingly of central importance early on, in turbulent times. Those responsi- 3
ble for the post World War II Greek reconstruction, Greek and American officials,
A EOT.
were weaving plans for stages and sets of tourist experience already in 1948. In GNTO poster.
January 1949, William C. Foster, the Deputy Administrator of the Economic Coop-
eration Administration, gave an interview in Paris in which he declared the inten-
tion of the United States of America to undertake concrete measures to promote
tourism in Europe. Foster made special reference to Greece and to the anticipated
interest of American tourists for this country. 4 About a month earlier, on November
10, 1948, two new agreements had been signed between the Greek government
and the mission in Greece of the American Economic Cooperation Administra-
tion. The objective of the first was to establish an office in Greece dedicated to the
123 essays
-
.8
,
.
, , -

. 1940
1949 . -
, -
. -
1946

1945-1950
.
.9
.

. -
, ,
.
, ,
. -
-
, ,

.
1940
. ,

promotion and advertisement of Greek tourism. The second agreement was on

the funding of the improvement of facilities for civilian traffic in airports and har-
bors, as well as on the improvement of roads connecting sites of archaeological
interest and natural beauty. 5 Furthermore, there was in 1948 a special bilateral
agreement between Greece and the US for tourist development financial support.
A special fund was created, intended to enhance investment in new hotels and
upgrade existing facilities.6 Greece was put again on the map of the tourist indus-
try. In May 1949 the executive committee of the International Union of Official
Travel Organizations convened in Athens and then in Rhodes. 7 Besides, for many
functionaries in the higher echelons of the civil service, tourism was expected to
have a positive cultural impact. The Reconstruction Program of the Greek govern-
ment for the years 1950-1951 lent itself to this perspective. In this document tour-
ism was explicitly associated with the cultural diffusion of the habits of nationals
of countries with higher living standards. In terms of spatial policies, this created
the need for spaces and places of new cultural practices. In these visitors would
see the locals as bearers of folklore and the locals would see tourists as importers
of cultural patterns!8 In a multi-faceted way tourism, as both an economic and a
cultural practice, became a central operational as well as cultural ingredient of
what was to become the Marshall Plan for Greece.
At a first glance this was a not a sensible reaction to the aftermath of a
period of devastation. Since October 1940 the country had been continually at
war. The last part of this period, the Civil War, was the nastiest, since it also under-
,
. -
.

.
7 1949 -
.10

.
-
. -
-
.11

.
,
.
.

1950
,
.

, , -
.
. -
.
mined the social cohesion of the country. But the occupation by foreign military
forces between 1941 and 1944 caused most of the material devastation. The
depredations were depicted in statistics, diagrams and pictures included in a book
published in 1946 by Constantinos A. Doxiadis, the architect and urban planner
who was the coordinator-in-chief of the reconstruction efforts during the period
1945-1950. (The fact that the coordinator of reconstruction in Greece was an
architect and an urban planner, is unique and thus of paramount importance for
the understanding of many of the spatial aspects of the plans). The title of this
publication was The Sacrifices of Greece in the Second World War.9 This was a
documentation of disaster. But less than two years after this publication, planners,
4
architects and visual artists began to roll up their sleeves. In the midst of the ruins,
and with an excess of human wreckage around, a few artists, most of them be-
, EOT.
Spyros Vassiliou, GNTO poster.
come the celebrities of the decades that followed, produced a series of wonderful
posters with touristic images. One can hardly imagine that their sole incentive was
the meager honorarium disbursed by the office responsible for the promotion and
advertisement of Greek tourism that was established by the Marshall Plan. This in-
volvement of ambitious artists, and the content and style of the paintings that have
been reproduced as posters, have been a reflection of an engagement with the
ideal of modernization. Visions of modernization were infinitely appealing to all
those trying to imagine ways of leaving behind the difficulties of the 1940s. Much
energy was put into suppressing the traumatic experiences of dark times. And, of
course, success in projecting emotions, as seen in representations of spaces and
places fashioned by masters of their craft, like the ones created then by visual art-
125 essays

.
,

. -
, -
,
.12

.13 -
5
1940
, EOT. .14
Panayiotis Tetsis, GNTO poster. -
. -
-
,
, .15

1940 -
1950.16
-
.

.
sight seeing -
. -
, , -
ists and designers/architects, and by urban planners as well, had its backstage
stagehands. Underlying the pictorial there was a lot of operational effort put in by
dedicated technocrats.
It would be of interest to cast a quick look at the priorities of the plan-
ners of Greek tourist development. In the bulletin of the Ministry of Reconstruction
of September 7, 1949, we can read a title that goes as follows: Greece must
become again a tourist centre.10 However, the strategy for the revival of Greek
tourism that was made public at this stage did not take into consideration the need
for relaxation and the desires of the new middle classes. To begin with, most of the
initial policies for shaping the spaces and places of tourism were made depend-
ent upon the archaeological riches of the country. Priority was given to sites of
classical antiquity and then to Hellenistic and Roman ruins. Attention to Byzantine
monuments was paid to a greater extent than in the interwar years. They became
very important for tourism, especially in places where no renowned classical ar-
chaeological sites to be found, as were the cities of Ioannina and Kastoria in
northern Greece.11 The main portion of the funds was earmarked for improvements
of the archaeological sites that had been neglected during the long war period,
or the development of new on-site facilities. This attitude was a result of a pre-war
experience. The statistics from the earlier periods showed that the majority of tour-
ists were interested in visiting Greece for its antiquities and ancient history. This
meant that the segments of the public that had been targeted initially were the
highly cultured haute bourgeoisie or educated upper middle class. The festivals
that began in the late 1950s, the Epidaurus Festival and the Athens Festival, both
1962 1966 ,
. -

(1963-1975)
. -
.17 -

Le Corbusier
CIAM (Congrs Internationaux dArchitecture
Moderne). , -
.
.

. -

. -
. -
,

.
,

-
.
, Buckminster Fuller, Siegfried Giedion, Kenzo Tange,
Walter Christaller . -
of which continue to this day, with two very famous ancient theaters as their ven-
ues, have been for decades highly prestigious events addressed to this relatively
privileged segment of the tourist market. The use of ancient theatres was initiated in
the interwar period, among others by the poet Angelos Sikelianos and his Ameri-
can wife, artist Eva Palmer, who organized the Delphic Festival. This established a
lasting tradition of cultural events that never ceased to fascinate visitors to Greece.
Ancient theaters are among the constructions that have always drawn the focus of
interest of cultured travelers, but their use for modern artistic purposes created a
new kind of sensation.
The condition of the Greek museums and archaeological sites had at-
tracted the attention of the planers of post World War II reconstruction early on.
Emphasis was put on refurbishing buildings and improving the presentation of
exhibits, restoring monuments and upgrading infrastructures and facilities in and
around the remains of past civilizations. The ruins of classical antiquity especially
were regarded as points of attraction for the Greeks of the Diaspora, particularly
for Greek-Americans for whom special care was taken already in the early post-
war tourist development plans.12 As tourist attractions, the major archaeological
sites had also had a significant impact on road network planning, and thus a
more general effect on the thrust of development.13 Concerning connectivity and
air routes between locations in Greece there were special programs, as early
as 1948, and tourism of course was one of the main reasons for this.14 Another
geographical aspect that influenced the development of road networks and the
building of facilities, were the thermal baths, of which Greece has a great number.
This aspect had less to do with foreign than it died with domestic tourism, which
regained momentum as the end of the Civil War approached.15 Natural beauty
127 essays
Arnold Toynbee,
Arthur Koestler, Margaret Mead, Erik Erikson, Robert K. Merton, Karl Deutsch
Marshall McLuhan.
C. H. Waddington, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Jonas
Salk Samuel Eilenberg18.

-
. 6
-
. . ,
, , , 1955,
. .
C. A. Doxiadis,
- Xenia, Skyros, 1955,
- floor plan.
. ,
,

1959,
. , -

,
.
,
.19
.
-
-
. Live your Myth in Greece
and mere relaxation in a picturesque landscape came third in priority in the plan-
ning of the late 1940s and early 1950s.16 A compromise between the priorities
led to the establishment of tourist restaurants and cafes near archaeological sites.
Myth fuelled by the reinvention of ancient glory was not only combined
with relaxation. An alternative was to combine sight-seeing with conferences for
scholars and scientists. The summer meetings of famous philosophers and scientists
in Athens, which took place under the auspices of the Greek government between
1962 and 1966, belonged to this kind of activity. But the events that symbolized
the spirit of reconstruction and the achievement of a new place for Greece in the
post-war world, was the Delos Symposia (1963-1975) and the Athens Ekistics
Months, both organized by C.A. Doxiadis. Those international events combined
tourism with scientific conferences and networking.17 This approach to congress
tourism was an adaptation of an old idea that was realized between 1928 and
1959 by Le Corbusier and his colleagues in CIAM (Congrs Internationaux
dArchitecture Moderne). They organized meetings and events in various places in
Europe with conference participants convening at various stages of the itinerary.
The Delos Symposia had a rather stable pattern: The discussions among invited
speakers and commentators were taking place on board of a ship that traveled
around the Aegean. The participants also had the opportunity to visit various is-
lands and other places where they could hold special meetings or enjoy dinners
and feasts that were organized, with local musicians and dancers providing enter-
tainment. The concluding session always took place at the Ancient Theatre of De-
los. A standard part of the closing ceremony was a reading of a declaration that
was prepared in common during the successive debates, which was signed by the

1960.

, .
, Greek Style -
,
, -
.

. -

.

. ,
,
.
,
1953 1975,

.
-
.
, ,
attendees during this final session. Those declarations addressed issues of values
and methods of planning, as well as issues concerning future priorities for research
on the evolution of human settlements and the role of architecture and urban plan-
ning. Many famous people from the world of urban and regional planning and
architecture like Buckminster Fuller, Siegfried Giedion, Kenzo Tange, and Walter
Christaller and many others participated in these cruises. Representatives of the
humanities and the social sciences like Arnold Toynbee, Arthur Koestler, Margaret
Mead, Erik Erikson and Robert K. Merton, Karl Deutsch, Marshall McLuhan and
scientists like C.H. Waddington, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Jonas Salk and Samuel
Eilenberg were among the frequent participants18. The tourist gaze of the intel-
lectual, scientific and reflective policy-making elites was to be combined with their
sense of inspiration by the spirit of the places they visited.
It took a while to realize the fact that tourism increasingly mattered
because of the expansion and the rising wealth of the rapidly growing but less
educated middle classes, with new traveling and recreational habits. Dimitrios Pa-
paeustratiou, a senior official of the Greek National Tourism Organization, invited
by Constantinos Doxiadis to a conference on economic development organized
in 1959, expressed this with lucidity. He declared that, in contrast to upper class
tourists who had made up the majority before the war, middle class tourists now
wanted to enjoy their new wealth and make up for their inferior status with new
kinds of experiences. This middle class attitude could be seen particularly though
not exclusively in tourists from the US.19 Mass tourism was not just business com-
ing from different market segments. Planners soon realized that it was a different
industry altogether. The invention of the slogan used many decades later Live
your Myth in Greece was also an expression of new trends that had become
discernible already in the early 1960s. It was a response to those looking to have
a personal myth, the exponents of a new kind of narcissism. It is in this context that
a new Greek style developed as a trademark for a special kind of experience,
129 essays
-
1940,
-
.
.
-
(1959-1960),
(1959-1962),

, . -
, -
1948,
.
(1965-1966).
(1969-
1973) (968-1973),
(1971)
(1972).
(1973-1975).
(1968)
(1969).20
-
1940.
,
including a special kind of Greek cuisine that partly was invented by the tourist
industry. The new wave of reinvented traditions and folklore, as key ingredients of
tourism, can be viewed as a consequence of the fact that many people have been
influenced by the spirit of a runaway world. Gradually the centrality of places
conducive to personal amelioration was replaced by the centrality of places pro-
viding an escape from those realities of life that failed to match new expectations.
The Greek tourism industry found it could eminently adapt to this trend. Both high
and vernacular architecture in the escape destinations left their stamp on the face
of the country.
Constantinos Doxiadis, a famous urban planner with projects in more
than thirty countries between 1953 and 1975, is a characteristic case of some-
body who expressed this spirit of linking overall development with the various
trends that prevailed in tourism. He never divorced his visions of reconstruction
from his interest in designing places of desire. The same man who among his
many other duties as coordinator of post-war reconstruction was involved in the
preparation of plans for tourist development in the late 1940s, and left his imprint
on the tourist landscape with works that were realized at a much later point in time.
The Xenia Hotel on the island of Skyros and the Makedonia Palace on the seafront
of Thessaloniki were built according to his plans. To the projects that were integrat-
ed in the planning of tourist activities belonged: the program for the development
of facilities of the Saronic Gulf coast from Kastella to Varkiza (1959-1960); the
design and construction supervision of the Youth Sporting Centre in Agios Kosmas
(1959-1962); a feasibility study for infrastructure development on the Varkiza sea-
front commissioned by the Greek National Tourism Organization, along with a
marina. Some of the plans which combined overall development with tourist devel-
opment concern the Dodecanese islands that were officially united to Greece in
1948. Doxiadis was involved in preparing plans for this island group since 1945,
and had written a book on the topic published by the Ministry of Reconstruc-

.
,
.
1950

.

1940. -
.

,
, , .21

, .
,
, . -

-
, 18
. Friedrich
Hlderlin 18 -
.
VIP .
cicerone -
19 , Jacob Burckhardt.
-
.
tion. The first project undertaken by Doxiadis Associates in the Dodecanese was
a feasibility study for the development of the island of Symi (1965-1966). But the
largest project was the development and master plan for the island of Rhodes
(1969-1973). His numerous other projects included a tourist development plan for
the Fana Gulf of the island of Chios (1968), feasibility studies for tourist develop-
ment in western Greece (1969), a development program for the city of Rhodes
(1968-1973), a study for the preservation and renovation of the medieval part of
the city (1971), and a feasibility study concerning the tourist development of the
areas of Vliha and Lardos (1972). Smaller projects in the Dodecanese included
the development plan for the island of Patmos (1973-1975).20 His preoccupation
with the Dodecanese is very interesting and illustrates the efforts and concepts that
prevailed already in the late 1940s. The belated and precarious union of the Do-
decanese with Greece triggered plans for tourism right from the start. Apparently,
the view that the control of newly acquired Greek territory consisting of islands
would automatically entail prompt tourist reconstruction, reflected dominant at-
titudes towards development planning.
Following the 1950s, tourism in Greece did not arise from the vision of the
famous ruins praised by the Romantics in their poetry and fiction. It arose from the
determination of two successive ugly wars of the 1940s to leave the vision of the
ruins behind. Post-war reconstruction called for a redefinition and reorientation of
Greeces development model as a matter of necessity. As Constantinos Doxiadis
was always stressing, it was not about reconstructing, but rather about reorgan-
izing Greece in spatial and socio-economic terms.21 Space and its symbolic value
131 essays
. -

.
,
.
1960 -

. 1967 1974
-
.
-
,
,
. -
.
, . -
-
. ,
.
-
.22 -

.
.
,
-
. -
had to be re-conquered on different terms by its users, inhabitants and visitors.

This applied to the shaping of settlements, to productive activities and services, but
also to its cultural uses as well. Furthermore, the travelers of the post-war Trente
Glorieuses were of a different cast compared to their forerunners that had flocked
7
to Greece since the late 18th century. There is almost nothing in common between
Friedrich Hlderlins vision that inspired travelers since the close of the 18th century
. . , , and the attitudes of groups led around by tourist agents. And post-war VIP visi-
, 1955.
C. A. Doxiadis, Xenia, Skyros, 1955. tors were different as well. The tourist guides of the time tried to imitate the spirit
of the cicerone as put forward by eminent 19th century scholars such as Jacob
Burckhardt. But the interaction with their listeners of stories about foregone civiliza-
tions is now incomparably more superficial. Gathering around a guide tends to
be more or less a pretentious and hypocritical act. Those who could see what was
hiding behind the appearances understood that what mattered was less the past
than the anxiety of achieving a fancy representation of the self. What mattered
most was placing oneself in sceneries of progress, not in sceneries of decay. Espe-
cially in the 1960s and in the early 1970s, one got the impression that the lived
experience of visiting places in Greece was combined with the consumption of the
images of a changing country. The fact that, between 1967 and 1974, Greece
was in the grip of a dictatorship didnt matter much to those who were determined
to frame their minds on such terms.
This obsession with the tourist gaze, and with the representation of the
self in the flow of a holiday vacation, the idiosyncratic consumption of the spaces
and places of tourism, created immense opportunities for designers/architects.
-
,
,
.
-

8
.
1963
: E.N.
. , - Bacon, J. Tyrwhitt.
- Delos Symposion 1963 -
Ancient theater of Delos : E.N.
Bacon, J. Tyrwhitt.
.

. -
.

-

.23 -
,
.

. , -
,
. -
--
Most of them designed the places of desire for the new middle classes. They cre-
ated their homes and the built environment of their recreation. In tandem, they
created the conditions for hosting myriads of travelers. And shaped their dreamt
places of escape, the places where they could project their selves. However, this
multiplicity of projections of the self, and the heterogeneity of desires caused
a new brutalism of disorder.22 It brought about a plethora of informal projects
9
conducted by small proprietors and small businesses with short-range views that
marred the opportunities of sustainable planning. In this context we have to realize
. the significance of the side effects and the direct deformations that resulted from
Construction Inspection during
the Reconstruction era. an often cynically instrumental appropriation of the environment by tourism. The
consecutive layers of installation of ad-hoc facilities made the original vernacular
elements, as well as the objects of invented authenticity, indistinguishable in the
eyes of those who were driven by architectural visions as part of their visions of
tourist development. The fragmentary and short-term nature of the planned exploi-
tation of the environment in many cases caused both its ecological and functional
deterioration. And this often undermined the interplay between discourses of au-
thenticity and discourses of high culture that made much of the worth of the tourist
built environment. However, it seems that the consequences of such a short-range
view and parochialism are not a problem for many of the new tourists. They have
a different definition of the sublime that is totally compatible with the whims of the
petty exploiters of the tourist gaze. It has given a sense of ordinariness to the com-
moditization on available landscapes. An immediate corollary was the informal
reorganization of the built environment that couldnt be regarded as compatible
with the visions of those who reflected on Greeces post-war reconstruction.23 It
created, apart from the high-standard tourist resorts and luxury hotels and restau-
rants, or apart from protected landscapes and archaeological sites, far too many
133 essays
.
.
.

.

.24

.
-
.
,
.25
,
,

,
, .26
,
.

. -
-
- -
.
.27
undesirable places of desire. This informal exploitation of both rural and urban
landscapes forged an alliance between various parts of the new majorities of visi-
tors and business minded small-holder locals. This was a spontaneous conquest
and tourist instrumentalization of places, brought about a non-architecture. These
new spontaneous practices relied on ways of shaping space that were guided by
an extremely narrow and provisional vision. There was no plan emerging from a
describable tourist gaze, but rather a spontaneous disorder emerging form the
fragmentation and tyranny of the moment of, sorely needed, lived experiences.
This is a nightmare for every ambitious designer who lives by the metaphor of
architecture and the illusions this might imply.24 It is however, a pleasurable per-
spective for the playful low-budget visitors who want to remember how they could
forget by the use of whatever the places could offer. And those who seek to make 10
a business out of this tend to destabilize spaces and places with patchworks of T ,
perishable materials.25 It seems that this new vernacularism of the new built envi-
ronments of escape, this new ordinariness, will stay as a rhizome-like structure of .
Doxiadis Associates International,
the Greek environment of tourism even in cases where bigger but sensible plans Rhodes town master plan.
for both the less and the more well-off tourists will be implemented.26 This might be
compatible with postmodern exoticism, but not with the role of planners and de-
signers. The connection between the accessibility of places of desire and progress
took a turn that was not expected by the initial planners of post-war reconstruction
like Constantinos Doxiadis. They did not expect that progress and the more equal-
ly distributed access to consumption would bring such a popular decentralization
and fragmentation of the tourist space; and thus an ordinariness of detachment
from values of planning and design.27
1. John Urry and Jonas Larsen (2011), The Tourist Gaze 3.0. London: 1. John Urry and Jonas Larsen (2011), The Tourist Gaze 3.0., London:
Sage, . 2. John Berger (1972), Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin. Sage, p. 2. John Berger (1972), Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin.
2. . John Agnew (2005), 2. On the distinction between space and place, see John Agnew
Space: Place, P. Cloke and R. Johnston (eds.), Spaces of Geographi- (2005), Space: Place, in: P. Cloke and R. Johnston (eds.), Spaces of Geo-
cal Thought, London: Sage, . 81-96. graphical Thought, London: Sage, pp. 81-96.
3. 3. On human scales in architecture and urban planning see: C. A. Doxi-

, . . . adis (2006 [1968]), Ekistics Synthesis of Structure and Form. in: A.-A.
(2006 [1968]), - Kyrtsis (ed.), C.A. Doxiadis: Texts, Design Drawings, Settlements, Athens:
, - (.) (2006), .. : Ikaros Publications, pp. 142-161. Also: A. Rossi (1982), The Architecture of
, , . : , . 142-161. : A. Rossi the City. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, pp. 158-161.
(1982), The Architecture of the City. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, .
158-163. 4. Agon Epivioseos, Monthly Bulletin of the Office for the Coordination
and Implementation of the Reconstruction Plan. Vol. 2, No. 21, January 25,
4. , - 1949, p. 34
-
, .2, .21, 25 1949, . 34. 5. Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 2, No. 25, 1949, p. 67.
5. , .2, .25, 23 1949, . 67. 6. Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 1, No. 8, 1948, pp. 3-4.
6. , .1, .8, 23 1948, . 3-4. 7. Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 2, No. 28, 1949, pp. 88-89.
7. , .2, .28, 16 1949, . 88-89. 8. Ministry of Coordination, Series of Publications in Economic Recov-
ery, Economic Recovery Programme, Vol. 2, Reconstruction Programme
8. , , - 1950-1951, p. 319.
, , 1950-1951,
, 1950, . 319. 9. Edition in four languages (Greek, French, English, Russian). For the
presentation of statistics and illustration of non-numerical data Doxiadis
9. (, , , - used Otto Neuraths International Picture Language developed to the stan-
). dards of ISOTYPE (International System of Typographic Picture Education).
(International Picture Language) This book has been reprinted in 2014 in a facsimile edition by Kathimerini
Otto Neurath ISOTYPE (International System Publications, Athens.
of Typographic Picture Education). -
2014 . 10. Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 2, No. 53, 1949, p. 111.
10. , , , 53, 1949, . 111. 11. Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 4, No. 72, 1950, p. 51. Also: Agon Epivioseos,
Vol. 4, No. 87, 1950, p. 284.
11. , , , 72, 1950, . 51. :
, , , 87, 1950, . 284. 12. Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 5, No. 25, 1950.
12. , , , 25, 1950. 13. A characteristic case is the costly repair of the road connecting the
archaeological sites of Knossos and Phaistos that was funded in the years
13. 1950-1951 and which had a significant impact on the economic develop-
ment of the region of Iraklion in Crete. See: Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 5, No.
1950-1951. 18, 1950, p. 312.
. . , , , 18,
1950, . 312. 14. Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 1, No. 16, 1948, p. 5.
14. , .1, .16, 21 1948, . 5. 15. Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 5, No. 25, 1950, pp. 412-413. Also: Agon
Epivioseos, Vol. 5, No. 9, 1949, pp. 191-192.
15. , , , 25, 1950, . 412-413.
: , , , 9, 1949, . 191-192. 16. Agon Epivioseos, Vol. 4, No. 92, 1950, p. 375.
16. , , , 92, 1950, . 375. 17. Mark Wigley (2001), Network Fever, Grey Room 04, Summer Is-
sue, p. 82-122.
17. Mark Wigley (2001), Network Fever, Grey Room 04, Summer Is-
sue, . 82-122. 18. More on the Delos Symposia in: Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis (ed.)
(2006), Texts, Design Drawings, Settlements. Athens: Ikaros Publications,
18. .-. , .. pp. 456-460.
: , , , . 456-460.
19. Dimitrios Papaeustratiou (1959), Greek Tourism: Short-term and
19 . (1959), : - Long-Term Perspectives. in The Economic Development of the Country
, Twenty two lectures by specialists. Athens: Publication of the Athens Tech-
, : nological Institute, pp. 258-262 (In Greek).
, . 258-262.
20. For more details about these plans as part of Doxiadis activities in
20. . .-. , .. : Greece see Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis (ed.) (2006), C.A. Doxiadis:
, , , . 421-439. : DA Review, July 1969, Texts, Design Drawings, Settlements. Athens: Ikaros Publications, pp. 421-
Special Issue on Tourist Projects of Doxiadis Associates. 439. Also: DA Review, July 1969, Special Issue on Tourist Projects of Doxi-
adis Associates.
21. . (1945), : -
. , 27 ( 21. C. A. Doxiadis (1945) The Reconstruction: reorganization, not re-
). construction. To Vima, September 27 (Signed as Greek Technologists)
22. - (In Greek).
,
135 essays
. 22. As Yorgos Simeoforidis points out, with reference to Dimitris Fatouros,

brutalism is a response to representations of technical and financial con-
, siderations. In the case of the localization and decentralization of tourist
-- activities and the corresponding infrastructures, it became a vernacular
- technique and the micro-business model, answering the need for ad-hoc
. flexible solutions that guaranteed the anticipated profit margins. Its a case
- of brutalism arising from small scale informal practices, and it impacts the
. built or quasi-built environment, to the detriment of the natural setting. Yor-
, gos Simeoforidis (1999), Collective Visions and Isolated Trajectories,
. . In Yannis Aesopos and Yorgos Simeoforidis (eds.) (1999), Landscapes of
Yorgos Simeoforidis (1999), Collective Visions and Isolated Trajectories, Modernisation: Greek Architecture 1960s and 1990, Athens: Metapolis
Yannis Aesopos, Yorgos Simeoforidis (eds.) (1999), Landscapes of Press, pp. 44-45.
Modernisation. Greek Architecture 1960s and 1990s, Athens: Metapolis
Press, . 44-45. 23. As many planners discovered, ordinariness of real life, in which the
result of a multitude of actions of weaker agents prevails, undermines the
23. - grand plans. Unstable and protean networks often prove to be stronger
, than supposedly well-structured systems. For comments on the dynamics
- of cities that evolve contrary to the intentions of planners and modernizers:
, . Jennifer Robinson (2006), Ordinary cities: Between Modernity and Devel-
opment. London and New York: Routledge.
. -
24. Designers illusions often result in design fallacies that are totally in-
, . Jennifer Robinson (2006), Ordinary congruous as to the real opportunities of taming the actions through which
cities: Between Modernity and Development, London and New York: Rout- developers and consumers appropriate space and place. See: Kojin Kara-
ledge. ratani (1995), Architecture as Metaphor. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.
24. - 25. It is not only the process of spontaneous and informal urbanism in
Greece that moots both public and private institutions of planning as Ber-
. , nard Colenbrander stresses (The Greek Experience in Yannis Aesopos
, . . : and Yorgos Simeoforidis (eds.) (1999), Landscapes of Modernisation:
Kojin Kararatani (1995), Architecture as Metaphor, Cambridge MA: The Greek Architecture 1960s and 1990s, Athens: Metapolis Press, pp. 34-
MIT Press. 35). There are similar problems in all kinds of informal development and
consumption of landscapes.
25. -
- 26. The micro-societal and micro-economic reality of Greek tourism
, results from the interplay between the management of tourists expecta-
, tions and the micro-entrepreneurship that exploits diversified and loosely
Bernard Colenbrander (The Greek Experience , Yannis Aesopos, networked places of desire, the dynamics of which undermine the macro-
Yorgos Simeoforidis (eds.) (1999), Landscapes of Modernisation. Greek dynamics of the industry and the functioning of the connections between
Architecture 1960s and 1990s, Athens: Metapolis Press, . 34-35). - the economy and the state in this domain. We can observe rhizomatic
- phenomena in Deleuzes and Guattaris terms: the social reality aborts
. its roots in plans of systemic control of modernization processes. Gilles
Deleuze and Flix Guattari (1987), A Thousand Plateaus Capitalism and
26. - Schizophrenia. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press,
pp. 3-25.

27. On the new role of the architect, in this context, as a mediator among
. - various carriers of interests and thus as someone who manages the conflict-
ing interconnections between various parameters that influence the design
- process, see Yannis Aesopos (1999), From the 60s to the 90s: Disengag-
. ing from Place for a New Beginning, in Aesopos & Simeoforidis (eds.),
Deleuze Landscapes of Modernisation, pp. 40-41.
Guattari. -

.
. Gilles Deleuze and Flix Guattari
(1987), A Thousand Plateaus Capitalism and Schozophrenia. Minneapo-
lis and London: University of Minnesota Press, . 3-25.
27.
-
, . Yannis Aesopos (1999), From the 60s to the
90s: Disengaging from Place for a New Beginning, Yannis Aesopos,
Yorgos Simeoforidis (eds.), Landscapes of Modernisation, . 40-41.
, 19501967:

Xenia Hotels 19501967:
The Vision of Modernism
-

1949. 1950 PANTELIS
NICOLACOPOULOS

()
. -
.
. Pantelis Nikolakopoulos
T 1950-58 , - is an architect
,
.
1, , [. 1],
, . .
, . , .
. . -
, .

1957-67,
The design and realization of the Xenia hotels was initiated with the post-war re-
construction of Greece following the Second World War and the Civil War which
ended in 1949. In the beginning of the 1950s a significant program was launched
by the newly established Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) for the
promotion of tourism through the construction of new building facilities. The Xenia
program addressed the demands of the time with a series of more than forty hotels
within a period of seventeen years.
In the years 1950-58, the architect Charalambos Sfaellos, director of
the GNTOs Technical Department, was responsible for the design and construc-
tion of the first Xenia units. During this period, Sfaellos designed the Xenias in
Kastoria1, Argostoli, Thassos [pl. 1], Corfu, Tsangarada and Ypati. The Delphi
Xenia was designed by D. Pikionis, Portaria Xenia by K. Kitsikis, Sparta Xenia by
Ch. Bougatsos and Samothrace Xenia by K. Spanos. This is the first phase of im-
plementation of the program, where certain design principles become apparent.
The Xenia program attains its most articulate expression in the years
1957-67, when Aris Konstantinidis is in charge of the Design Section and trans-
forms it into an architectural workshop, in collaboration with a team of architects.
The Xenia design approach was based on a solid theoretical framework, which
137 essays
, -
.
-
,

, :
, , -
, , -

, .

1960 .
1. . , ,
, 1955.
Ch. Sfaellos, Xenia, Thassos, 1955.
2. . ,
, , 1960-1962.
A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Guest Quarters,
Epidaurus, 1960-1962. 2
can be traced in the writings of Konstantinidis, where he describes the method for
selecting suitable sites with the appropriate view and orientation for the Xenia ho-
tels, as well as key design principles: the scale of the buildings and the integration
of the built forms in the landscape, the relationship between interior and exterior
space, the simplicity and clarity of form, truth in the use of materials, standardi-
zation in construction methods but also the aspiration of incorporating the hotel
units in life of each place, all hallmarks of the Xenia program, which make it quite
unique. To a significant degree, it is through these buildings that the modernist
architecture of the 1960s in Greece is formulated.
The Xenia hotels have a special significance, since they are considered
to be the most important production of public buildings after the war. Through
their integration in the austere and primeval Greek landscape, they achieve the
implementation of a modern architectural vision, which interpreted the principles
of modernism through a regional code.

,
.
, -
,
.
1957 1967 -
,
2.
. -
[.
2]. .
[. 3] -
[. 4].
(46m)
, ,
[. 5],
3 . -
.
,
.
The period beginning in 1957 and ending with the resignation of Kon- 3. . ,
, ,
stantinidis from the GNTO in 1967, when Greece came under a dictatorship, is , 1962.
the most prolific and decisive2. In the new hotel units a uniform approach is fol- A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Motel,
Paliouri, Chalkidiki, 1962.
lowed. The buildings are frequently arranged in wings or are broken down within
the landscape, as is the case of the Guest-houses in Epidaurus [pl. 2]. There is an 4. . ,
.
extensive use of transitional and outdoors sheltered spaces. The hotel corridors A. Konstantinidis, standardized
open up towards the landscape on their one side [pl. 3]. Rooms are standardized bedroom in Xenia Hotels.
as to their dimensions and construction details [pl. 4]. The rectangular construction 5. . ,
grid (4X6m) is adopted as a standard, as well as the wing arrangement for the :
, , 1,
rooms, which is implemented in the Xenia hotels in Kalambaka, Poros, Olympia I 2.
A. Konstantinidis, standardization
and Olympia II of Konstantinidis [pl. 5], but also in other Xenia hotels with minor in Xenia Hotels: Kalambaka, Poros,
variations. The load-bearing structure is clearly expressed and in a number of Olympia 1, Olympia 2 in Xenia Hotels.
139 essays
. -
,
.

, [.
6, 7] ,
.
,
-
[. 8].

. -
, ,
. , -
,
. , . , . , . , . , .
. .
. [. 9] . 3
[. 10].
instances the buildings are detached from the ground. The design and construction of
the Xenia hotels is realized with an economy of means and materials, in direct relation
to the landscape and the natural light. Emphasis is given to the communal areas as they
become more accessible to the local communities. The spirit of modernism is identified
in the proportions of the buildings and in the design of all the detailing, the furniture and
the supporting elements.
This architectural approach is inherent in the projects designed by Konstanti-
nidis, such as the Kalambaka Xenia [pl. 6, 7], which has become a point of reference,
and it is taught in the schools of architecture in Greece and is included in the international
bibliography. In designing these Xenia hotels, elements like the expression of the load-
bearing reinforced concrete frame and the functional use of transitional and outdoors
sheltered spaces will become integral in his overall work [pl. 8].
Konstantinidis organized the Design Section of the GNTO in the logic of an ar-
chitectural practice. He designed twelve units, along with the dressing rooms at the thea-
tre in Epidaurus, which was his first project at the GNTO. His team included a number
of skilled young architects who adopted the basic design principles of the Xenia Hotels
with a freedom of expression, like I. Triantafyllidis, K. Stamatis, G. Nikoletopoulos, Ph.
6. . ,
, , 1960,
.
A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Motel,
Kalambaka, 1960.
7. . ,
, , 1960,
.
A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Motel,
6 7 Kalambaka, 1960, communal areas.

, ,
.
,
80 .
2003,
1950-1967 -
,

,
. , 2008
, ,
Vokos, K. Bitsios, D. Zivas, and K. Dialeisma. Characteristic works of this team are
the Nafplion Xenia by I. Triantafyllidis [pl. 9] and the Spetses Xenia by Ph. Vokos3
[pl. 10].
The austere and unpretentious way of the design and construction of the
Xenia hotels refers to a different ethos and a distinct quality in the manner of hos-
pitality, resulting from a consistent and substantive architectural standpoint. For
several years they functioned as exemplary hotel units, but in the 1980s they fell
into decline and then were left to ruin.
In June 2003, the Association of Greek Architects submitted a proposal
for the immediate conservation and highlighting of the Xenia hotels of the period
1950-1967 and their listing along with their surroundings, so that once these units
8. . ,
, , 1960.
A. Konstantinidis, Xenia,
Myconos, 1960.
9. . ,
, , 1958.
I. Triantafyllidis, Xenia,
Nafplion, 1958. 9
141 essays
4. -
5.
.
-

.

,
.
. , , , 1960.
Ph. Vokos, Xenia, Spetses, 1960.
10
are refurbished on the basis of their original plans and properly organized, they
would become an integrated network of tourist infrastructure of high architectural
value. As a result of a long effort, in June 2008 the listing of the first five Xenia
hotels was achieved, including Kalambaka, Paliouri and Platamon4. In the follow-
ing years a few more Xenia hotels were listed, among which were Andros and
Heraklion5. However, certain Xenia hotels of seminal importance, such as those of
Nafplion and of Olympia II, have not been listed yet.
Following an extensive period of neglect and decline, the Xenia hotels
are attracting attention once again because they refer to values lost in the age of
consumerism. Designed on a scale that was in harmony with the Greek landscape
and in continuity with the natural environment through the standpoint of modern-
ism, the Xenias remain a true testimony of their time.
1. . . 1. In collaboration with M. Zagorisiou.
2. 1974, - 2. The Xenia program continued until 1974, in a desultory

. manner.
3. . , , , 1958, . , - 3. I. Triantafyllidis, Xenia, Nafplion, 1958, Ph. Vokos, Xenia

, , 1960. Hotel, Spetses, 1960.
4. . , , , 1960, . 4. A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Motel, Kalambaka, 1960, A.

, , , 1962, , Konstantinidis, Xenia Motel, Paliouri, 1962, Ph. Vokos, Xenia
, . , 1960. Motel, Platamon, 1960.
5. . , , , 1958, . - 5. A. Konstantinidis, Xenia, Andros, 1958, A. Konstantinidis,

, , , 1963-1966. Xenia Motel, Iraklion, 1963-1966.
,
:
19581967
Modernization, Originality and

Genius Loci: The Groundbreaking
Hotel Architecture of
Aris Konstantinidis 1958 67
- (1913-1993) -

HELEN FESSAS- :
EMMANOUIL

-
(Achleitner, 1965 -, 1993: 23-24). -

.
, -
, , -

Hellen Fessas-Emmanouil (1907-1985): , , -
is an architectural historian, -
Professor Emeritus, .
University of Athens .
. ( ., 1999: 15 [1938, ] & http://www.
engonopoulos.gr/_homeEN)
Aris Konstantinidis (1913-1993) was a leading figure of Greek contemporary

architecture, whose contemplative approach transcended the placelessness and
anti-traditionalist principles of Modernism (Achleitner, 1965; Fessas-Emmanouil,
1993: 112-113). My essay proposes a reassessment of his groundbreaking hotel
architecture. Starting with an introductory note about Konstantinidis and ending
with concluding observations, it focuses on those aspects of the architects work
that confirm the following view of Greek painter and poet Nicos Engonopoulos
(1907-1985): The years, in my view, teach us that the greater the local character
of an art [and craft], the more global is its interest. That the more personal it is,
the greater its universal significance. And the more of its own time it is, the more
eternal its content. (Engonopoulos, Nikos, 1999: 15 [1938, interview] & http://
www.engonopoulos.gr/_homeEN)
145 essays
O
,
(1913-1983) -
1955-1967 (Achleitner,
1965 -, 1993, 23-24).
.
. -
-
.

1931-1936.
Adolf Abel (1882-1968) Robert Vorhlzer (1884-
1954)
. -
1933 (Nerdinger, 1993: 87-109 & 1985: 147-180 http://
eng.archinform.net/arch/120.htm; http://www.architekten-portrait.de/robert_
vorhoelzer/index.html). ,

, , , ,
,
.
Mies van
he Architect
Aris Konstantinidis (1913-1993) was an architect with a capital A, well able to inte-
grate theory with practice, who played a vital role in upgrading and modernizing
Greek architecture between the years 1955-1967. However, his groundbreaking
work with its essentially anonymous ethos has a more than local and historic value.
This applies also to his architectural philosophy and legacy. I would like to start
with some facts which hold a key to understanding his approach and work.
Konstantinidis studied architecture at the Technical University in Mu-
nich from 1931 to 1936. During the first three years of his studies the new fac-
ulty members Adolf Abel (1882-1968) and especially Robert Vorhlzer (1884-
1954) tried to open the conservative syllabus to modern ideas, a trend that was
forcibly brought to an end in 1933 by National Socialism. (Nerdinger, 1993:
87-109 & 1985: 147-180; http://eng.archinform.net/arch/120.htm; http://www.
architekten-portrait.de/robert_vorhoelzer/index.html). Unsatisfied with his aca-
demic training, Konstantinidis read and travelled extensively, often by motorcycle,
in Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Austria and Hungary. Through this
self-teaching process he came into direct contact with avant-garde European ar-
chitecture and managed to meet Mies and other modern masters. He thus entered
the world of his art with an unadulterated outlook (Konstantinidis, 1981 & 1992:
38-56, 274).
The Second World War and the architecturally inactive period of the
German-Italian occupation (1941-1944) and of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949)
proved a most fertile interlude. They offered Konstantinidis the opportunity to pur-
1 sue a lonely but fruitful process of self-knowledge in his passionate search for
a true contemporary architecture (Konstantinidis, 1978; Konstantinidis, 1981 &

(1913-1993),
1992: 46-87). He wandered extensively throughout Greece with his inseparable
camera and sketchbook to study his native architectural language, equipped with
1940.
Architect Aris Konstantinidis (1913-
the language he had learned abroad. Thus he discovered the archaic simplicity,
1993) photographed in the 1940s. serenity and artistic wisdom of vernacular architecture both traditional and con-
der Rohe (, 1981 &

1992: 38-56, 274).

- (1941-1944) (1946-
1949) .
-

(, 1978 , 1981 & 1992: 46-87).

, -
.
, -
2
,
,

. , 1951.
: Aris Konstantinidis on the building site
of his first postwar work, 1951.
-

( A., 1975: 309-313 1981 & 1992: 274, 117-118
-, 1993: 15-17 Fesas-Emmanouil, 2010: 57-58).

. 1939
temporary as well as the sunny harmony and spirituality of the Greek landscape.
He also identified the essence of Greeces age-long architectural tradition, name-
ly its ability to assimilate both Western and Eastern influences; its moderation and
tolerance of diversity; and the harmonious co-existence between buildings and
nature (Konstantinidis A., 1975: 309-313 1981 & 1992: 274, 117-118; Fessas-
Emmanouil, 1993: 106-108; Fessas-Emmanouil, 2010: 57-58).
Aris Konstantinidis worked both as a civil servant and as a free-lance
architect. His vicissitudinous career started in 1936 and ended in 1978. As a civil
servant he was employed in two different Government agencies the City Plan-
ning Department of Athens (1936-37, 1939-40) and the Ministry of Public Works
(1942-53) and headed the design sections of the Low-Income Housing Depart-
ment (OEK) (1955-57) and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO)
(1957-67, 1975-77). During those years he would interrupt his civil service career
twice in 1937 to do his military service and in 1940 to serve on the Albanian
-

1989.
A wooden model-manifesto
of Konstantinidiss architecture,
constructed on the occasion of
the 1989 retrospective exhibition
of his work at the National Gallery
3 of Athens.
147 essays
1978. -
(1936-37, 1939-
40) (1942-53)
-
(, 1955-57) (, 1957-
67, 1975-77).
1937 1940

1957 1967 1977. 1967-
1970 . -

1950 1960.
31 -
66% .
,
1936 16 , (,
1981 & 1992: 5-11, 274-275 , 1957).

.
front; and he would resign three times in 1957 from OEK and in 1967 and 1977
from GNTO. From 1967 to 1970 he taught as a visiting professor at the Polytech-
nic School of Zurich. The bulk of his buildings were produced in the 1950s and
1960s. In his twelve years service at and GNTO he produced 31 buildings,
which represent 66% of his built work. The architect was less fortunate in his pri-
vate practice, which started in 1938, yielding only 16 buildings mostly single-
family houses (Kontantinidis, 1981 & 1992: 5-11, 274-275; and Konstantinidis,
1957). This was due to his reluctance to be fashion driven or to compromise over
the requirements of his clients.
Konstantinidis was a man of integrity, a sense of mission and cultural
sensitivity. He had a strong character with egocentric traits, an artistic flair, as
well as a natural propensity for drawing and building things with his own hands.
He became friends with major Greek painters, sculptors and poets e.g. painters
Diamantis Diamantopoulos and Yannis Moralis, poets Andreas Embirikos and Od-
ysseus Elytis and was married to sculptress Natalia Mela. Konstantinidis archi-
tectural approach was creatively influenced by great poets and philosophers of
antiquity and of modern times. The maxim of the ancient Greek poet Pindar Learn
what you are and be such was one of his favorite mottos. His belief in the value
of true architecture contemporary as well as old is also indebted to German
poets and thinkers such as: the romantic poet Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) who
believed in the ageless worth of the genuinely popular and the aphorism of the
scientist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799) That which is new is seldom
true, that which is true is seldom new; Rainer Maria Rilkes (1875-1926) motto
Even though the world keeps changing / as quickly as cloud-shapes / all things
perfected fall / home to the age-old, etc. (Konstantinidis, 1989: cover, back flap;
Fessas-Emmanouil, 1993: 54-56; Fessas-Emmanouil, 2010: 58).
His Architectural Approach and Work

A key element of Konstantinidiss architectural approach was his determination to
reconcile modernity and tradition. In doing so he broke away from the opposing
approaches of 20th century Greek architecture; namely the mainstream effort to
align with international trends avant garde or conservative and the reactionary
, -
.
,
-
.
4
..

. ,
. 1959, -

( .
) . The Pavilion of the National Tourist
Organization of Greece at the Inter-
() national Fair of Thessaloniki, 1959,
, : a manifesto of Aris Konstantinidiss
hotel architecture.
Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805)
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
(1742-1799) , ,
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
/
/ / .. (,
1989: -, 1993: 54-56
Fessas-Emmanouil, 2010: 57-58).

.
-
20 :

.
,
.
,
(Konstantinidis, 1981: 58-269
-, 1993: 50). -
, .
, (Konstantinidis, 1987a: 113-117, 163-183).
approach of critical or folkloric regionalism. He knowingly criticized the com-

mercialized, alienating and imperialistic tradition of the new as well as the pa-
rochial and superficial traditionalism of regionalists. Having grasped at an early
age that it is only the modern that becomes old-fashioned, he went on to maintain
that evolution does not rule out fresh approaches to fresh situations (Konstantinidis,
1981 & 1992: 58-269; Fessas-Emmanouil, 1993: 50). The Greek master believed
that architecture is not only a matter of construction, aesthetics and individual ex-
pression. It is primarily a spiritual, cultural and socially relevant art (Konstantinidis,
1987a: 113-117, 163-183).
The architects work stands out for its capacity to be both of its time and
essentially timeless. This is due to Konstantinidis all-encompassing philosophy,
which embraced the enduring values of its epoch and place. He strongly sup-
ported that the true architectural work, as long as it is contemporary from the point
of view of technology economy, construction etc., it will also be eternal from
the point of view of artistic quality (Konstantinidis, 1987: 163). He also main-
149 essays

. -
. -

,
.., -
(, 1987: 162).
,
(,
A., 1987: 243 AD, 1964 , 1985 , 1986).
,
- ,
A. Perret, R. Schindler, R. Neutra, J. Duiker W.
Gropius. F.L. Wright
. , -
-
,
tained that the ultimate purpose of architecture is to create ephemeral vessels

for life, i.e. organic structures built to the measure of man, and not just faades
(Konstantinidis, 1987: 243; AD, 1964; Konstantinidis, 1985; Georgousopoulos,
1986). His architectural philosophy encapsulates the essentially constructive, so-
cial, iconoclastic and anti-revivalist spirit of the Modern Movement, exemplified in
the pioneer work of A. Perret, R. Schindler, R. Neutra, J. Duiker and W. Gropius,
while sharing F.L. Wrights position that true architecture is fundamentally topo-
graphical. This approach also carries on the values of his countrys age-long ar-
chitectural tradition; namely the harmonious relationship of buildings with Nature,
and the ancient Greek tradition of the tripartite Megaron with its room, covered
area and open courtyard, which had survived in local anonymous architecture.
5
Thus Konstantinidis built in the same spirit but not in an imitative manner his una-
dorned vessels for life, with the appropriate modern technique and materials

A. .
for each site. He also held the opinion that searching for what is common or all-
Standardization in the Xenia hotels embracing and for perfection in architecture leads to a type or a rule. Hence
designed by A. Konstantinidis.
he devised a structural system and functional layout, striving towards the ideal
form, the architectural type, which could yield buildings for several uses, as well
as building types for houses, museums, hotels and other functions (Konstantinidis,
1987: 164; Konstantinidis, 1981: 220-222; Achleither, 1968). This architectural
concept was epitomized by a wooden model, constructed on the occasion of the
1989 exhibition of Konstantinidis work at the National Gallery of Athens (Fessas-
Emmanouil, 2001: 103).
The Groundbreaking Xenia Hotels

The program of the Xenia hotel and related tourist facilities, one of the largest
infrastructure projects in modern Greece, was initiated by the Greek National
Tourism Organization (GNTO) in 1950 and its design section was first headed by
architect Charalambos Sfaellos (1950-58). However, it was under the leadership
of Aris Konstantinidis (1958-1967) that the Xenia hotels and other facilities of the
GNTO acquired their identity and architectural quality that won international ac-
claim. The keys to this success can be broken down into four elements: ideology,
enlightened leadership, standardization and communication. From an ideological
point of view, Konstantinidis distanced himself from the mainstream International-
Style as well as from the sentimental aestheticism of the regionalists (Fessas-Em-
,
() ,
. , ,

.
-
, ..
.
,
-
, , (, 1987: 164
, 1981 & 1992: 220-222 Achleither, 1968).

, 1989 (-, 2001: 182, 103).
T
()

.
1950
(1950-1958). ,
-

manouil, 2001: 116). As a leader of able architects e.g. Giorgos Nikoletopoulos,

Yannis Triantafillidis, Dionyssis Zivas, Philippos Vokos, he focused on values and
good team morale that enhanced creativity. He also defined the teams design
strategy of disciplined freedom: i.e. compositional rules and moderate stand-
ardization inspired by indigenous tradition that facilitated the architectural identity
and variety of the GNTOs modern facilities. Finally, thanks to Konstantinidis, the
publicity of the Xenia hotels was unprecedented for Greece. In addition to its so-
cio-economic importance, this association of quality architecture with tourism was
an achievement that distinguished itself on a global scale (e.g. World Architecture
3, 1965: 145-146; Yarwood, 1974: 529, 558; DBZ, 1970: 79-81).
The virtues of the Xenia hotels have been extolled in many publications
in Greece and abroad (, 1987: 329-352). The GNTO architects
participated in the selection of the sites which was of paramount importance, since
they shared Konstantinidis view that the new structure must appear as some-
thing that has always been part of that particular landscape (World Architecture,
1966: 146). The result was that many Xenia hotels were built on locations of sin-
gular beauty. In construction they tried to keep costs down. Using a system of rein-
forced concrete skeleton and fill-in walls of plastered bricks or well-laid stone, the
Xenia buildings became a harmonious part of each particular site. The columns of
the skeleton, and more rarely the load-bearing stone walls, are laid out in a rec-
tangular grid 4X6 meters or a square grid 4X4 meters. On this grid the spaces are
composed of standard rooms, wings of usually nine rooms, and public areas, and
are covered with flat roofs. The other construction elements which have been more
or less standardized, i.e. windows, doors, stairs, balcony railings, etc., supplement
the composition. With the same construction elements and the same compositional
principles, every Xenia building takes on a different form according to the project,
the shape of the lot, its orientation and view (World Architecture, 1966: 146
151 essays
. , ,
.
,
-
(-, 2001: 117).
- , ,
, ..,
.
, -

. , ,
-
. ,

(.. World Architecture 3, 1965: 145-146 Yarwood,
1974: 529, 558 DBZ, 1970: 79-81).

(, 1987: 329-352).
-
,

, -
(, 1987: . 185).
. -

,

.
-
. , -
, 46 44.
,
-
, . -
Konstantinidis, 1987: 187-188). The manifesto of this system of architectural com-

position was the GNTO pavilion at the International Fair of Thessaloniki (1959)
designed by Konstantinidis (Bauneister, 1960: 76-78; AD, 1964: 217).
The primary role of construction, the strongly articulated arrangement of
spaces and the rhythmic organization of facades in Konstantinidis Xenia hotels
are softened by: a musical sense of form, a brilliant instinct for siting buildings in a
landscape, an artistic application of common materials exposed concrete, iron,
stone, plastered bricks, wood, slated floors and a structurally relevant use of the
,
.
.
Lamps Standardization in the Xenia
hotels designed by A. Konstantinidis.
, , ,
.. .
,
,
, (, 1987:
187-188).
1959,
(Baumeister, 1960: 76-78 AD, 1964: 217).
,
-
: -
, , , ,
7. . , earthy Polygnotean colors. The architect also designed the standard furniture for
, , 1960.
Konstantinidis, Xenia Motel, his hotels. On his initiative, a small percentage of the total cost of each Xenia was
Kalampaka, 1960. set aside for the purchase of sculptural works by significant artists. (Konstantinidis,
8. . , , 1981 & 1992: 214-238). The fact that Konstantinidis was responsible for the de-
, 1960. sign and oversight of the buildings in their totality pertains to the Bauhaus notion of
. Konstantinidis, Xenia,
Mykonos, 1960 the Gesamtkunstwerk. Four crowning achievements of this approach are the Xenia
hotels of Kalambaka (1960), Myconos (1960) and Paliouri in Halkidiki (1962)
and the guest-houses in Epidavros (1962) (Konstantinidis, 1981 & 1992: 98-101,
108-111, 128-131, 103-105, 152-155)
As for the character and role of the GNTO hotels, Konstantinidis notes
that they are not merely functional buildings, serving guests with all the mod-
ern equipment designed for comfort. They also constitute centers for aesthetic
enjoyment and spiritual rest ...[p. 146]... Public areas are amply designed to
provide for additional space, quite beyond the needs of the hotels clients, to
attract visitors both local inhabitants and travelers and have them participate
in the life of the hotel. In this manner its real clients are given the opportunity to
come into contact with the inhabitants of the region, and they in turn are invited
to share in the atmosphere of the hotel ... (World Architecture, 1966: 146).
This vision came true as many Xenia hotels were the center of social life of their
region during the 60s and 70s.
153 essays
,
.
.

(, 1981 & 1992: 214-238). -

Bauhaus.

(1960), (1960)
(1962) (1960, 1962) (,
1981 & 1992: 98-101, 108-111, 128-131, 103-105, 152-155).

, ... -
, -
, -
. , , ..,
, -
... ,
,

,
(, 1987: 186-187).
Postscript
Konstantinidiss Xenia hotels occupy an prominent place in the history of Greek
20th century architecture. Most of them are listed heritage buildings. In ad-
dition, the collaborative climate that he created as supervisor of the GNTO
design section is a valuable paradigm. The architectural work produced by
Konstantinidis and the accomplished architects of this section made it possible
for his developing country to be dynamically present on the world stage of
hotel architecture in the 60s (World Architecture, 1966: 145-146; Konstanti-
nidis, 1987: 329-352). The Xenia hotels designed by architects of this section
were publicized in the press of the times as being remarkable counter-examples
to the leveling of international hotel types such as the Hilton, Intercontinental
etc. (Echstein, 1968; World Architecture, 1965: 145-146; Konstantinidis, 1987:
333-339, 342-346).
Of course, those GNTO hotels and related facilities inevitably suffered
the attrition of time, since they depended on variables such as the technical capa-
bilities of their age, as well as the current social and financial conditions prevail-
ing. The future of listed Xenia hotels is bleak, as their modernization by private
entrepreneurs is usually at odds with the protection of their architectural quality.
. , ,
, , 1962.
. Konstantinidis, Xenia Motel,
Paliouri, Chalkidiki, 1962. 9
60 70,
.

-
20 . -
. -

10
.
. ,
, , 1960-1962.
. Konstantinidis, Xenia Guest 60.
Quarters, Epidaurus, 1960-1962.
-
Hilton, Intercontinental
.. (, 1987: 329-352 Echstein, 1968 World Architecture, 1965:
145-146).
,
.
,
. -
-
,
- .
,
, , -
,
:
,
, . ,

,
.
However, the well documented hotel architecture and other works

of Konstantinidis, reinforced by his theoretical texts, provide a solid basis for
dealing with timeless issues in architecture, such as: harmonizing buildings
with nature; expressing the spirit of a place; concerns about building types,
rules and freedom; designing buildings for the many, rather than for the few
rich and powerful. The underlying philosophy of his Xenia hotels is also rel-
evant not only to the particular region that gave it birth, but also to countries
with old and valuable architectural traditions.
155 essays
References
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13/14.02.1965. 13/14.02.1965.
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DBZ (1970) Baufachbcher 8: Hotel-und Restaurantbauten, Bertelsmann Fachverlag Reinhard Mohn, Gtersloch, p. 79-81 (Xenia Hotel Mykonos).
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/ Xenia Hotel Mykonos) . Engonopoulos, Nikos (1999),
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, 1827-1992, , . -, (1993), (1913-
1993). 20 ,
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, . 96-117 ( Konstantinidis (1913-1993). A master of 20th century Architecture, The
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trait.de/robert_vorhoelzer/index.html. de/robert_vorhoelzer/index.html).
. :
1
Takis Ch. Zenetos:
Following the Topography 1
1960 ,

,
ELENI KALAFATI,
2.
DIMITRIS
, - PAPALEXOPOULOS
. -
,
, .
. O
.
60, , - , ,
, , -
Dr. Eleni Kalafati is an
, 3.
architect and historian.
. Dimitris Papalexopoulos
- is an architect, Professor,
National Technical
Frank E. Basil (1962-1964) 1965-75, University of Athens
In the early 60s the question of regional development and planning was mooted
for Greece, both within the government and in academia, professional bodies and
their public discourse2. The lack of homogeneity of Greeces terrain was assert-
ed, and the problem of its spatial disposition was highlighted, namely an excessive
concentration in Athens, and the dispersion far and wide of small settlements. The
goal adopted was to accelerate integrated development for Greeces regions,
1 particularly those that were significantly lagging behind in economic terms, and
. to prevent any further aggrandizement of the countrys capital by strengthening a
. polar system of urban centers.
,
- In the mid 60s several studies were prepared along those lines for re-
gional planning and development, and spatial and urban planning, often with an

350 emphasis on tourism3.
. Particularly regarding Crete, there was noteworthy activity in this area.
Agia Galini. Model of the settlement.
One can distinguish the existing After a Feasibility and planning study for tourist development in Crete by the inter-
settlement, the extension up the two national engineering consultancy Frank E Basil (1962-1964), and a Development
hills with the terraced slabs and, on
the left, the 350-bed hotel reclining Plan for Crete 1965-75, prepared by AGRIDEV, an Israeli consultancy, the Minis-
on the hill. try for Coordination/SRDC -as well as the Ministry of the Interior- commissioned
private firms to produce development studies and master plans for ten regions of
157 essays
AGRIDEV, -
/
-
,
4.
,
5 6,
, -
7, -
1966 8.
-
, -
9,
10
, , -
, ,

. ,
.
, , ,
1966 400 . 2000, -
,
, 5.000-6.000 -
(, ) ( -
),
, 1.000 (650
350 ).
Crete, aiming at residential, and especially tourist development in those regions,

which were usually in the environs of existing residential cores4.
Three of those studies, the Master plan for the development of Agia Ga-
lini5 and the Master plan for the tourist development of Plakias6, both in the prefec-
ture of Rethymno, along with a preliminary study for a tourist development master
plan in the area of Vigles and Matala, in the prefecture of Herakleion7, were as-
2 signed to the Takis Zenetos practice in 19668.
. Those commissions offered Zenetos the opportunity to engage in what he
. called basic research, i.e. a socio-economic study of actual data9, studying
Agia Galini. Partial view
from the sea. housing for large numbers10 which had occupied him in Electronic Urbanism,
and to try out, on a residential scale, solutions he had elaborated while working
on certain small scale architectural projects, mainly single-family houses, with re-
gard to issues that were key for him, such as flexibility and relationships between
buildings and their containing terrain. In any case, for Zenetos there was no differ-
ence between architectural and urban scale.h
In 1966, Agia Galini, in the Messara gulf of southern Crete, was a settle-
ment of 400 inhabitants. The study anticipated that by 2000, target-year for the
planning, this core would evolve into the urban center of a narrow region, with
5,000-6,000 inhabitants, occupied in the primary (agriculture, fishing) or second-
ary sector (fisheries processing and packaging units and, to a lesser degree, the
same for agricultural produce) as well as in tourism, for an estimated capacity of
1,000 beds (650 in rooms-to-let and 350 in a hotel complex).
However, Zenetos considered that this stage, though necessary, would be
transitional, since he anticipated a more stable regional balance in the post target-
year future, within a society of communication and automation, with industry be-
, , , -
, -
, -, ,
.
,
3
,
, -
.

:
(, )
.
11.

(

-12 -
) , -13. ,

-
Agia Galini. Schematic diagram of 14, : ,
1st phase development: The natural
element (boulders, vegetation)
, , ,
coexists with the built environment. ,
Prefabricated filler walls (shown
here are the walls on the first level)
15.
harmonize with the white, perforated ,
walls of local architecture

.
,

. -
-
. ,
-
ing, by then, concentrated in larger urban complexes. He expected the population

of Agia Galani to plateau, perhaps even to drop, though without running the risk
of actual decimation or disappearance since the natural environment and the
climate make this an ideal place for vacationing, or even as a permanent abode
with the possibilities of decentralized work in services that an evolving telecom-
munications technology11 would permit.
Takis Zenetos interest was in planning the transitioning process from
small village to anti-center12 rather than in the constitution of an integrated, final-
ized proposal for the target-year13. Thus, in one point of his study, he said of his de-
velopment proposals that they were just a grid a framework, while elsewhere
he noted: During the stages of its implementation, the Plan should be continually
readjusted as to its details, depending on economic, social and technical develop-
ments and the problems that may arise as a result of the variety of trends in private
initiative14.
Urban planning cannot be a static affair: rather it is formulated as a prob-
lem of dealing with multiple scenarios of transition to a future situation. The imple-
mentation of new technologies in the secondary and tertiary sector brings about
rapid changes in the organization of cities, which require a corresponding change
in the way we conceive of and plan the environment. For Takis Zenetos, academic ur-
ban planning and permanent projects did nothing else than to restrict peoples free-
dom. Conversely, the issue was summarized in the fact that for our installations we
should implement systems that were equally fluid as our needs, which are continually
changing15: making the most of advanced construction technologies, to be exact.
The constructions should not alter the environment, and they should be reversible.
159 essays
16 , , -
, .
.
,
, -
, -
-

17.
18 -
: -
. -
:
,
.
-
, ,
1.700-2.000 . .
.

. ,
,
,
-
, 19.

With this rationale, the study for Agia Galini did not stop at a diagram-
matic proposal for land usage changes through time, but also proposed certain
physical planning elements, useful as catalysts for transitioning into the future, and
as instruments too for control over private also state interventions, to prevent
the undermining of the fundamental value-choices made for the protection of the
landscape and the quality of the built environment16.
In those special proposals of the study17 Zenetos was confronted with
the two key challenges of any tourist intervention: the landscape and the local
architectural tradition. And he responded in his own radical manner: respect for
the topography and landscape but with construction of the ground; respect for
traditional architectural types but with modern materials and industrialized con-
struction.
At a general level of organization, in its final stages of development, Agia
Galini would have one center and three residential units of 1,7002,000 inhabit-
ants. Each unit would have its own local core. The central unit would consist of
the existing settlement. It was thought that its traditional environment, along with
the fishing harbor, would be attractive to tourism. The proposal was for demoli-
tion and perhaps restoration of the ruins, repair of the better preserved buildings,
clearing away of any newer clumsy additions, and creation of new buildings
in the typology of traditional Cretan urban architecture, as a sort of stage set of
local architecture18.
The definitive element in siting the expansion of the settlement would be
the morphology of the ground and related topographical data. Thus the plan pro-
posed the creation of two new residential units (1st and 2nd stage), on the leeward
. , -
( )
, -
,
.

, -
, .
, -
: ,
,
, -
,
.
.

-
1961:
, -
. -
, ,
.
-
20.
, ,

slopes of two hills due east from the existing settlement, sheltered from the
northerlies and northwesters prevailing in the region, and offering a good orienta-
tion and an open view.
Zenetos aim was to protect the ridge and highlight the slopes incline by
suitably anchoring buildings on them, just like traditional settlements, clinging
on hillsides, in the Aegean. But he very well knew that economic, technical and
ownership conditions were radically different: excavations were easy, reinforced
4
concrete permitted the filling of large openings, owners would seek to exploit their
. plots to the utmost, and the General Building Code, which had replaced custom-
. ary law and conventional easements of view and lighting, was particularly vague
Agia Galini. Projection for the future.
on the matter of starting levels for height measurements: all of that resulted in
6-storey blocks being built on sloping ground.
To protect the outline of the hills and the natural environment of the settle-
ment, Zenetos would resort to solutions he had elaborated for single-family houses,
and had formulated as an axiom already in 1961: The existing physical ground
is not an inviolable thing to which we should adapt. On the contrary, there is
the possibility of shaping the physical environment, of sculpting the ground, which
is constructed just like the structure that it shall receive. On the basis of this
principle it becomes possible to develop a supplementary and intermediate link
between construct and nature 19. In this particular case the intermediate link
is horizontal slabs, consisting of standardized narrow-fronted concrete elements
which define the reception levels for the extensions. Those levels which we could
consider as referencing the artificial ground elements of Electronic Urbanism
submit to the geometry of the contour lines of the terrain. Depending on require-
161 essays
.
-
.
,
. , -
(.. )
5
,
, , , . .
.
, , . ,
,
, -
. , .
, - Plakias. The Village. Site plan. One
can see the existing fishing village
- and its spiral expansion up the hill,
(, )21. (, the quay-promenade, and the new
harbor.
)
22.
, -
,
.
,
: -
ments and on the layout of the contour lines, they recede occasionally, in respect
of the vertical, and are placed directly on the ground. Elsewhere, when there is
a requirement for a canopied or open space (e.g. piazza), with a surface larger
than that offered by the contour lines, the slab is gradually recessed from them,
not in a break, but in such a way as to produce the necessary distortion, before
they subsequently go back, again gradually, to being parallel to them. Finally, the
slabs do not overtake the hills ridge, so as not to appear stronger than the terrains
topography. Zenetos maintained that the proposed solution minimized impinge-
ment on the natural environment since it employed the primeval arrangement
of terraces (pezoules in the local idiom) for cultivating mountainous terrain 20.
The natural element (boulders, vegetation) coexists with constructed space he
commented in a published paper21. Also suggestive of flexible town planning if
circumstances were to change and the density of part of the settlement were to
become sparser, the slabs-terraces would be converted into arable levels, without
altering the overall aspect.
Houses were to be integrated onto the terraces gradually. Their con-
struction would employ state of the art technology: 3D elements made of foamed
concrete in the first stage, lightweight prefab units made of polymers later on,
which would offer the possibility of variation depending on users requirements.
The houses, initially placed sparsely, would grow closer together as the settlement
grew, filling up the voids, while new slabs would be added, in the same way as the
older ones, which would, in turn, begin to accommodate new houses. A system of
continuous construction would thus be achieved, with a high density ratio per hec-
tare, conducive to social contact, keeping infrastructure costs low and permitting
the exclusion of cars. The urban structure is as a single building and detached
buildings would be prohibited, save for a few necessary utility buildings22. [Fig. 5]
Takis Zenetos was not engaged in mere formal planning exercises. Be-
fore getting to architectural proposals that appeared innovative in the sense of
strategic formatting, he had ensured their underpinning with rational economic
arguments, which naturally involved considerations of time and future develop-
ment in his planning. The construction methods in the pre-designed area shall be
,
, -
. , -
, , -
, , ,
6
.
, . .
, .

. ,
, - . ,

23. 200 .
. Pl.6. Plakias. The Village. Eleva-
tion from the sea. One can see the
existing fishing village and its spiral
, - expansion up the hill. On the left
are terraces with a 200-bed hotel
- , - facility.
.
,
24 , -
,
,
, 25, -
.
:
.
, -
-
in step with the evolution of engineering construction, aside from the possibility of
experimenting with new methodologies he would write, and foresaw in the future
a possibility of expanding the settlement on pristine, unformatted terrain, with 3D
prefab units made of polymers that would be secured by means of piles driven into
the ground at given points, which he called olive trees, or with units that would
be parked in cable trusses. This trend is already known from Electronic Urban-
ism: it is all about what is built to a minimum, with as little impact on the ground
as possible.
The autonomous residential units hooked up with cables bring to mind
the most distinctive drawing in the proposal for the urban planning of Plakias: Lia-
kota, the hotel that is perched on rock. The relationship of the two proposals, Agia
Galini and Plakias, is evident. Here too, we find the idea of levels of accommoda-
tion, the difference being that they are suspended on the perpendicular rock, in
order to develop into the suspension of autonomous units. Whether vertical or on
a grade, the initial formulation of the problem remains unchanged: flexibility, vari-
ability, and minimal disturbance of the natural environment.
. .

1.200

.
Plakias. Liakota. Hotel complex,
1,200 beds, on the base of the
northern face of the rocky
7 outcrop Koryfi.
163 essays
, ,
. ,
. , -
,
. , -
: ,
.
,
,
. , :

, ,
26. -
,

: -
,
27.
Fred Thompson, Kiyonori
Kikutake,
:
(
).
(
) []28.
, .
Tourist development was the design objective in Plakias, and for Takis Ze-
netos gobbling up the natural landscape for the sake of tourism was not permis-
sible. All the more, since it would be wrong from an economic perspective: The
unusual feature that Crete can offer, and which must be preserved, is the rugged-
ness typical of its natural condition, something which is rarely found in Europe23.
Arguing for the concealment of bathing facilities behind artificial sand dunes, he
advanced the fundamental principle of preserving the rugged and primitive char-
acter of the regions of Southern Crete and added: Apart from the ethical and
aesthetic aspect of the matter, this view is also imperative for reasons of economic
planning as regards the raw material available to the Tourist sector24. He would
8 juxtapose Plakias, in conversation with Fred Thompson an associate of Kiyonori
. . Kikutake, the Japanese Metabolist architect to his interlocutors preference for
floating structures which the latter regarded as flexible: and I told him that in
.
Plakias. Liakota Complete prefab Plakias I wanted to have the sea, and a sea free of aircraft-carriers (this was his
units are anchored on the rock. argument when I spoke of the stability of floating systems). Then I said that even
constructions on the coast ought to be invisible (in a wilderness) [camouflage]25.
For Takis Zenetos an architecture that would, per se, become a spectacle, such as
that being produced by the Metabolists, was unacceptable.
The unity of Agia Galini was broken up in Plakias, even though the same
design means, and models were to be employed. Plakias was not an urban center:
it was an area for tourist development. The direct relationship with the natural
and built environment and its suitable highlighting as a tourist offering was the
catalyst that would determine where and how the building complexes would be
constructed.
The existing fishing settlement would be preserved and expanded spiral-
ly on the hill above the harbor, with slabs-terraces on which houses and village-

. ,
.

.
-
, - -
,
, ,
, -
29.
30,

( ).
, -
, , 1.200 . -
-

.
31

. ,

.
-
,
,
.
-
. ,

,
-
type hotel facilities could be constructed, using prefab elements of concrete and
lightweight aggregates, as he wrote characteristically, and reproducing the tradi-
tional type of two-storey house with recessed upper storey26. Such tourist archi-
tecture which would actually constitute a staged setting for an escape from the
everyday27, would be addressed to the class of visitors who were on the lookout
for a traditional way of life (with essential comforts, of course).
On the opposite side of the bay, on the northern face of the rocky
outcrop Koryfi, would be deployed Liakota, with hotel facilities of 1,200 beds.
Slab-terraces and suspended constructions were envisaged in the various phas-
es and were applied respectively where the incline was greater or lesser. For
this rugged landscape a stage set of fantasy architecture28 was proposed,
with a variety of ways for making the most of the natural elements, catering to
visitors on the look-out for modern recreation methods in a primeval natural
environment. In fact, however, what he was interested in was for all this develop-
ment to constitute a field for experimentation and research both as to construc-
tion technologies on offer and as to the capabilities for flexibility of accommo-
dation and service complexes.
165 essays
: , -
,

32. ,
, . , ,
9

: , - .

33. .
Plakias. The changing rooms are
behind artificial sand dunes
-
, -
34. : (sic) -
. ,
35.

. . -
.
,
. , ,
: ; : .

36.
10 The Village and Liakota made up a bipolar arrangement with, in be-

tween, the wide beach, where there would be as few constructions as possible to
support visitors tourist activities: mainly windbreakers.
Takis Zenetos studied nature, which suggested the direction the design
ought to follow. Thus, to address the problem created by the strong northerlies
blowing down the Kotsyfos gorge and sweeping the beach, he proposed an inter-
vention in the heart of the gorge with two alternatives for windbreakers: either the
suspension of a windmill complex, with a possibility of using the energy generat-
ed, or the construction of a hotel with curved elevation and perforated envelope,
. . designed in a way that would deflect the air current and mitigate its force29. How-
ever, in the last figure of his study, a third alternative appeared. In the meantime

Takis Zenetos had learned about modern technological possibilities for exploiting
. wind energy: a large wind turbine would be put in the gorge, as a technological
Plakias. Kotsifos gorge. Windbreaker
with windmills, amenable to utilizing monument dedicated to alternative sources of energy30. [Fig. 10]
the energy generated. Modern circumstances are transitory, and so-called forecasts in aca-
demic urbanism have no interest beyond quantitative differentiations, Takis Zene-
tos declared in his paper to the fifth Hellenic Architectural Convention31. And he
went on to say The only proviso that we should adopt is that we shouldnt make
permanent works. We must have respect for the ground, the natural environment
and our installations must be transformable32. Such were the precepts by which
he designed the vanishing points to the future for Agia Galini and Plakias. Those
designs were not implemented. Organized construction was not adopted. The to-
pography was violated by multi-storey buildings following the model of Athenian
polykatoikias, along with a scattering of single-family houses, and so was squan-
dered a fund that cannot be easily regained. However, ten years onwards, when
the question was mooted to him Should the studies have been produced then?
he responded I think yes. Because now we know, on the strength of proven data,
the negative outcome of their failure to be implemented33.
1. . . . . , 1. From the title of an article by T. Ch. Zenetos and A. N. Papanastasiou

Der Topographie folgend, Baumeister, 66 . 1 ( 1969), Der Topographie folgend, Baumeister, year 66 issue 1 (January 1969),
. 22-23, pp. 22-23, where the master plans for Agia Galini and Plakias appeared.
.
2 As representative of such an interest we might mention the Hellenic Ar-
2. - chitectural Conferences of the Association of Greek Architects (SADAS): I.
Urban planning National problem, Delphi, December 1961, (Proceed-
(): , - , , 1961, ings, Technika Chronika, special issue 240/1964); II. Low-cost Housing
(, , 240/1964). , - Urban Planning, Thessaloniki, December 1962 (Proceedings, Technika
, , 1962 ( , Chronika, special issue, 248/1964); III. The Contribution of Greek Archi-
, 248/1964). , tects and Urban Planners to Greeces development, Nafplion, December
, , 1963 ( - 1963 (Proceedings, Technika Chronika, special issue, 1/ Dec. 1965); V.
, , , 1/ . 1965. , The problems of the wider Athens area (Conference proceedings, Ath-
(, : , 1974) ens : TCG , 1974)
3. . . .., 1960 3. See A. Voivonda et al., Designs produced from 1960 onwards, Ar-
, , 11/1977, . 152-153. chitecture in Greece, 11/1977, pp. 152-153.
4. . . . .., ... . 4. This is the well known Crete series. See A. Voivonda et al., op.cit.;
, 60, - L. Wassenhoven, Spatial planning in the 1960s, in Greek Society in the
(1945-1967), - First Post-war Period (1945-1967), Conference proceedings, Sakis Kara-
, , 1995, . 109-123. giorgas Foundation, Athens 1995, pp. 109-123.
5. . , : 5. Takis Ch. Zenetos and Associates, gia Galini: Master plan for devel-
, / - opment, Ministry for Coordination/Service for the Regional Development
, 1967. of Crete, 1967.
6. , : , 6. Idem, Plakias: Master plan for tourist development, Ministry for Coor-
/ , dination/Service for the Regional Development of Crete, 1967.
1967.
7. Idem, Vigles: Master plan for tourist development Preliminary de-
7. , : - - sign, Ministry for Coordination/Service for the Regional Development of
, / Crete, 1967.
, 1967.
8. See also Takis Ch. Zenetos, Master plan for tourist development of
8. . , - Agia Galini and Plakias, Architecture in Greece2(1968), pp. 64-71; idem,
, 2 (1968), .
The construction aspect in two development plan studies, Architecture in
64-71. , ,
Greece3(1969), pp. 134-140; idem, Master plan for Agia Galini and its
3 (1969), . 134-140. ,
environs, in Crete, Architecture in Greece11(1977), pp. 163-165; idem,
, -
Master plan for tourist development of Plakias in Rethymno, Southern
11 (1977), . 163-165. , -
Crete, Architecture in Greece11(1977), pp. 166-167; T. Ch. Zenetos,
, , 11 (1977),
A.N. Papanastasiou, Der Topographie folgend, Baumeister, year 66
. 166-167. T. Ch. Zenetos, A. N. Papanastasiou, Der Topographie folgend,
issue 1 (January 1969), pp. 22-23; Dimitris Philippides, Modern Greek
Baumeister, 66 . 1 ( 1969), . 22-23. -
Architecture, op.cit. pp. 365-367. Architects Al. N. Papanastasiou, G. Kor-
, , .., . 365-367. -
fiatis, and K. Zounis were on the design team.
. . , . , . .
9. - 9. In a text that might be considered as a biographical sketch and testa-

, 1974- ment of his thinking, drafted probably toward the end of 1974, or in early
1975 : , 1975, and published after his death, he wrote: As things stand, my work
, . is split into professional and research activities. There is an element of re-
, search in my late projects, rarely coinciding, however, with basic research,
-. which is socio-economic. As such might be mentioned my spatial and ur-
ban planning studies but their recommendations werent implemented.
. ( . , [ ], . / Takis (Takis Ch. Zenetos, [untitled], . / Takis Ch. Zenetos 1926-
Ch. Zenetos 1926-1977, , . , 1978, . 1977, Athens, rchitecture in Greece Press, 1978, p. 6).
6).
10. I researched and designed architecture within the context of a par-
10 - tially industrialized country my clients were entrepreneurs. I didnt have
the opportunity of studying housing for large numbers of people, save only
. , at the level of urban - and housing - planning (e.g. in a study for Ag. Ga-
- (.. . lini). (ibid).
) ( ).
11. See. Takis Ch. Zenetos and Associates, gia Galini: Master plan for
11. . . , : development..., op.cit., p. V, 2-3 and table .38.0.
..., .., . V, 2-3 . .38.0.
12. See. Takis Ch. Zenetos, Telecommunications and modern methods
12. . . , of organization. New means for constituting cities that replace classical
. project-building methodologies. Variable town planning, The problems
. , of the wider Athens area. Proceedings of the Fifth Hellenic Architectural
. (16- Conference (16-23 January 1966), Athens: TCG publ., 1974 pp. 244-248,
23 1966), : . , 1974, . 244-248, 258. 258.
13. - 13. Characteristically, he thought it useful to identify the new conditions

- 2.000 - that would inform the design around the target year of 2000, and to pro-
( vide an indicative reflection of certain general directions in those changes
. , : ..., .., . 20-21). (Takis Ch. Zenetos and Associates, gia Galini: Master plan for develop-
167 essays
14. , . 2. ment..., op.cit., p. 20-21).
15. , .20. 14. bid, p. 20.
16. , . 262. 15. Ibid, p. 262.
17. , 3, 4 5 16. Regarding the dimension of control, see articles 3, 4 and 5 along with
1 .. - footnote 1 in Draft Royal Decree. Regarding the approval of the Master
, - Plan of the town of Agia Galini in Rethymno, included in the study (ibid,
( , . 38-40, 42). pp. 38-40, 42).
18. , . -V, 16-17, 38-40. . : . , - 17. Ibid, pp. -V, 16-17, 38-40. See also: Takis Ch. Zenetos, The con-
..., .., . 134-137. struction aspect ..., op.cit., p. 134-137.
19. , . 17. . 39 18. Ibid, p. 17. Also p. 39
20. . , , , . 56 (- 19. Takis Ch. Zenetos, House in Psychiko, Architektoniki, issue 56

1966), . 48, 51. (March-April 1966), pp. 48, 51.
21. . , : ..., 20. Takis Ch. Zenetos and Associates, gia Galini: Master plan for devel-
.., . 17. opment..., op.cit., p. 17.
22. . , ..., .., . 135. 21. Takis Ch. Zenetos, The construction aspect , op.cit., p. 135.
23. .. 22. Draft Royal Decree. Regarding the approval of the Master Plan of
, . 4, . 4 ( . , the town of Agia Galini in Rethymno, art. 4, par. 4 (Takis Ch. Zenetos and
: ..., .., . 39) Associates, gia Galini: Master plan for development..., op.cit., p. 39)
24. . , : ..., 23. Takis Ch. Zenetos and Associates, Plakias: Master plan..., op.cit., p 8.
.., . 17. Their emphasis.
25. . 24. Takis Ch. Zenetos and Associates, Plakias: Master plan..., op.cit., p 8.
26. . , : ..., .., 25. Supplementary notes after the meeting of 14-5-74, 17 July 1974.
. 8. .
Hand written sheet of paper, from the T. Ch. Zenetos archive (dossier .
2..) in the collection of Architecture in Greece. Canadian architect Fred
27. . , : ..., ..,
Thompson, now Professor Emeritus of the School of Architecture, University
. 8.
of Waterloo, had visited Takis Zenetos office with a group of professors
and students of architecture from Sweden.
28. Supplementary notes after the meeting of 14-5-74, 17 1974.
, . . (. . 2..)
26. Nonetheless, he believed that this economic solution could not be
. Fred
generalized because already a new generation, and those of the future
Thompson,
too, shall represent other trends, and also because it has no flexibility.
Waterloo, ,
(Takis Ch. Zenetos and Associates, Plakias: Master plan..., op.cit., p. 7).
.
27. Ibid
29. , ,
28. Both terms his own (ibid).
, ( .
, : ..., .., . 7). 29. Ibid, p. 9 and table .16.0. The selection criteria shall be technical
and economic (which of the two solutions has the better efficiency energy
30. or hotel revenue).
31. ( ). 30. Ibid, table .22.0. This table also includes a diagram of a wind tur-
bine from the Democritos Research Center along with the following note:
32. , . 9 .16.0. The foregoing supplementary data in the Designers initial proposal were
( -- based also on the following sources: 1. The opinion of Professor P. San-
. torinis (Local circumstances would allow for an output available to exploi-
tation, and a potential for realizing the project would exist, once a special
33. , . .22.0. , , study were commissioned.) 2. Proceedings of the Seminar on Wind Energy
: - at the Democritos Center, - 1964, see indicative scheme. (The special
, - possibilities for Crete, out of all of Greece, were noted in the conclusions.)
: 1. . 3. Paper by U. Htter: Layout optimization for wind-driven power Plants,
( Institute for Aeronautical Design Stuttgart Institute of Technology Sept.
.) 2. 1961. See also the paper on wind energy by Professor P. Santorinis, in the
, journal Solar Energy, Volume Athens 1961.
1964, . (
) 3. U. Htter: 31. Takis Ch. Zenetos, Telecommunications and modern methods of or-
Layout optimisation of wind power Plants, Institute for Aeronautical Design- ganization..., op.cit., p. 244.
Stuttgart Institute of Technology Sept. 1961.
. , , 32. Ibid, p. 257.
, 1961.
33. Takis Ch. Zenetos, Master plan for Agia Galini and its environs, in
34. . , - Crete, Architecture in Greece11 (1977), p. 163.
..., .., . 244.
35. , . 257.
36. . , -
, 11 (1977), . 163.

The Coastline of Argosaronikos
-

MARO KARDAMITSI- ,
ADAMI
. , , ,
- , .

, -
, 1834.

Maro Kardamitsi-Adami is 19
a historian of architecture, ,
Professor Emeritus, 20 , , , , ,
National Technical
.
University of Athens
2 (1922-25)
()
,
1916 -
...
-
,
The Argosaronikos coastline, from Piraeus to Sounion, and even beyond, is men-
tioned by almost all ancient authors, from Herodotus to Pausanias, sometimes with
more, sometimes with less information. They talk of temples, bays, heroes, religious
festivals having to do with sea and water, with lustrations.
Gradually the seaside turned desolate, and only began to come alive
again after the establishment of the Greek State, and particularly with the transfer
of the capital to Athens, in 1834.
The first tourist summer resort type development of the coastline began
in the mid 19th century, down the coast from Piraeus and Neo Faliro, and gradu-
ally toward Palaio Faliro, and from there, in the early 20th century, to Glyfada,
Agios Kosmas, Voula, Kavouri, Vouliagmeni.
In the beginning of the twentieth centurys third decade (1922-25) the first
proposals for planning the settlement of Evryali (Glyfada) came from Ernest H-
brard, the well known French architect who designed the new town in Thessaloniki
after the fire of 1916, and organized the newly established School of Architecture
of the National Technical University of Athens. We dont have much information
on this proposal, which also envisaged the development of Glyfadas seaside and
the creation of organized bathing and sports facilities, recreation areas, etc. It is
perhaps one of the few proposals for the design of a garden city in the southern
suburbs also to include a design for the coast. In the years directly after 1925-
171 essays
..
. -
1925-1935 (Bichel),
(A. ), , (. . ), -
(. ).
-

,
,
.
1927 -

,
. -
1 -

,
1950. : -
1950s advertising brochure. ,
, , -
.

, , -

1935 were designed the suburbs of Kalamaki (Bichel), Alimos (Ant. Pizanis), El-
liniko, Voula (Milt. and I. Axelos), Vouliagmeni (K. Kitsonis).
So that settlers might be assisted in meeting their rudimentary needs for
living in groups, in a humanly acceptable manner, special funds for the execution
of the plans were set up, which, however, succeeded in their purpose only in the
Northern suburbs, whereas in the southern suburbs they were gradually wound
down due to economic shortage.
Already in 1927, a neighborhood committee in Glyfada filed a com-
plaint with protest to the Ministry of Transport because, in order to set up a Ca-
sino in the area, the urban plan was arbitrarily altered. And a short while after,
the denizens of Glyfada, in a letter to the Social Council and the Minister, empha-
sized that the greed of the worshippers of pecuniary interest would prove fatal
for the most brilliant suburb of the coming future: it is the Cte dAzur of Attica
and a spa, even has springs with medicinal waters, it boasts the mountain of Hym-
ettus and the view of the Saronic gulf and the grace of pines, and quickly it will turn
out to be the pride of the capital
. ,
, 1939.
P. Karandinos,
Glyfada Beach, 1939. 2
.
1930 -

, (, ..), ,
3
, (bungalows) .. -
. , -
, , 1952.
P. Manouilidis, Glyfada Beach, .
GNTO, 1952. .
-
. ,
.
. . -
. .
. ,
1939-40, -
, .

, ..
However, the development of the coast tarried, since the area belonged
to the Air Defence, which, despite a request of the Ministry of Transport, refused
to cede the shoreline from Tzitzifies to Vouliagmeni for any other use save the
exclusive and only one of putting out chairs and tables or awnings, any building
whatsoever being generally prohibited. Finally, in 1930, Glyfada was ceded to
the Glyfada Hotel Enterprises Socit Anonyme GHESA with the aim of establish-
ing and exploiting sea baths and medicinal waters, sports facilities (golf, tennis,
etc.) refreshment areas, a large hotel, bungalows, etc. The Ministry of Transport
initially approved the GHESA scheme and proposed certain minor alterations of
the Urban Plan. Nevertheless, nine years later nothing had been done. The Su-
preme Town Planning Organization of the Capital Administration proposed a new
layout for the area of the baths. This time the proposal, which more or less con-
tained what was in the previous ones, was accompanied by a design by Georgios
Michalitsianos. A corresponding proposal for regulating the coastline from P. Fa-
liron to Glyfada was designed by N. Papachristou; P. Karandinos as Head of the
Service took delivery of Michalitsianos design and suggested several changes.
During that period, always in 1939-40. Karandinos also prepared a master plan
for the borough of Vouliagmeni, which, at the time, was owned by the Organi-
zation for the Management of Ecclesiastical Property. The design constituted an
expansion of the previous one and involved the development of a bathing center
with the corresponding amenities for recreation, sports, etc.
The issue of the development of the Argosaronikos coastline seemed to
be one of the issues that had considerable interest for Karandinos as Director of
. ,
, , 1952.
P. Manouilidis, Glyfada Beach,
GNTO, 1952. 4
173 essays
-

. -
.

. , 1951,

.
(),
. -
(), ,
. , ,
, -

. -
. ,
.
, -
, bar, , ..
100 ,
4 .

. ,
,
, , ,
. ,
, , 1952.
P. Manouilidis, Glyfada Beach,
GNTO, 1952. 5
the Urban Planning Service of the Ministry for the Administration of the Capital.
Obviously, World War II would be putting a stop to any such plans.
Priorities were changingThe airport in Hasani was yet another draw-
back. Almost directly after the war, in 1951, in the generalized context of recon-
struction and rebuilding, it was decided that the Glyfada beach would be de-
veloped. For that purpose the help of the National Bank of Greece (NBG) was
sought so that it might undertake the relevant initiatives. To the efforts of the Munici-
pality were added those of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO),
not only in terms of moral support, but also in financing the project.
Under those circumstances the NBG, within a more general context of
development for the National Economy, commissioned its Technical Consultant,
architect Panaes Manouilidis, to prepare a technical design and plans for the
seaside works, and to its legal consultant, N. Gazis, and its Director for Special
Financing, K. Papacharalambous, to study the legal issues involved in, and the
feasibility of the undertaking.
The Manouilidis design envisaged the development of the seaside with
recreation centers, organized beach with changing rooms, bar, canopies, a res-
taurant, etc., as well as the construction of a luxury 100 -bed hotel, on the top of
a knoll, at 4m altitude.
..,
.
,
(1952) (
1955),
6 .
1954
,
1950.
Vouliagmeni Beach, 1950s. . , . . .
,
. , , -
1939 -,
1952 : , ,
, , , bungalows.

. -
, , -
,
. , , ,
, . -
-
.
According to the relevant efficiency study and on the basis of data sup-
plied by the boroughs of Paleo Faliro and Kalamaki, it was estimated that, looking
forward, the beaches of Glyfada, Vouliagmeni and Varkiza, if developed prop-
erly, with businesses put in charge of running the bathing facilities, refreshment
centers, restaurants, first class night-clubs, etc., would generate a yield on the capi-
tal invested, which might be meager in the beginning, but would be fully assured
later on.
Konstantinos Karamanlis, as Minister for Public Works in the Papagos
Government (1952) initially, and subsequently as Premier, from 1955 onwards,
supported the effort of bringing about the organized tourist development of the
country.
In 1954 Astir SA was incorporated, and commissioned the preparation
of the definitive architectural design, and supervision of the project of the Glyfada
beach development to architects E. Vourekas, P. Sakellarios and P. Vassiliadis.
Asteria, the first luxury beach on the Argosaronikos was turning into reality.
As was to be expected, its building program was very much like the 1939
program of Karandinos - Michalitsianos and the 1952 program of Panaes Michai-
lidis: changing rooms, sports courts, childrens playground, restaurant, refreshment
center, bungalow complex.

, .
Vouliagmeni Masterplan,
Organization for the Management
of Ecclesiastical Property. 7
175 essays
, , .
,
.
1954 -
-
bungalows.
bungalows. , . . ,
. , . , . , . , . -
. . - . , - -
, , ,
, , .
: ,
.
,
.
,

. .
. , . , The models for this should be sought in corresponding tourist complexes

. , ,
, 1958-1962. in Europe and America. But the group of the three architects, and their associates,
P. Vassiliadis, E. Vourekas, the young architects Constantine Decavalla and Antonis Georgiadis, achieved a
P. Sakellarios, Megali Akti Beach,
Vouliagmeni, Athens. set of facilities purely Greek in character: exposed concrete, rugged masonry, low
terraces, cane canopies for the shelters, tiled roofs. The covering of the changing
rooms, with low curved roofs came as an inspiration to Decavalla from the roof-
tops of Santorini. A pioneering, dynamic, modern work. A unique work that also
preserved the personality of each one of its creators so that it would never become
predictable or monotonous.
The bathing complex was inaugurated in the summer of 1954 and a few
months later the restaurants and the bungalow complex opened to the public.
Ten years later a further bungalow complex was to be added. Le tout Athnes
would be going to Asteria: Aristotle Onassis, Tom Pappas, Konstantinos Karaman-
lis, Georgios Rallis, Panayotis Kanellopoulos, Georgios Averoff-Tositsas. Couples
such as Alexis Minotis Katina Paxinou, Jules Dassin and Melina Merkouri, as well
as Aliki Vouyouklaki, Jenny Karezi, together with young and not so young film-stars
and starlets would be photographed, or would pose, or would be swimming at
the beach. And naturally, along with them, several renowned foreign actresses:
Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, and many more. Every celebrity that came to Ath-
ens was bound to visit the Acropolis, have a drink at the Hilton or the Grande
Bretagne, and go swimming in Asteria. Monte Carlo in Asteria, the Cte dAzur
in Glyfada were just a few of the headlines carried by the daily and periodical
press. It was only natural that the huge success of Asteria would be followed up.
1958 -
-
. . , .
. .
, 1955, ,
,
-,
. ,
,
, -
, ,
, .
, . ,

. , -
.
1960 , -
.
,
.
9 Astir complex, Vouliagmeni.
In 1958 the Authorization Committee of the Hellenic Parliament accept-

ed a petition for the tourist development of Vouliagmeni, to which the Govern-
ment and the Opposition also gave their unanimous assent. The three architects, E.
Vourekas, P. Sakellarios and P. Vassiliadis, prepared their designs for the develop-
ment of the region.
As early as 1955, Kostas Kitsikis, Professor at the NTUA and President
of the Association of Greek Architects had already mooted the question on the
development of the Vouliagmeni-Kavouri area, one of the most beautiful Greek
landscapes close to the capital, combining pines and sea. The Church of Greece,
to which the entire region belonged, assigned the preparation of an urban plan-
ning development project for the area, to a group of architects which included,
among others, Patroklos Karandinos, by that time professor at the Aristotle Univer-
sity of Thessaloniki, and Charalambos Sfaellos, Director of the GNTOs Technical
Services.
A year later, after K. Karamanlis expressed his wishes to this effect, the
GNTO assigned the preliminary design for the development of the coastline up to
Varkiza to Doxiadis Associates. The design was not implemented, probably due
to financial considerations. Out of the entire detailed research done by Doxiadis
Associates, the first stage of which was delivered in 1960, only the reconstruction
of the Agios Kosmas area was realized, with the creation of a sports facility.
In 1958, as mentioned earlier, in view of the great success of the devel-
opment of the Glyfada beach, its three creators undertook the development of
177 essays
1958, , -
,
,
( ) .

1959-1961. -

.
. , , ,
self-service, , , .
.

. -
, 1959
21 .
, bungalows, -
, , , ,
, , .

the peninsula of Mikro Kavouri, the Laimos of Vouliagmeni and the the GNTO
Megali Akti Beach (the popular baths).
A beginning was made with the design for the Megali Akti Beach, with
Nikos Chatzimichalis as associate architect in the period 1959-61. Four big com-
plexes of changing rooms with pleated roofing of reinforced concrete resting on
steel columns. Monochrome and striped umbrellas made of sailing cloth on the
sandy beach. Two restaurants, Argo to the east, with a self-service section, and
Oceanis to the west, with roofing of pleated sheeting. Both were to become fa-
vorite hang-outs in the summer months, and in spring and autumn as well.
Then would follow the development of the Astir tourist complex in Lai-
mos and the tourist complex in Mikro Kavouri. Their construction would be imple-
mented in stages, spread over time, through the period from 1959 to the early
21st century.
Bathing facilities, bungalow complexes, three hotels - Arion, Nafsika and
Afroditi - restaurants, recreation centers, a marina for private boats, sports facili-
ties, playgrounds.
. , . ,
. , ,
,1958-1962.
P. Vassiliadis, E. Vourekas,
P. Sakellarios, Astir Beach,
10 Vouliagmeni, 1958-1962.
1961. -
.
. -
, .
.
. , . .
.
,
, . -

-
, , ..
1971 -
.
, .

.
-
.
, ,
, , -
.
. .

The bathing facilities and cabannes would come first and be in full op-
eration in 1961. Next to the umbrellas on the beach, pioneering canopies of white
sail cloth were erected like huge albatrosses next to the surf.
The first cabannes were designed by architect Kostas Voutsinas. He also
designed Arion, the first hotel of Astir. But soon the Astir administration clashed with
Voutsinas. Astir Hotels SA then called upon architects E. Vourekas, A. Georgiadis
and C. Decavalla to continue with the project, along with some extra cabannes.
Voutsinas initial solution, a heavy volume that did not integrate in the environ-
ment could not of course be changed. The three architects basically restricted
themselves to arranging the interiors with special care and sensitivity, and they col-
laborated with important Greek artists like Moralis, Mytaras, Katzourakis, et al.
In 1971 Astir Hotels SA announced an Hellenic competition for the sec-
ond luxury hotel in Mikro Kavouri of Vouliagmeni. Once again Vourekas, Georgi-
adis and Decavalla won 1st and 2nd prize. A six-storey building that integrates well
with the natural environment as it follows the contour-lines of the precipitous coast.
Nafsika was regarded as one of the most successful luxury hotels of the period
and was published in many Greek and foreign periodicals.
Afroditi,the third hotel, was designed by architects Dimitris Antonakakis,
Vasilis Bogakos, Yorgos Nikoletopoulos and Nikos Hadzimichalis. The position
where it was built commanded perhaps the most beautiful view of the entire com-
plex. Regrettably it exists no longer.
The Astir complex in Vouliagmeni is indubitably one of the most important
pieces of architecture not only in the Argosaronic but in all of Greece.
The second Beach of Voula (the first Beach, by I. Triantafillidis, had been
realized in 1960) the sports facilities in Agios Kosmas and the beach in Varkiza,
of the late 60s, completed the tourist facilities on the Argosaronikos coastline.
179 essays
.
( A . -
1960),
,
60,
.
, -
.
,
.
.
11 ,
, ,
.
.
Brochure for the tourist development .
of Vouliagmeni, Organization for ,
the Management of Ecclesiastical
Property. .

. , ,
, , -
, , , -
, .
,
, ,
, , , .
, -
, . ;
That being the difficult time of the seven-year dictatorship, people greet-
ed each project with reservation and suspicion. The dictators would go around
the country with a trowel and the motto a stadium in every village, a gymnasium
in every town. But the new beaches and sports centers no longer generated any
interest among the people.
Shortly before the collapse of the regime, the development of the seaside
zone from Palaio Faliro to Varkiza seemed to be complete, more or less as it had
been envisaged in the Doxiadis plan.
Small portions of the shoreline remained free for the people: chiefly the
precipitous but gorgeous coves in between Vouliagmeni and Varkiza, the Megalo
Kavouri and the Flisvos area.
After the change in regime, the development of the coastline continued
beyond Varkiza, all the way to Sounion. In Lagonissi, in Lomvarda, in Agia Marina
and Saronis and Anavyssos, small settlements, hotel facilities, recreation centers,
organized and free beaches were set up though not as part of any overarching
plan or system.
The fate of the beaches of east Attica, Nea Makri, Rafina and Loutsa,
was similar, though they had never known the kind of tourist development seen
in the Argosaronikos, having been relegated, one might say, always to second
place. Perhaps wed had too much of tourism, perhaps we wanted to keep a few
beaches to ourselves, perhaps, again, there was no money left over for any more
development. Who is to know?
H
Land and Mildness
-
. -
DIMITRIS A. FATOUROS . , -
, , ,

.
.
,
, , ,
, -
Dimitris A. Fatouros is an , -
architect, Professor , ,
Emeritus, Aristotle , , , ,
University of Thessaloniki . -
, ,
.
,
, ,
, , , ,
, , ,
, , .
, -
,
.
The land offers elucidations and openings for an understanding of the conditions
of inhabiting and the constitution and organization of installations for inhabiting.
The land is not a locality, as stereotypes would confine it and distort it: it is a small
area and a large one, a small and a large land, it is a multiplicity.
In the anthropology of inhabitation, the peculiarities, contradictions, over-
laps and identities of geographical land and of the manner in which inhabitation is
realized, their apperception and reception, are developed with categorized and
uncategorized arrangements, intentions, fantasies, rivalries for domination, par-
ticipation, reconciliation, producing individual and collective conditions for inhab-
iting. All of these continually keep changing because, and just from the point of
view of the spectators gaze, uninhabited geographical land becomes inhabited.
The inhabited geographical land is the field of action, presence and ex-
pression of the human community, of individual and collective, solitariness and the
multitude: everything is present, emotionally, corporeally, symbolically, materially
and immaterially, the long and short duration, continuity and discontinuity, free-
dom and confinement, false need and true.
All of these are reflected in the depictions and narratives of the landscape
- being a diminutive derivation of the word land [topos and topion respectively in
181 essays

, -
.
,
,
-
, .

.
-
.
, 1.
.. ,
.
, .
-
2.
-
-
-
3. ,
-
.
Greek]- which emphasizes and promotes the multiple constitution of the land but is
frequently constrained by stereotypes.
The peculiarities of the Greek geographical land have a more general im-
port on fundament factors, components for the survival of and coexistence within
the human community.
In coastal as well as in other areas, a pellucid atmosphere and luminosity
produce conditions of visibility and reveal forms, colors and texture, and therefore
also different relations to the conditions of the everyday environment, of everyday
life. In a diversity of formulations and correlations, it is those peculiarities that, for
years and years, have been expressed by art and poetry as attributes of Greek land.
One other peculiarity multiplies everyday reality. In the Aegean archi-
pelago, and in wide regions on the plains, up to low altitudes, there is always
the presence of the opposite, i.e. something lying across from one1 . The sea for
instance, that may lie in between, does not have an infinite horizon, there is always
some dry land across. This offers a sense of presence of a known or unknown op-
posite, of the other, and also of the discovery of the other. The multiple possibility
of conversation with the opposite multiplies the mildness of the conditions and
encourages mildness in human relations2.
As we know, in the long duration of the conditions of survival and coexist-
ence, flat and curved coverings developed round the coast of the Mediterranean,
whereas in northern and hyperborean lands, it was gables and spires 3. In the
Greek land, on the mainland and in mountainous areas, the slopes are very low,
without acuities, sharing in the mildness of the presence together of natural and
engineered world.
Naturally, as construction capabilities and communications change, and
when, especially, the pace of change is swift, as it has become particularly from
the mid-twentieth century onwards, the long duration, interwoven with the geo-
-
,
20 , , -

4.
-

-
.

.
-
, , -
.
graphical land and the techniques and intermediations of inhabitation, is facing

utterly different plexuses of correlations4 . The new realities of the present, and their
future prospects, generate new circumstances, and the constitutional questions on
the correlations in the conditions of survival and coexistence, with taxonomies of
the micro-macro lands of built land, become engaged in an ongoing exploratory
process. The land and its landscapes emerge as a crucial reference in tandem also
with the conditions of removal from the ground and the materiality of an intangi-
ble, engineered world.
The mildness of the built world is looking to find the correlations, without
often violent outbursts of generalized tension, promoting and advocating the
mildness of the environment and of the encounter with the other.
Bibliography
1. , . (2011), , , ., (.), 1. Hadjimichalis, C. (2011). Introduction. In Hadjimichalis, C., (ed.)

: , , Contemporary Greek Landscapes: A Birds Eye View Geographical Ap-
. proach. Melissa, Athens (in Greek).
2. de Romilly, J., (2007), , . 2. de Romilly, Jacqueline, (1979). La douceur dans la pensee grecque,
. , . . , , (1 - Les Belles Lettres, Paris.
1979).
3. Frampton, K., (2001), Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of Con-
3. Frampton, K., (2001), Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of Con- struction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Architecture. The MIT press,
struction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Architecture, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Cambridge, Mass.
4. Fatouros, D. A. (2014), Survival and Symbiosis: Among the Path-
4. Fatouros, D., A. (2014), Survival and Symbiosis: Among the Path- ways of Inhabited Time, (forthcoming).
ways of Inhabited Time, ( ).
183 essays
1
:

Tourism and the Landscape:
The Story of Greece
/ :
( 2000), - THEANO TERKENLI
, ,
H

/ ( ) .
,

, Theano Terkenli is an
. , - ssistant Professor
, . f Geography, University
, -- f the Aegean
, .

, :
(Meinig 1979 1996.)
-

,
,
(Cosgrove, 1998). , -

Landscapes of / and tourism: theoretical background

According to the European Landscape Convention (ELC 2000), landscape is de-
fined as a zone or an area, as perceived by local people or visitors, whose visual
features and character are the result of the action of natural and/or cultural (that
is, human) factors. This definition reflects the idea that landscapes evolve through
time, as a result of being acted upon both by natural forces and by human beings. It
also underlines that a landscape forms a whole, whose natural and cultural compo-
nents are taken together, not separately. Of course, at the basis of any human-envi-
ronment interrelationship lie ideologically and symbolically charged conceptions
of space. Such conceptions grow out of humanitys quest for meaning and identity
and point to the centrality of culture in the articulation of space and landscape,
through time: all landscapes are, thus, cultural (Meinig 1979; Terkenli 1996).
185 essays
, , -
, -
,
,
(Terkenli dHauteserre 2006) [. 1]. ,
, , ,
, , -
, , , /
(Pedroli .. 2007).
,

.
-
,
, -
. -
-
, ,
, , ,
-
(Gunn 1979: 409). . -

, .
/

Geographers have shown that unique cultural experiences of a half-

millennium of cultural and environmental modernization have produced charac-
teristically European models, experiences and expressions of landscape, which
were subsequently disseminated worldwide and changed the face of the earth
(Cosgrove 1998). However, recent trends of spatial re-organization a new cul-
tural economy of space characterized by globalization, time-space compres-
sion, commoditization, explosion of communication systems and proliferation
of image flows, have been contributing to the spread and establishment of new
Western landscape models, altering the face of landscapes worldwide Terkenli
and dHauteserre 2006 [pl. 1]. Meanwhile, in light of rapid and irredeemable
change, landscapes around the world, old or new, highly-prized or ordinary,
prominent or mundane, have been increasingly calling for acknowledgment, re-
cording, preservation, management and/or development some are under threat
of being irreparably lost (Pedroli et al. 2007). Tourism and recreation patterns
and practices on the land are among the most significant drivers of such change
and threat.
Tourism has long been the prime industry of Greece, with all positive and
negative imprints associated with intense seasonal tourist inflows on its landscapes
and especially so in the islands, where these flows mostly tend to be directed.
Landscapes of tourism are defined as the total physical and visual environments
utilized by all tourism activities, including the whole tourism development, such
as transportation, services, information, direction and all the developments that
attract visitors to it (Gunn 1979: 409). All is not well in paradise, however. More
often than not, landscapes of tourism are characterized by insensitive usage of
space and land in relation to tourism development. Such usage includes expen-
,
, , ,
(Antrop 1998 Terkenli 2002). -
,
(Wall
Jafari 2000: 347) [. 1].

. , -
, .
Cohen
:
, , -

(Cohen 1978).

. ,
. ,
.
Las Vegas. 1
sive rebuilding and/or expansion of infrastructures along the seashore and uncon-
trolled urbanization and substitution of pre-existing economic systems, causing
spatial fragmentation and homogenization of landscape elements, often resulting
in the loss of identity (Antrop 1998; Terkenli 2002). Sometimes the changes are
so profound that it is possible to talk of tourism landscapes in which tourism domi-
nates the uses of the land and the appearance of the area (Wall in Jafari 2000:
347) [pl. 1].
All landscape aspects and elements human and natural are involved in
tourism development. At the basis of any ensuing discussion vis--vis the landscape,
however, stands its environmental nature. Cohen identified four major factors con-
tributing to the decline of environmental quality under tourism pressure: tourism
intensity, the resilience of the ecosystem, the time perspective of the developer and
187 essays
, -
() ( Jafari Briassoulis 2002:1066-67). -
, , , -
,
,
- -
(Terkenli 2000.). -
, ,
- ,
.
: ,

,
, (-
2009, 2008, Kizos & Terkenli 2006), , ,
( 50
60) (Terkenli 2004b, 2005). ,

, -
.
, -
,
-
. , -
the transformational character of recreational development (Cohen 1978). These

latter factors stand out as critical development parameters in sustainable tourism
development and landscape management. They all play out in the landscape, in
significant and often irreversible ways. Landscapes of tourism, whether natural or
highly developed, are identified as background tourism elements (BTE)(Jafari in
Briassoulis 2002:1066-67). Landscapes of tourism, moreover, through promotion,
sustenance and transformation of their specific functions, are among the most sig-
nificant cultural grounds, on which much of todays socio-cultural difference and
identity construction is generated and development negotiated (Terkenli 2000).
These relationships are obviously highly complex, as well as place-, time- and cul-
ture-contingent; they represent specific socio-cultural perceptions and attitudes,
illustrative of specific historical times.
Landscapes of tourism in Greece: mpirical realities, cultural legacies and

symbolic references
Greek landscapes have been plagued by much neglect, misuse or even irrepara-
ble destruction, throughout the countrys history (Beriatos 2009; Manolidis 2008;
Kizos and Terkenli 2006), and, especially so, since Greeces era of rapid urbani-
zation (1950s and 1960s) (Terkenli 2004b; Simeoforidis 2005). During the post-
war period, Greek landscapes and the Greek environment have, thus, come under
severe threat of depletion, through lack of comprehensive planning, proper man-
agement and illegal construction. For all practical purposes, the landscape has
been absent from most expressions of everyday private or public life in Greece, at
the same time as, in most European countries, it has repeatedly been exalted as an
essential context and asset of high quality in life. This discussion, of course, rests on
an obvious disclaimer, namely that there is no single Greek landscape, but rather
, ,

, /
(Terkenli 2001).
-
-
, ,
.

( ...)
(Kizos & Terkenli 2006, ..
2005). ... -

( .. 2005)
- .
,
, , -
.
,

( 2007 2009),

. )
-
) -
a number of real or symbolic Greek landscapes, depending on the position and

situation of the viewer/analyst (Terkenli 2001).
In Greece, systematic physical planning interventions in the landscape
have generally tended to be restricted to metropolitan and urbanized areas and
have predominantly been a long-standing tradition of the design sciences. Mobi-
lization in matters pertaining to the agricultural landscape has only been very re-
cently instigated through European Union legislation and subsidized interventions
(through C.A.P.) that enforce rural landscape protection and preservation (Kizos
and Terkenli 2006; Louloudis et al. 2005). C.A.P. has been the main driving force
behind most change in rural space change that has proven to be detrimental to
the Greek landscape (Louloudis et al. 2005) and has, moreover, not instigated
any substantial shift in human-landscape relationships in rural Greece. Mean-
while, processes of establishment of landscape science, research and practice as
such have very gradually been gaining ground, in very recent years.
Normally, negative impacts on the landscape tend to be recognized as
such only when they become catastrophic or lead to calamities (i.e. fires of 2007
and 2009), eliciting some form of top-down or bottom-up reaction or other. Per-
haps most significant among these have been a) rural-urban migration with conse-
quent abandonment of agriculture and livestock raising and b) widespread illegal
construction and rampant second-home development. The unabated exodus of
rural population from the Greek countryside is robbing it of its guardians and
stewards, while the burgeoning often illegal secondary residence growth, by
an increasingly affluent middle class, was exacerbated in recent years by the
countrys adhesion to the European Union and the influx of North Europeans in
search of holiday homes (Stathatos 1996: 18). In this broader context, the Greek
landscape has been expropriated and exploited for various development pur-
189 essays
.
,
-

-
( 1996: 18). ,

,

.
,
,
.

, .
()
(Terkenli & Pavlis 2012).
, ,
. , -
,
(McNeill, 1978).
(Terkenli 1995),
, . ( -
) -
(Terkenli & Pavlis
poses, often with negative impacts on the appearance and undermining the very
essence of the landscape that attracted residents or tourists there, in the first place.
Furthermore, local interests, input and decision-making concerning the
landscape tend to be ill-informed, marginalized, or more commonly non-exist-
ent. Under these conditions, landscape matters usually remain overwhelmingly
dependent on public or private economic or political interests. In other words,
landscape has not constituted a collective good for most (urban) Greeks of the
post-war decades (Terkenli and Pavlis 2012.). This sense of community, of which
landscape is part, has largely been absent in contemporary urban Greek society.
Rather, among Greek cultural characteristics, a marketplace principle has per-
sisted since antiquity, all the way up to the present (McNeill 1978). The sense of the
landscape as part of a common home (Terkenli 1995), a commons in every sense
of the term, has not taken hold in contemporary Greece. The relatively (vis--vis
other European nations) ill-defined and undeveloped landscape conscience obvi-
ously represents a cultural problem (Terkenli and Pavlis 2012; Stathatos 1996).
The causes of such a conscience deficiency in Greece may be many (Terkenli and
Pavlis 2012; Terkenli 2011); of these, only some of the most significant will be ad-
dressed here. What follows in the rest of this section is a brief tracing of the histori-
cal, aesthetic and socio-cultural trajectory of the relationship of modern Greeks
with their landscapes, during the past 150 years, in search of the essentially
urban origins of a landscape conscience (Terkenli and Pavlis 2012; Terkenli 2011).
Greece never went through either a Renaissance, or a full-fledged indus-
trial revolution. It rather adopted aspects of modernity in certain realms of life a
posteriori, by implanting and overlaying them on pre-existing cultural particulari-
ties and local ways of life (Terkenli 2011). At the time, when the new nation-state of
Greece was being created (1820s-30s), there existed no middle class to speak
2012 1996).
(Terkenli & Pavlis 2012, Terkenli 2011)
.
-
, -
150 ,
(Terkenli & Pavlis 2012,
Terkenli 2011).

. , , , -
-

(Terkenli 2011). -
- ( 1820 1830) -
,
(
), / (Bunce 1994).
( 60 70)
-
,
-
.
-
of, in order to re-invent the landscape concept through an urban-rural contradis-

tinction (the urbanites nostalgia for the loss of the countryside), as was the case
in Western/ Northern Europe (Bunce 1994). In Greece, the period of high ur-
banization rates (1960s and 1970s) did not give rise to or stem from a wholesale
industrialization of the countrys economic system, but rather the rapid adjustment
of the Greek society and economy to a tertiary-sector-led nexus of activities. The
incentive for the development of a Greek landscape conscience rather emerged
through the rise of domestic tourism and a more general turn among urbanites
back to nature and the countryside [pl. 2]. Where the trend towards a reconnec-
tion with the landscape through tourism became most apparent was in the case
of alternative forms of tourism, and especially agro-tourism (Kizos et al. 2007)
and eco-tourism (i.e. through sale of local forest products, hiking, olive picking,
etc), highly beneficial to landscape preservation and management. Specifically,
these mostly rural tourism and recreation destinations were turned into urban or
semi-urban consumption spaces, through recreation activities and second-home
construction.
From an aesthetic perspective, the landscape ideal and form of repre-
sentation most characteristic of this cultural realm remained the two-dimensional,
apparently flat, but actually inverted, perspective of Greek Orthodox art: ecclesi-
astical iconography, powerfully evocative and compelling to all Greeks, to-date.
Amidst the deeply religious populace, under the four-century-long Islamic domina-
tion, Greek Orthodox art seems to have imprinted its highly influential worldview
on Greek mind and psyche: a bottom-up landscape ideal and way of relating to
the world still pervasive in Greek life and art. At the same time, mainly during the
19th century, the Greek landscape was re-constructed by Western painters, in ac-
cordance with top-down romantic ideals, at the basis of the then emergent Greek
cultural identity: a) archaism and b) orientalism (Terkenli et al. 2001).
191 essays

[. 2]. -

, (Kizos .. 2007)
( -
, , , ...),
.

.
,

, ,
:
,
, . ,
,

,
.
Landscape of tourism, Koufonissia. 2
Before the onset of the credit/economic crisis (2008 to the present),

domestic tourism had emerged as the principle source and means of a slow, but
clear-cut and steady, re-establishment of a relationship between mostly urban
Greeks and their landscapes, producing the first signs of an emergence of a con-
temporary Greek landscape conscience. Since the early to mid-1990s, Greeks
have been rediscovering nature and their landscapes en masse (Tsartas et al.
2001). The underlying causes of this trend must be retrieved in a) a higher stand-
ard of living and dissatisfaction with conditions of city life, b) aggressive advertise-
ment and promotion of Greek destinations by the state and the tourism supply side
and c) the combination of emerging alternative forms of tourism and other tourism
growth opportunities, provided by the Greeks discovery of long-weekend tour-
:

. , 19 , -

, ,
: ) )
(Terkenli et al. 2001).
/ (2008
),
,
,
.
90,
(Tsartas et al. 2001).
)
, )

)
-
,
. -
. -

, , -
. .
:
. -
, /,
, ,
-
-.
-
ism. The crisis signaled a retrenchment in the landscape cause. At all government
levels, budgets for environmental causes were curtailed and the newly-instigated
Landscape Committee of the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climatic
Change was effectively dismantled. Domestic tourism was served a severe blow.
Landscapes of tourism in the context of a new cultural economy of space:

Prospects for Greece
With increasing dependence on instant interconnections and image flows, land-
scapes in their visual/pictorial, experiential and symbolic capacity, become,
by nature, the most visible and eloquent expressions of variable and changing
human-environment relationships. Though multi-functionality and sustainability
have been inherent qualities of the cultural landscape for the best part of human
history, and though technological capacity for intervention in both has been
much enhanced in recent times, landscape multi-functionality and sustainabil-
ity are now both endangered. Older forms of landscape organization and use
have given way to divisions of space and landscape schemata much more tem-
porary, tentative and fluid. Present-day landscapes are, thus, undergoing rapid
transformation, brought about by this new cultural economy of space (Terkenli
and dHauteserre 2006).
193 essays
, , , -
,
.
-
,
. -
, (Terkenli
dHauteserre 2006).

-
, , ,
,
. -
, -
, ,
,
.
.

-

, , ,
, - .

, ,
,
, (-
1996). , -
[. 3],

( 2008).

. -
-

In Greece, high impact alterations of land use and seasonally intense

geographical concentrations of tourists, in conjunction with out-of-scale and often
environmentally degrading or incongruous tourism infrastructure, often result in
surpassing the landscapes carrying capacity. Such spatial impositions lead to
variable change in the pre-existing landscape, among which, most significant for
further tourism development, is the loss of place and landscape identity the rai-
son dtre of Greek tourism. In this context, the prospects for the Greek landscape
may be alarming. Stathatos describes how post-war Greek governments were
quick to realize the vast profits that could be made out of a modernized tourism
industry; the result was an intensive promotional campaign at home and abroad,
a campaign still active today, through publicity photographs, posters, postcards
and other representations of Greek space. These representations promote an im-
aginary country on which the sun always shines brightly, where the sea is always
blue and placid, the houses of a uniformly Cycladic style are invariably freshly
whitewashed, and all of whose inhabitants are permanently cheerful, welcoming
and colorful (Stathatos 1996). The problem, however, is that Greece has been

, (-
, , , ...).
/
, -
. , -

, , , ,
, ... ,
,
,
,
(Terkenli 2000).
-
, , -
,
: -[] ,
() , -
-
(Trova 2008, Terkenli & dHauteserre 2006,
Terkenli 2002). , , -
,
,
, -
, , -
, ,
. ,

exporting, but also consuming this distorted image of itself [pl. 3], for four con-
secutive decades, and there is reason to believe that it may be becoming innate
(Stathatos 2008).
Nonetheless, tourism constitutes the powerhouse of the Greek economy
and its prime industry. The inextricable link between tourism and the landscape
offers brilliant prospects for the development of various forms of tourism, based
on the principles of locality and sustainability, highly compatible with Greek and
Mediterranean landscapes, i.e. local products, alternative forms of tourism (camp-
ing, cycling, agrotourism, etc). One may, thus, deduce the great potential for
place/destination promotion through the tourism industry, consequently offering a
sustainable and profitable economic outlet for local development, on a landscape
basis. In short, all but especially alternative and special-interest forms of tourism
sell landscape images, landscape services, landscape experiences and enjoy-
ments, landscape products, landscape knowledge and history, etc. Accordingly,
rural landscapes whether coastal, island, mountain or other have been adjusting
to their new touristic uses, through selective preservation mostly of their formal at-
tributes, for purposes of visual appeal and tourist consumption (Terkenli 2000).
195 essays
.
, ,
,
(
2000).
, -
, ,

.
In the face of current forces of globalizing transformation, instilled by a

new cultural economy of space, tourist landscapes increasingly tend towards re-
sembling one another, at an alarming rate: u-topian paradises with tropical char-
acteristics, widely and uniformly (re)produced, through standardized, homogeniz-
ing processes of landscape replication, exclusively for purposes of recreational
consumption (Trova 2008, Terkenli and dHauteserre 2006, Terkenli 2002).
Sustainable, integrated landscape management, thus, now more urgently than
ever before, needs to address, combine and connect a large number of diverse
landscape functions, such as ecological stability, economic viability, expression
of place identity, protection of cultural heritage, recreational activity, historical
dynamics and so on. This remains quite a daunting task, but one that offers exciting
challenges for related disciplines and practitioners, at all levels. What are harder
to negotiate, however, are changes in human ways of thought and action, deemed
central and foremost to any landscape change or articulation (ELC 2000.). These
are already appearing to be more difficult than changes in landscape, especially
at a time when changes are occurring at a global scale and at long-term time-
frames, beyond individual grasp.
, ,
,
, 2006.
Cape Sounion, Attica, an imaginary
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ebusinessforum.gr. E-Business Forum: .

Scenes of Greeces Heterotopy
,
DIMITRIS PLANTZOS , ,

O : -
, ,

, -
,
Dimitris Plantzos is an
, , .
Assistant Professor of , ,
Classical Archaeology, . ,
National and Capodistrian , ,
University of Athens ,

. -

Live Your Myth in Greece
,
[. 1].1
-
,
2007, ,
Greece Explore Your Senses, ,
, [. 2].2
There are specially placed monitors in the metro stations of Athens, which in be-
tween the weather forecasts, announcements about elderly persons gone missing,
or appeals to passengers to watch over their personal belongings show a short
film promoting Greek tourism: marble antiquities drenched in sunshine, pleasure
boats afloat in the blue, jolly faces feasting on gourmet heaven, gorgeous bodies
at organized beaches, busy marinas, glittering resorts. Its an image of Greece
that is attractive, familiar around the world, and oddly enough quite persuasive.
By lucky chance foreign visitors also feature in the film, against the background
of ancient Greek theaters, ruined temples, byzantine chapels, telling us how much
they had been dreaming of this moment and how wonderfully their dreams have
come true in precisely the land where everybody can live their myth. It has only 1
been a decade since an international campaign was launched by the Greek
National Tourism Organization under the same title Live Your Myth in Greece
where the well-known and oft-used classical ruins were once again shown in the
foreground, with mythical mermaids and other imaginary creatures hovering
above them [pl. 1].1 Classical antiquities have ever played a role in showcasing
contemporary Greece as a destination for global tourism, and this continued, with
the 2007 campaign for instance, under the general title Greece Explore Your
201 essays
-

, ,
, , ( )
. , -
, :

, /,

. ,
, 2
,
, ,
.3

. -
1930,
, , -
, ,
,
[. 3]. 4 -
, -

1940 1950 [. 4].

Senses, where the country was promoted as a place offering exceptional, mainly
visual, experiences [pl. 2].2
Even a cursory look at the promotional material for Greek tourism pro-
duced in Greece over the past hundred years or so, is enough to confirm that its
two key messages underscore the countrys illustrious antiquity and its (equally im-
pressive) modernity. For that matter, the signification evinced by the Athens metro
is all about Greeces classical antecedents and rapid modernization: grandly de-
signed stations aim to impress their users, who are thus transformed into visitors/
spectators, at the same time that elegant displays showcase archaeological riches
formerly concealed in those same spots now traversed by the countrys modern-
ized present. In the same way, archaeological sites and museums aim to showcase
Greece not only as a land whose origin goes back to the mists of antiquity, but as
a contemporary state also, a force for modernization, fully capable of managing
its classical heritage, which it safeguards and promotes, not least, of course, for
the delectation of its ever welcome tourists.3
The vision of modernization makes its appearance with marked dyna-
mism in older posters promoting Greek tourism. A typical example is found in
posters of the 30s, where Greek spa towns, such as Loutraki or Aidipsos, are
depicted as modernized resorts, with modern buildings, motorways, etc., always
within landscapes combining the rugged beauty of a mountainous wilderness with
the calm of the blue sea [pl. 3].4 Natural beauties alongside the monuments of
Greeces ancient, byzantine and recent cultural heritage inevitably retain their
primacy of place in promoting tourism during the traumatic 40s and 50s [pl. 4].
The promotion of a modernized Greece would return with a vengeance in the
1960,
, , -
.
1969 Yachting in Greece: (
),
[. 5]
, , ,
, .6
, , ,
,
, , -
.6 , 3
, , ,
, -
, ,
[. 6].7 ,
,
.8
,
-
:
, -
.9
, 8 10
1950 ( )
-
1959, , -
60s, when, side by side with the predictable classical and medieval antiquities,
we find direct references to a novel, younger, more modern and cosmopolitan as-
pect of the country. A typical case is a 1969 poster entitled Yachting in Greece:
an unnamed beach (recognizable as Vouliagmeni bay in Attica), a bikini-clad
girl sunbathing on the deck of a pleasure-boat [pl. 5]; in the distance, an aus-
terely modern, newly built hotel its pristine lines and cubic forms holding their
own within a rather indifferent landscape. 5 This is the time when Greece is in the
throes of reconstruction, under the encouraging, but uncompromising gaze of the
West, acquiring the necessary infrastructure so that the beauties of the Greek
landscape, natural or built, would become more easily accessible to an increas-
4
ingly demanding international public. 6 In other posters of that decade, in dialogue
with the periods youthful culture, traditional landscapes, edifices, and motifs are
transformed into modern, abstract designs by pioneering Greek graphic artists,
such as Freddie Carabott, or Michalis and Agni Katzourakis [pl. 6].7 In the same
series, antiquities are rendered as abstractions, as if the designers are trying to
lighten them of the burden laid upon them by their classical origins. 8 This is a
widespread phenomenon in Greek applied arts, as well as in the way that Greeks
aspire to promote their world-image outwardly: with their cultural heritage as their
spearhead, but only insofar as it would pose no threat such as might turn it into an
impediment to the countrys modern destiny.9
In the 50s, roughly 8 out of 10 official tourist posters depict classical
or (much less frequently) medieval antiquities, or at least contain derivative refer-
ences to them indeed, in a 1959 poster a black-figure krater serves as a vase for
a bunch of chrysanthemums [pl. 7]!10 The ratio is kept unchanged in the 60s, and
203 essays
[. 7]!10 -
1960, 1970,
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).11
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even through the 70s, where there is an increasing effort to highlight the human
element also (e.g. with posters depicting more details of human faces taken from
sculptures, vessels, mosaics, etc., and fewer free standing monuments).11
Greek tourist posters demonstrate that the 50s begin to capitalize, at
long last, on the systematic effort to promote Greece as an heterotopy of ruins:
in other words as the other place of the world communitys collective imagina-
tion, where visitors can enjoy a live experience of the classical, relieved of its
historical burden.12 Archaeological sites, restored and cleared of unacceptable
interventions or additions (such as non-Greek Crusader or Ottoman antiquities),
classical ruins, byzantine churches and monasteries, traditional settlements and
neo-classical mansions, all add up to produce the image of a land with an extraor-
dinary heritage, which it labors successfully to safeguard and preserve. Therefore
this is all about the modern signature of a country that promotes its modernization
as justification of its glorious past.13 At the same time, Greeces technical and
political astuteness is also promoted as a means for her to lay claim on a cultural
fund that, for the time being at least, remains under foreign management. This sys-
tematic effort undergoes several stages, which one might map sufficiently with the
help of tourist posters, as shown by a few select examples: the first dated poster
of the Hellenic Tourism Bureau (1929), the work of Ellie Seraidari (who gained
international renown as Nellys), simply depicts the Parthenon as it appears from
between the Doric columns of the Propylaea [pl. 8].14 It is an especially popular
image of the monument, harmoniously perched on its rock, as justification of the
heterotopic technologies employed by the Greek state already from the initial
years of its inception, a century earlier. And, naturally, as an image, it is wholly 6
[. 8].14
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spurious: all the subsequent additions (late classical, roman, byzantine, ottoman,
modern) are missing from the restored edifice as well as numerous features of its
own time from the boldly colored surfaces to the multitude of votive offerings
and minor monuments surrounding it already in the 5th century BCE. The result-
ing space responds adequately to the needs of 20th century tourists, given that it
permits them to indulge freely in a reverie, transporting them back to a place-time
to which they can sublimate their intellectual genealogy.
7 8
205 essays
, -
(
), .16

20 .

,
.
-

1956 [. 10]:
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-
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Greece, Griechenland . -
- .
Thirty years down the way, the heterotopic landscape appears much
more composite: in a 1959 poster, the work of Panayotis Tetsis, a distinguished
Greek artist, the Acropolis is shown in a haze, framed by the shutters and railings
of a neoclassical balcony [pl. 9].15 The layout attempted by the artist the classical
monument, the neoclassical edifice (hotel?), and the modern apartment-blocks in
between transforms Greek a-temporality into Greek contemporaneity. Framed
by a neoclassical narrative, both classical antiquity and the somewhat more mod-
est modernity of Greece are shown to coexist in an unbroken continuum; through
heterotopic technologies displayed in the poster, the modern present-day of the
country lays its claim of ownership on the classical past a past that is European,
western, global. Tetsis composition, furthermore, also reflects the question occu-
pying a long line of Greek artists, active between the wars and all the way up to
the late post-war period, namely that of defining the identity of Greek creativity
(what they theorize as hellenicity), in both a national and an international mi-
lieu.16 The synecdoche of classical and folk tradition with the modernist quest of
Greek art within the 20th century serves as a litmus test for the entire undertaking;
Greek modernism is conversing, of its own nature, with the classical and vernacu-
lar idiom, incorporating them into an otherwise international vocabulary, as mark-
ers of Greek specificity and idiosyncrasy.
Perhaps theres no other Greek poster that so markedly demonstrates
the sense of hellenicity of the first post-war years, as the Hydra designed for the
GNTO, by Yannis Moralis, in 1956 [pl. 10]: the abstractly rendered landscape
monochrome cobalt-blue sky, yellowish-russet coast, turquoise water, etc. is domi-
nated by the purely geometrical, elegantly austere lines of a two-storey neoclas-
sical house on the left and a more vernacular hut on the right. The posters layout
calls to mind a stage set, such as those that the artist in question, along with many
of his generation, would paint for the theatre (including for productions of ancient
1950-1970, , -
,
, :
,
,
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.
(J. Negulesco, 1957) -
(J. Dassin, 1960)
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.19 ,
1970, ,
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[. 11].20
9 10
Greek drama). The references to the workmens caf, the fishing trawler shown
sailing into the port, and so on, constitute, also in this poster, a setting for hellenic-
ity, a simulacrum of authenticity that seeks to be acknowledged as the trademark
of the Greek landscape, natural as well as built.17 It is worth noting, finally, that the
poster is entitled Hellas not Greece, Griechenland, etc. laying claim to Greek
heterotopys prerogative to be not only self-constructing but also self-determining.
Moreover, aside from Greeces post-war reconstruction, the 1950-1970
period also marked the constitution of her image in pop culture, chiefly through
motion pictures: in international mainly American films of that era, as well as in
a spate of co-productions made by Greek and foreign producers, the Greek land-
scape is constructed as an exotic place of recreation, available just as its people
are for a cultural experience of a different order. Whether it be movies like Boy on
207 essays
. -
, -
, ,
1960,
20 . , , ( )
, -
1980 1990 ,
-
.

1990, -

. -

,
, , -

: 1992, ,
. (
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-
.21
a Dolphin (J. Negulesco, 1957) or the unexpectedly popular Never on a Sunday

(J. Dassin, 1960), and also the commercially and artistically successful Zorba the
Greek (M. Cacoyannis, 1964), Greece is shown to be, par excellence, a place for
tourists, with friendly inhabitants (for being simple and nave), enchanting natural
landscapes and ultra-glamorous archaeological sites ready for visitors to enjoy
them.18 This image is transferred, lock, stock and barrel, into locally produced
motion pictures, where the necessity for tourism which, as a rule, is dealt with in
a spirit of relaxed condescension appears to be organizing both the landscape
and the comportment of the persons in it locals or visitors.19 In posters of the same
era, mainly those of the 70s, there is a perceptible attempt to promote, along with
those ever present antiquities, a more insouciant Greek image, evidently in dia-
logue with movie stereotypes: flirting couples on breath-taking beaches, groups
of friends taking their meal on a sandy beach while others are dancing syrtaki,
what else! on the edge of the water, often under the gaze of friendly, forever-
smiling natives [pl. 11].20
In the decades that followed there doesnt seem to be much change. The
stereotypical image of Greece as a country with ancient ruins, sunny beaches and
a care-free way of life, as fixed already in the 60s, seems to satisfy advertisers in
the final two decades of the 20th century. Assuming that the needs (and predilec-
tions) of the international tourist market remain unchanged, posters in the 80s
and 90s return to the same places, consuming the, by now, well-known images
of the archaeological sites and monuments of folk tradition. The sole exception is
found in the knee-jerk response of the Greek National Tourism Organization to the
infamous Macedonian question that gripped Greek public opinion in the 90s 11

21 ., -
.
-
.
Live Your Myth in Greece Greece Explore Your Senses

-

. , ,

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,
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.22
Up Greek Tourism, ,
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and took Greek diplomacy on a contentious path vis--vis many of the countrys
allies. As the patrimony of classical antiquity had turned into a matter of litigation
between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Greek
agencies promoting the countrys tourist offering deemed it proper, it would ap-
pear, to remind the international community of Macedonian antiquities that had
been discovered and were safeguarded on Greek soil: in a 1992 poster, a relief
gold bust of Alexander the Great (which, however, had been found in Turkey and
is now in Paris!) is shown against a deep blue background, next to the so-called
Vergina sun, a rather commonplace motif in ancient Greek art which, at that
time, figured on the neighboring countrys flag [pl. 12]. One should construe as a
symptom of national insecurity the reminder that Alexander, and the ancient art
linked to him, in fact constitute Greek intellectual property, and also the oversized
inscription Macedonia in capital letters under a rather more discreet Greece
that dominate the poster.21
As a genre, posters suffer an irreversible decline in the early 21st century,
since, with the spread of electronic means of communication, a dramatic change
occurs in how the public seeks and obtains information. International tourism cam-
paigns now evolve into multi-media initiatives, to be found predominantly online.
The awareness campaigns Live Your Myth in Greece and Greece Explore Your
Senses, mentioned at the outset of this section, had been online mass-market events
that live on, even now, in social networking and communication pages, drawing
positive and negative comments from an international nay, globalized public.
209 essays
-
),
-
:

, , ,
.
, -
(brand name)
(Greece) All Time Classic
,24 -
, , , -
. , , ,
, , ,
, -
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Their subject matter remains, of course, atavistically orientated toward familiar ste-
reotypes of worship for antiquity and boundless admiration for Greek landscapes.
If, however, we need to identify a differentiation with regard to the past, it is that
the ancient ruins have now passed firmly into the background; they form part of
the exotic landscape and contribute to a sense of well-being and relaxation that
foreign visitors are expected to obtain.
In recent years, the economic crisis that has hit the country has acti-
vated, once again, a somewhat improvised effort to strengthen tourism as our
national industry.22 This is precisely the agenda of an international initiative
called Up Greek Tourism, developed by a group of private individuals, and aim-
ing to promote Greece as a tourist destination, for affluent tourists, preferably,
as its organizers would have it.23 This is a grass-roots effort, without any sort
of institutional support or subvention, based on crowd-funding. Even though,
technically, the profile of this campaign is strikingly modern, and while it is es-
thetically appealing (the visuals in each advertisement are contributions in the
form of snapshots sent in by private individuals helping to fund the campaign),
one cannot but remark that this effort also seems caught up in the stereotypes of
previous decades: the typically Greek images selected by these advertisers,
to promote the country and its tourism, are confined to the Parthenon, Cycladic
architecture, Greek cafs, and, of course, the sea.
12

,
Welcome Home [. 13] -
: ,
, , , .
Finally, the GNTOs endeavor to have Greece become an internation-

al brand, the trademark of which would be the countrys international name
(Greece), making up the logo, along with the slogan All Time Classic,24 is nota-
ble for its seriousness and sobriety compared to the past, even though, perhaps
unavoidably, it reverts to many of the familiar stereotypes. What is positive, of
course, is the opening up of the campaign into other, more sophisticated forms
of tourism such as health and wellness tourism, conference tourism, or ur-
ban tourism, which seem to leave behind them the facile image of a primitive
Greece, where one would go just for the sun, the sea, and the ancient ruins. The
all-time classicality of Greece is emphasized also by the carefully chosen font
used to differentiate the countrys name, while the subtitle Welcome Home [pl.
13] predisposes prospective visitors as to what they shall encounter here: a very
special country, a place of origin for the entire world, and also a spiritual heter-
otopy, which, at the end of they day, belongs to them.
13
211 essays
1. D. Philippides, The phantom of classicism in Greek architecture, 1. D. Philippides, The phantom of classicism in Greek architecture, in
D. Damaskos D. Plantzos (.), A Singular Antiquity. Archaeol- D. Damaskos and D. Plantzos (ed.), A Singular Antiquity. Archaeology and
ogy and Hellenic Identity in 20th c. Greece, (2008), 375-382 . Hellenic Identity in 20th c. Greece, Athens (2008), 375-382 esp. 378-
378-379 . 8 : 379 pl. 8; Greek Tourist Posters. A Journey in Time through Art. Ministry
. of Tourist Development Greek National Tourism Organization, Athens
, (2007), . 232. (2007), pl. 232.
2. , .., . 233. 2. Greek Tourist Posters, op. cit., pl. 233.
3. D. Plantzos, Behold the Raking Geison: The New Acropolis Museum 3. D. Plantzos, Behold the raking geison: the new Acropolis Museum
and its Context-Free Archaeologies. Antiquity 85 (2011), 613-630. and its context-free archaeologies, Antiquity 85 (2011), 613-630. On the
- two-fold role played by ancient Greek ruins in the collective imagination
, . A. Loukaki, Living respectively of Greece and the West, see A. Loukaki, Living Ruins, Value
Ruins, Value Conflicts, Aldershot (2008), 15-62. Conflicts, Aldershot (2008), 15-62.
4. . , .., . 3 (, 1934), . 4, 4. Cf. Greek Tourist Posters, op. cit., pl. 3 (Aidipsos, 1934), pl. 4, 6 (Lout-
6 (, 1938 1934 ). raki, 1938 and 1934 respectively).
6. S. Alifragkis E. Athanassiou, Educating Greece in Modernity: 6. S. Alifragkis and E. Athanassiou, Educating Greece in modernity:
Post-war Tourism and Western Politics. The Journal of Architecture 18:5 post-war tourism and western politics, The Journal of Architecture 18:5
(2013), 699-720. (2013), 699-720.
7. , .., 58 . 40, 46, 60. 7. Greek Tourist Posters, op. cit., 58 pl. 40, 46, 60.
8. , .., . 47-50. 8. Greek Tourist Posters, op. cit., pl. 47-50.
9. . , 9. On Greek industrial and applied design in general see, A. Yagou,

A. Yagou, Fragile Innovation. Episodes in Greek Design History, North Fragile Innovation. Episodes in Greek Design History, North Charleston
Charleston SC (2011), 84-110, 129-152. SC (2011), 84-110, 129-152.
11. . , .., . 105, 107, 111, 115-117 11. Cf. Greek Tourist Posters, op. cit., pl. 105, 107, 111, 115-117, etc.
.
12. See A. Leontis, Topographies of Hellenism. Mapping the Homeland,
12. . A. Leontis, Topographies of Hellenism. Mapping the Homeland, Ithaca (1995), 40-66; Y. Hamilakis, The Nation and its Ruins. Antiquity,
Ithaca (1995), 40-66 Y. Hamilakis, The Nation and its Ruins. Antiquity, Archaeology, and National Imagination in Greece, Oxford (2007); 15-
Archaeology, and National Imagination in Greece, Oxford (2007), 15- 19; D. Plantzos, Archaeology and Hellenic identity, 1896-2004: the frus-
19 D. Plantzos, Archaeology and Hellenic Identity, 1896-2004: The frus- trated vision In Damaskos and Plantzos op.cit. (n. 1), 10-30 esp. 14-17.
trated Vision Damaskos Plantzos, .. (. 1), 10-30 . 14-17.
13. Leontis, op.cit., 66.
13. Leontis, .., 66.
14. Greek Tourist Poster, op.cit., 16.
14. , .., 16.
15. Greek Tourist Poster, op.cit., pl. 26.
15. , .., . 26.
16. See, among others, D. Tziovas, Beyond the Acropolis: rethinking
16. ., , D. Tziovas, Beyond the Acropolis: Rethinking Neohellenism, Journal of Modern Greek Studies 19:2 (2001), 189-220.
Neohellenism. Journal of Modern Greek Studies 19:2 (2001), 189-220.
17. On the discussion regarding stage-managed authenticity see gener-
17. , . ally B. Dicks, Culture on Display. The Production of Contemporary Visit-
B. Dicks, Culture on Display. The Production of Contemporary Visitability, ability, Maidenhead (2003), 16-40.
Maidenhead (2003), 16-40.
18. Alifragkis and Athanassiou, op.cit., 714-715. Also, K. Zacharia,
18. Alifragkis Athanassiou, .., 714-715. , K. Zacharia, Reel Reel Hellenisms: Perceptions of Greece in Greek Cinema, in K. Zacha-
Hellenisms: Perceptions of Greece in Greek Cinema, K. Zacharia ria (ed.), Hellenisms. Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity from Antiquity to Mo-
(.), Hellenisms. Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity from Antiquity to Moder- dernity, Aldershot (2008), 321-353.
nity, Aldershot (2008), 321-353.
19. L. Papadimitriou, Travelling on Screen: tourism and the Greek film
19. L. Papadimitriou, Traveling on Screen: Tourism and the Greek Film musical, Journal of Modern Greek Studies 18:1 (2000), 95-104.
Musical, Journal of Modern Greek Studies 18:1 (2000), 95-104.
20. Cf. Greek Tourist Posters, op.cit., pl. 99-102, 108-109, 112-114, etc.
20. . , .., . 99-102, 108-109, 112-114
. 21. Greek Tourist Posters, op.cit., pl. 183.
21. , .., . 183. 22. D. Plantzos, Tourism: rendezvous in heterotopia, Unfollow 20 (Au-
gust 2013), 42-46.
22. . , : , Unfollow 20
( 2013), 42-46. 23. http://www.upgreektourism.gr (22 April 2014).
23. http://www.upgreektourism.gr (22 2014). 24. q.v. 2014-16 strategic plan implementation, at the GNTOs website
promoting Greek tourism: http://www.visitgreece.gr/el/home#&slider1=2
24. . 2014-16 (22 April 2014).
:
http://www.visitgreece.gr/el/home#&slider1=2 (22 2014).
:

The Present Past:
Classical Antiquity
and Modern Greece
A Y ; ,
ELEANA YALOURI ;
, , ,
-
; ,
K K
, , ;
A,

Eleana Yalouri is an : ,
Assistant Professor
of Social Anthropology, ,
Panteion University
. , ,
,
,
How does Greece measure up to her history? Which pasts does it recollect, which
ones does it forget and how? What tensions arise in the process of evaluating ab-
sences and losses, yearnings and desires, experiences and memories in order to
determine what should be remembered? And, ultimately, what is the role of mate-
rial remains in our attempts to communicate with the ever present past?
The Greek landscape is made up of various aspects of its past: Byzantine
churches and Ottoman mosques, traditional settlements and buildings from the
interwar period or apartment blocks, pockmarked by civil-war bullets, signal his-
tories and memories, which are, nevertheless, often overshadowed by a different
past that seems to want to monopolize the nations memory. Classical antiquity,
present, visible and public, in museums that are built on its remains, in monuments
and archaeological sites, in piazzas developed around them, but also on plots of
land, hidden behind fencing made of corrugated sheeting, has left its milestones in
the landscape of Greek town and countryside. Antiquity also leaves its mark, what
architect Dimitris Philippides1 calls the phantom of classicism, on more recent ar-
chitecture, while depictions of it, in photographs, advertisements, tourist brochures
or souvenirs, circulate and leave their imprint on the urban landscape.
213 essays
, , , , -
, ,
. ,
1 ,
, , , , -

.
-
, :

,

.

, .
,
, , -
, . ,
, . -
.
, ,
, -
-
.
At the same time antiquity seems to occupy not just the above ground
space but also the subterranean. Many of us are familiar with the pictures of the
plethora of antiquities discovered by the Metro Mole in the course of the tunnel
boring works for the Athens metro, some of which are presented along with ar-
chaeological finds in showcases in the metro stations themselves. Similar images
have resulted from the excavations carried out for the building of the Thessaloniki
metro, which uncovered the monumental highway used by Romans, Byzantines
and Ottomans. Antiquity springs up under the glass floors of shops, or behind
shop windows, in the entrance-ways, basements and garages of apartment
blocks, in private walled gardens, in hotels. Many passers-by dont even notice
their existence, they dont stop, they just go hurrying on their way. The presence of
the antiquities is taken so much for granted that frequently we just dont see them.

,
, , 2014.
Archaeological findings during
site excavation, Monastiraki,
1 Athens, 2014.
, ,
, -
: ,

, , -

, ,
2.
, -
,
,

.
3 80
, ,
,
Derrida4
5.

. -

.

But even if they escape our notice, they still have the power to influence Greek
everyday reality, disposing people toward certain behaviors and shaping both
the background against which they act and the people themselves.
Antiquity sometimes visible, sometimes invisible, but always a poten-
tial presence intervenes in peoples lives and can have real consequences for
them: the need for permits from the Archaeological Service to undertake any kind
of building, or the threat of legal sanctions from them forbidding, interrupting or
delaying construction projects, and expropriations of private property haunt the
lives of Greeks who were weaned on the national narrative of a golden past. But,
when held up against everyday urban life, this legacy often proves tyrannical 2. In
particular, when it comes face to face with development planning in the modern
city it can raise questions about the place of the past in the Greek present or create
dilemmas as to how much should be rescued and how far it should be restored,
sparking fears that the past threatens to stifle the present, turning it into a vast mu-
seum in which there will no longer be any room for the living. These are familiar
issues from other parts of the world too, where the so-called heritage revivalism,
from the 1980s onwards in particular, led to what is often called an explosion of
memory, along with a rapid expansion in museums and places declared histori-
cal, all of which relates to many of the issues summed up by Derrida3 under the
term archive fever4 .
However, in Greece the occupation of the present by the past, is not a
recent phenomenon. It is an old story and one closely linked to the time when the
citizens of the newly established Greek state inherited not just the territory but also
the title to the ancient Greek heritage. Yet the diffusion of classical culture has
made Greek antiquity a patrimony that extends beyond its homelands borders 5.
For travelers and other western Europeans with a classical education and tastes,
the Hellenic topos6 represented an idyllic homeland rooted in the past, but from
215 essays
6. 7
-
, ,
.
,
,
-
,

,
8.
,
,
, :
,
-
, ,
9.
19
,
, , , 10
11,

.
which the modern inhabitants were excluded. Given the importance antiquity as-
sumed for the nineteenth-century European Powers, whose influence shaped the
political, ideological and socio-economic context of the Greek War of Independ-
ence and the subsequent founding of the Greek state, the significant part played
by the material remains of ancient Greece, not only in shaping the national con-
sciousness and legitimizing the modern Greek state, but also in demonstrating
its European orientation, was not a matter of chance7. The words spoken at the
first meeting of the Archaeological Society (a meeting which took place on the
Acropolis) by Iakovakis Rizos Neroulos, its first president, are characteristic. Point-
ing to the ruins, he declared:
Gentlemen, these stones, thanks to Pheidias, Praxitelis Agorakritus and
Myron, are more precious than diamonds or agates: it is to these stones, that we
owe our political renaissance8.
With the establishment of the Greek state in the early nineteenth century
under the influence of Bavarian neo-classicism and with the support of institutions
such as educational establishments and of disciplines such as history, geography 9
and archaeology10, the idea that Hellenism had been reborn and that the ancient
Greeks had found their legitimate heirs in the modern Greeks was systematically
fostered. The nation-building process that had begun with the War of Independ-
ence became known as the Regeneration11. In fact, the official celebration of the
centenary of the independent Greek state took place on the Acropolis, on Easter
Sunday 1933, to emphasize the symbolic connotations of the Resurrection12. The
2
idea that emerged in Greece with the War of Independence and lingered on after
the establishment of the Greek state, was that the Greek nation had been reborn
like the phoenix from its ashes to inhabit Greek soil once more13. , , 1962.
Street view of the Acropolis and
As was only to be expected, this land constituted an important reference the Church of Kapnikarea,
point at a time when the autochthony of the Greek nation and the deep roots of Athens, 1962.
-
. -
1933,
12.
, ,

13 .
, ,

. -

,
. T

14.
,
-
- -

. -
,
15,
, -
modern Greeks in the land of the Greece of Pericles had to be demonstrated and
highlighted. Archaeological excavations turned into a national project and served
as a metaphor for the very idea of a nation that had been buried for centuries and
whose time had come to be reborn. The objects that until recently had been buried
and were coming to light invaded the present from another time and place14,
supporting the quest for a mythical national self and an eternal identity and pro-
viding tangible evidence that the glorious past had actually existed.
Together with excavations, the restoration and restitution of ancient Greek
3
monuments were becoming another metaphor for the very process of building a
Greek nation state that demanded the reterritorialization of ancient Greek glory
, , 1964.
along with a suitable place in the modern world. Monuments and antiquities were The Ancient Agora and the Temple
isolated from their contemporary surroundings, in order to revert to a monumen- of Hephaestus, Athens, 1964.
tal time and space15, while places that for centuries had been part of everyday
life were surrounded by fencing, declared archaeological sites, and purged of
the evidence of those eras that were incompatible with the dominant Greek na-
tional narrative. Though monuments and archaeological sites ought to be brought
to life in the present, it should be on their own terms and untrammeled by the trivia
of the societal present. And in fact, from as early as 1867, ancient drama per-
formances were organized to revive the ancient Greek spirit in ancient sites and
theaters16, thus linking ancient grandeur with modern visions and activating the
Greek national memory. Celebrations, such as the revival of the Olympic Games
in 1896 and later, in 1927 and in 1930, the holding of the Delphic Festivals, were
addressed to a modern international public in order to promote a world heritage
which had now acquired a homeland.
Landscaping projects on archaeological sites became much more sys-
tematic with the advent of mass tourism, while from the 50s onwards they were
linked to the development and ideological objectives of post-war and post-civil-
217 essays
,
.
,
. , 1867 -

16
.
1896, 1927
1930,

.
-
,
50
17. -

19 20 -
18 3019
.

-
,
.
war Greece17. Interventions such as that by Dimitris Pikionis on the Acropolis and
the Philopappos Hill aimed at highlighting the dynamic interaction between the
monuments and the Greek natural landscape, which from as early as the late nine-
teenth and early twentieth century was praised by poets and intellectuals, such
as Periklis Yannopoulos18 or the generation of the 30s19 for being inextricably
linked to the ancient grandeur and the Greek soul. Seeking manifestations of a
hellenicity, which had persisted through antiquity and Byzantium, these intellec-
tuals discovered it in the lines and colors of the Greek landscape and in the bodies
and characteristics of the modern Greeks. Plans for the landscaping of archaeo-
logical sites also supported this perception, as in the case of the Athenian Agora,
where the American School of Classical Studies opted to plant with native species
that had grown there in antiquity, in order to reconstitute the ancient Athenian
landscape in its totality 20.
Just as the Greek archaeologists of the era sought to discover, conserve
and promote ancient Greek monuments, so too did Greek folklorists, impelled by
their patriotic duty to the newly established Greek nation-state, begin to discover,
collect and record so-called verbal monuments21, i.e. the songs, proverbs, stories
etc. of the Greek people. The Greek language itself was subjected to a similar
purging, restoration and supplementation process as that to which the Acropolis
of Athens was subjected when the architectural, material remnants of medieval
and modern times were systematically removed, architectural members that had
collapsed were replaced in their original position, and new material was added
to substitute the old 22. The architectural purging of the Acropolis was born of
the same mindset that led to the widespread use among the Greek bourgeoisie
of katharevousa, i.e. the purist form of the language that insisted on the use of ar-
chaic terms, and sought to rid [modern] Greek or foreign influences. Thus the lan-
guage functioned as another monument or fort, standing guard over the notional
, .. ,
,
20.
-
, ,
-
- ,
, , ,
. . 19 -
20 ,

, -

21.

,

. -

, -
, , .
boundaries of Greekness, and whenever it came under threat of being exploited

or mutilated, it had to be cleansed, restored or supplemented.
Typically the same process of restoration of the ancient classical past in
the present is also seen in the reversion to ancient place names, as well as in the
renaming of the Christian inhabitants of the Greek peninsula. Appellations such
as Romiot, Christian, Moraitan, etc., that had been employed prior to the War
of Independence, were replaced once it began by the term Hellene in order
to underpin the ideology of continuity that would unite the ancient and modern
Greek worlds in the Greek national consciousness 23. At the same time ancient
Greek forenames became especially popular in the early nineteenth century, very
frequently replacing the tradition of using exclusively Christian names, and encap-
sulating the process of creating citizens with national awareness24 . Thus, people,
monuments and the entire landscape participated in this reincarnation of the an-
cient spirit in the present day.
If in the nineteenth century the newly established Greek state had cel-
ebrated its creation on the Acropolis with reference to the commencement of its
archaeological restoration, the dawn of the new millennium in 2000 was cele-
brated in Greece by turning its gaze once again on its ancient heritage. For the
international broadcast of the millennium celebrations in Athens, the monuments
on the sacred rock were illuminated in shades of red and orange, and it was at
the center of a firework display 25. Earlier demands for the repatriation of Greek
heritage were revived. The return of the Olympic Games to Athens in 2004 was
presented by the state as legitimizing more general national struggles and de-
mands, while efforts to complete the New Acropolis Museum were intensified,
aspiring to house the exiled Parthenon sculptures. The restitution of the Greek
heritage would thus be solemnly celebrated in all its glory 26. Despite the fact that
the Parthenon sculptures were not returned, and the 2004 Olympic Games actu-
ally left Greece with a heavy burden, nevertheless the symbolic capital of the
219 essays
-

,
. ,
, . -
,

22. -
19

23.
, , -
.
19 -

,
. -
2000,
,
24. -
.
2004 -
, -
-
ancient Greek past 27 continues in global circulation, uniting or dividing those who
buy into it. In the unfavorable climate of the Greek crisis and following the cut-
backs in state funding for culture, proposals to involve private capital in the exploi-
tation of archaeological sites for tourist purposes pose new questions as to the fate
of Greeces cultural heritage as a public good and new dilemmas concerning its
economic exchangeability.
Nowadays, at a time when the international press is filled with cartoons
presenting ancient Greek heroes exhausted by the Greek crisis, or run to seed
from debauchery, and ancient Greek temples buckling or collapsing under the
weight of the difficult economic situation 28 modern Greek politicians seem un-
daunted. They continue to invest in the symbolic capital of classical antiquity, with
receptions in the Acropolis Museum for the principal lenders to the Greek state,
so that when they speak of Greeces debt, they can remind them of the western
worlds debt29 to the global ancient Greek heritage which, nonetheless, has
legitimate national beneficiaries. The spirit of antiquity is recalled once again
to safeguard and come to the aid of the Greek present, acting in the interests of
Greece.
At the same time, however, the protective spirit of antiquity may turn into
a specter that haunts and burdens the present, not only coming back to make its
views known on the current unsatisfactory state of affairs but also to dictate what
is right and what is wrong 30. The spirit of antiquity, which is often hypostasized,
can encourage essentialist conceptions of the state, but it does not always assume
the same importance for everyone who recalls, invokes or lays claim to it. It can
circulate, mutate, connect or divide 31. Antiquity, as familiar as it is remote, creates
experiences that are not just the product of academic knowledge or some schol-
arly tradition, but also of the daily contact that people have with it when they live
and grow up alongside it. As can increasingly be seen from a number of ethnogra-
.
25.
2004
,
26
.

, -

.
-

27,
.

,
,
28 ,
.

.
phies, apart from the versions of history propounded from above by state agen-
cies, intellectuals and officials, there are other ties to the past, which are consistent
with or depart from official versions, and which arise out of everyday practices
and experiences 32. Moreover, the contact with the past is not always linked to a
rational or historicist perception of an objective and documented past, but may
highlight other types of historicities or engagements with its physical remains that
are involuntary, corporeal, sensory and emotive 33. An old granny crossing herself
when she visits the Acropolis 34 experiences the place in a different way to an ar-
chaeologist or a historian, while a Roma girl is appropriating antiquity when, on
seeing the tunic worn by the korae on the funeral steles in Keramikos, she exclaims:
Hey look, lady, that one there is wearing a gipsy skirt!35.
,
, 2009, ,
., . .
New Acropolis Museum, Athens,
4 2009, entrance, photo, P. Kokkinias.
221 essays

,

29. , -
,
,
. , , 30. -
, ,
,
.
,
, -

31.

,
, -
, 32.
33
, -

: , !34.
In the more than 150 years since the birth of the Greek nation-state, an- 5. ,
.
tiquity has not remained anchored to a specific place; on the contrary, it is forever Caricature, reference to the Greek
changing and found in a multiplicity of forms, in museums in Greece or abroad, in financial crisis.
the salons of European classicists, and in centers of the Greek diaspora. It breaks 6.
loose from its supposed immobility and appropriates the politics of memory and

oblivion, assuming different often contradictory roles 36. It is paraded by various ,
regimes, democratic or otherwise, but it also remains silent, ready to intervene in ,
2014.
times of crisis. Meeting of the German Chancellor
Persecutor, protector, tyrant, comforter or redeemer, the past is actively Angela Merkel and the Greek Prime
Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens,
involved in individual or collective demands that invoke the official discourse on New Acropolis Museum, April 2014.
antiquity for their own ends, and reproduce it, contest it or overturn it, reminding
us that the past is also present 37.
But the past is at the same time the future. At a time when Greece has
been acquiring a new look and new citizens, because of the mass immigration that
began in the 90s, new circumstances arise in relation to the cultural heritage of
the country and its future. It remains to be seen what shape the politics of memory
--
,

, , .

-
35. ,
, .
, , , ,

, -
, ,
36.
.
-
90 , -
.

- .
;

; -
,
, , -
;
;
and oblivion will take in a country that is called upon to respond to what is, by
now, a multi-cultural identity. How will it incorporate the memories and traumas
of people with different experiences and pasts? To what extent and in what ways
will classical antiquity speak to the immigrants who work as laborers on archaeo-
logical digs or who live cheek by jowl with archaeological sites? Will the second
or third generation of those immigrants internalize the dominant narratives of the
golden past, will they appropriate them, will they reproduce them, will they ques-
tion them or will they reject them out of hand? What will they counter them with
and how will they imagine the Greece of the future?

, , 1967.
Bathers near the temple of Poseidon,
7 Sounion, 1967.
223 essays
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.: , . . , ,
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Leontis, A. (1995), Topographies of Hellenism: Mapping the Homeland,
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: , . . , Scrip- age, Antiquity, 62: 726-35.
ta, 1998].
Hamilakis, Y. (2007), The Nation and its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeology,
Lowenthal, D. (1988), Classical antiquities as national and global herit- and National Imagination in Greece, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
age, Antiquity, 62: 726-35.
Hamilakis, Y., & E. Yalouri, (1996), Antiquities as Symbolic Capital in
Hamilakis, Y. (2007), The Nation and its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeology, Modern Greece, Antiquity 70: 117-29.
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Hamilakis, Y., E. Yalouri, (1996), Antiquities as Symbolic Capital in ing of Modern Greece, Austin (TX): Texas University Press.
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Herzfeld, M. (1991), A Place in History: Social and Monumental in a Cre-
Hamilakis Y. & A. Anagnostopoulos (eds) (2009), Archaeological Ethnog- tan Town, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
raphies. Special Issue of Public Archaeology 8:2-3.
Jusdanis, G. (1991), Belated Modernity and Aesthetic Culture: Inventing
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ing of Modern Greece, Austin (TX): Texas University Press. [. :
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Peckham, R.S. (2001), National Histories, Natural States. Nationalism and ology and Hellenic Identity in Twentieth Century Greece, Athens: Benaki
the Politics of Place in Greece, London: Tauris & Co Ltd. Museum.
Philippides, D. (2008), The phantom of classicism in Greek architecture, Solomon, E. (2007), Multiple Historicities on the Island of Crete. The
D. Plantzos, & D. Damaskos (.), A Singular Antiquity. Archaeol- Significance of Minoan Archaeological Heritage in Everyday Life, Unpub-
ogy and Hellenic Identity in Twentieth Century Greece, Athens: Benaki lished PhD thesis. London: University College London.
Museum.
Stewart, C. (2012), Dreaming and Historical Consciousness in Island
Plantzos, D. & D. Damaskos (.) (2008), A Singular Antiquity. Archae- Greece. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University
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Museum.
Stewart, C. (1998), Who Owns the Rotonda? Church vs. State in Greece,
Solomon, E. (2007), Multiple Historicities on the Island of Crete. The Anthropology Today, 14 (5): 39.
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Archaeology and Communities in Greece, Lexington Books.
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Greece, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Sutton, D. E. (1998), Memories Cast in Stone: The Relevance of the Past in
Press. Everyday Life, Oxford and New York: Berg.
Stewart, C. (1998), Who Owns the Rotonda? Church vs. State in Greece, alalay, L. (2013), Drawing Conclusions: Greek Antiquity, The Economic
Anthropology Today, 14 (5): 3-9. Crisis,and Political Cartoons, Journal of Modern Greek Studies 31 (2):
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Stroulia, . and S. Buck Sutton (.) (2010), Archaeology in Situ: Sites, Taussig, M. (1984), History as sorcery, Representations 7: 87-109.
Archaeology and Communities in Greece, Lexington Books.
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Sutton, D. E. (1998), Memories Cast in Stone: The Relevance of the Past in Princeton: American School of Classical Studies.
Everyday Life, Oxford and New York: Berg.
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alalay, L. (2013), Drawing Conclusions: Greek Antiquity, The Economic Hudson, Ekdotiki Athinon.
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249-276. Yalouri, E. (forthcoming), In the spirit of matter. Re-connecting to antiquity
in the Greek present, in D. Tziovas (ed.) Re-imagining the past. Antiquity
Taussig, M. (1984), History as sorcery, Representations 7: 87-109. and Modern Greek Culture, Oxford University Press.
hompson, D. B. & R. E. Griswold (1963), Garden Lore of Ancient Athens, Yalouri, E. (2001), The Acropolis: Global Fame, Local Claim, Oxford: Berg.
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Yalouri, E. (2010a), Fanning the Flame: Transformations of the 2004
Tsigakou, F. M. (1981), The Rediscovery of Greece, London: Thames and Olympic Flame, International Journal of the History of Sport, 27 (12):
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tiquity in the Greek present, D. Tziovas (ed.) Re-imagining the past. Dimaras, K. Th. (1989), Modern Greek Enlightenment, Athens: Hermes.
Antiquity and Modern Greek Culture, Oxford University Press.
Kaftantzoglou, R. (2001), In the Shadow of the Sacred Rock. Place and
Yalouri, E. (2001), The Acropolis: Global Fame, Local Claim, Oxford: Berg. Memory in the Anafiotika, Athens: Hellenica Grammata.
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pic Flame, International Journal of the History of Sport, 27 (12): 2155- Hermes.
2183.
Koulouri, Ch. (1988), History and Geography in Greek Schools (1834
1914), Athens: Historical Archive of Greek Youth.
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. 18342000, Kathimerini, 20/2/2000.
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, . . during 1830-1880, Athens: Society for the Study of Modern Hellenism
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, . . (1989), , : . of the National Problem in Greece during 18301880, Athens: Polytypo.
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Endnotes
, . (1993), :
18301880, : 1. Philippides 2008.
- .
2. Yalouri, forthcoming.
, . (1988), :
18301880, : . 3. 1996.
, . (1989),
, : . 4. mal d archive.
5. Lowenthal 1988.
1. Philippides 2008. 6. see Leontis 1995.
2. Yalouri . 7. see, for example, Skopetea 1988, Herzfeld 1982, Jusdanis 1991,
Gourgouris 1996, Peckham 2001.
3. heritage revivalism.
8. cited in Tsigakou 1981: 11.
4. 1996.
9. see Koulouri 1988.
5. mal darchive.
10. Kokkou 1977, see also Yalouri 2001, Hamilakis 2007, Plantzos &
225 essays
6. Lowenthal 1988. Damaskos 2008.
7. . Leontis 1995. 11. Paliggenesia.
8. . , 1988, Herzfeld 1982, Jusdanis 1991, 12. Papageorgiou-Venetas 1994: 390.

Gourgouris 1996 , Peckham 2001.
13. Skopetea 1988: 207.
9. Tsigakou 1981: 11.
14. Stewart 2012: 206.
10. . 1988.
15. Herzfeld 1991.
11. K 1977, . Yalouri 2001, amilakis 2007, Plant-
zos & Damaskos 2008 16. Papageorgiou-Venetas 1994: 378-380.
12. Papageorgiou-Venetas 1994: 390. 17. Mallouchou-Tufano 2000.
13. 1988: 207. 18. 1965 [1903].
14. Stewart 2012: 206. 19. Vitti 1977, Tziovas 1989.
15. Herzfeld 1991. 20. Thomspon & Griswold 1963.
16. Papageorgiou-Venetas 1994: 378-380. 21. mnimia tou logou.
17. -Tufano 2000. 22. Mackridge 2004: 7.
18. 1965[1903]. 23. Politis 1993: 33-35.
19. Vitti 1977, 1989. 24. Dimaras 1989.
20. hompson & Griswold 1963. 25. Yalouri 2001.
21. Mackridge 2004: 7. 26. Yalouri 2010a.
22. 1993: 33-35 27. Hamilakis and Yalouri 1996; Yalouri 2001.
23. 1989. 28. Talalay 2013.
24. Yalouri 2001. 29. Skopetea 1988:211.
25. Yalouri 2010. 30. Yalouri 2010b.
26. Hamilakis Yalouri 1996 Yalouri 2001. 31. Yalouri forthcoming.
27. alalay 2013. 32. with specific reference to Greece see, for instance, Herzfeld 1991,
Sutton 1998, Stewart 1998, Kaftantzoglou 2001, Yalouri 2001, Solomon
28. 1988: 211. 2007, Stroulia & Buck Sutton 2010, Hamilakis & Anagnostopoulos 2009.
29. 2010. 33. Taussig 1984, Stewart 2012, Navaro Yashin 2009.
30. Yalouri . 34. Yalouri 2001: 146-147.
31. . .. Herzfeld 1991, Sutton 1998, 35. Solomon, personal communication.

2001, Stewart 1998, Yalouri 2001, Solomon 2007,
Stroulia & Buck Sutton 2010, Hamilakis & Anagnostopoulos 2009. 36. Yalouri 2010b.
32. Taussig 1984, Stewart 2012, Navaro Yashin 2009. 37. Yalouri forthcoming.
33. Yalouri 2001: 146-147
34. , .
35. 2010.
36. alouri .
This is Greece: o

Nellys
This is Greece: Visualizing
Greekness in the Work of
Nellys and Voula Papaioannou
, , -
ALEXANDRA MOSCHOVI ,
,

. Martin Heidegger.1

,
Program Leader, , -
MA Photography, , -
University of Sunderland ,
Alexandra Moschovi is an
, -
art historian and curator;
, ,
she is Program Leader,
MA Photography, .2
University of Sunderland // -
, 3

-
.
Where the world becomes picture, what is in its entirety, is juxtaposed as that for
which man is prepared and which, correspondingly, he therefore intends in a de-
cisive sense to set in place before himself. Martin Heidegger.1
The travel photograph, as it first appeared in the second half of the nineteenth cen-
tury, was part and parcel of a wider Occidental cultural system that essentialized
both peoples and places and concealed, behind romanticized views of exotic
lands, epic monuments and rustic scenes, complex ideologies of race, ethnicity
and imperialist politics.2 Being primarily a conventional cultural encoding for the
traveler/tourist/foreigner to experience and visualize the cultural other, this sys-
tem of attractions3 would also feed popular imagination in tourist photography as
this developed in the twentieth century following the almost concurrent advent of
mass tourism and growth of amateur photography.
229 essays
, -
, -
-
. ( )

1
-
. 4
, 1853-1854.
The Temple of Apollo at Corinth,
1853-1854. This is Greece
,
, -
, ,
,
.5 ,

.6
, -

7
-
-

. [. 1] , , -
, ,
In the consciousness of the educated, bourgeois classes of nineteenth-

century Europe, Greece was the eternal motherland of Europe and thus Greek-
ness was synonymous with ancestral heritage. The idea(l) of Greece as a spiritual
landscape that embodied both wild beauty and antique wisdom was a pole
of attraction for those bohemian Philhellenes who sought to discover in Greeces
uncivilized nature a further range of experience beyond the classroom clichs
of the academic classical world. 4 The picturesque physiognomy of Greece pro-
posed by popular travel books and illustrating This is Greece tourist guides in
the late nineteenth and twentieth century was visualized through images of mount
Olympus, the temple at Delphi and the Lion Gate in Mycenae, Epidaurus and the
Acropolis, medieval chapels, churches and monasteries in Meteora and Mount
Athos, farmers threshing, fishermen on their caiques, and village women working
al fresco. 5 Locally identified as the Western gaze, this narrative would not only 2
feed western tourist imagination but would become the visual epitome of Greek-
ness at home as well.6 , , . 1855.
The antiquarian image of Greece as a mythic land in which the natu- Man in traditional costume, Athens,
circa 1855.
ral landscape was but a charming and fanciful dcor whilst modern human life
disappear[ed] to the exclusive benefit of its monuments7 was the iconic represen-
tation of Greece throughout the nineteenth century; photographically captured
first by affluent travelers on the Grand Tour to the Holy Land, and later by itinerant
professional photographers producing stereoscopic views and postcards for the
European market. [pl. 1] Their native counterparts, Philippos Margaritis, Constan-
tine Athanassiou, Dimitris Constantinou, Petros Moraites and the Rhomaides Broth-

, , .8 [.
2, 3]
,
-

, -
, -
.

20 30
.
, -
, ,

.
30, ,
, , , , -
-

. [. 4]

, , -
, .
ers, also concentrated on photographing antiquities and regional costume studies

with elements of modern life and people only sparingly appearing, more often
than not, as indicator of scale.8 [pl. 2, 3]
With the development of organized mass tourism in the Aegean, facili-
tated in the early twentieth century by air and sea travel as well as better transport
infrastructure in mainland Greece, this pictorial commonplace would be com-
plemented by picturesque scenes of natural beauty and rural folk life taken by 3
the new tourists equipped with the latest handheld cameras. The rapid growth
of amateur practice in Greece in the late 1920s and 1930s was not simply a ,
, . 1895.
parepomenon of advances in photographic technology. It was more profoundly Kerameikos Cemetery, Athens,
triggered by the new wave of excursionism and nature movements that swept, in circa 1895.
the inter-war years, European urbanites who sought to counterbalance industriali-

zations effects on society and nature in the inter-war years; a return to nature and
homeland that was subsequently ideologically underpinned within the context of
National Socialism across Europe. It is telling that most of the amateur photogra-
phers who came of age in the 1930s, such as Dimitris Letsios, Takis Tloupas, Ma-
ria Chroussaki, Ellie Papadimitriou and Giorgos Vafiadakis among others, started
using a camera while being members of or involved in activities of excursion and
mountaineering associations. [pl. 4] This explains the fascination of those predomi-
nately middle-class photographers with the countryside as a place of pastoral
bliss, inhabited by peasants who, like noble savages, lived in harmony with nature.
At the same time, the re-invention of the countryside and the Helleno-
centric turn in the Greek arts and literature of the 1930s was not simply the intel-
ligentsias cultural response to the countrys industrial expansion of the 1920s.
231 essays
,
30

20. : -
,
-
4 .9

, , ,
, ,
. 1935.
Villagers in traditional costume,
Macedonia, circa 1935. () .10
30,
, -
, -
, -
4 , ,
.
, 1929, Nellys
( -) -
. Nellys (, , 1899 -
1998)
20 1924,
-
It also reflected the political zeitgeist: in particular, the re-conceptualization of

the countrys national, social and cultural identity following the Asia Minor Ca-
tastrophe and the nationalist aspirations of the Metaxas regime.9 Imbued with
history, folk traditions, myths and pastoral ideals, the mythic picture of the country
as a romanticized Arcadia that evidenced continuation with the ancient Greek
foundations and praised the virtues of rural life aimed to reinforce national(ist)
consciousness and pride.10 This was the world picture that was painted, literally
and metaphorically, by the GreekNational Tourism Organization (EOT in Greek)
and Metaxas Sub-ministry for Press and Tourism in the 1930s, circulated in adver-
tising posters, books and periodical publications that were to shape the image of
the 4th August regime nationally and internationally, while stimulating the interest
of local and foreign tourists.
Established in 1929, the GreekNational Tourism Organization commis-
sioned photographer Nellys (Elli Souyioultzoglou-Seraidari) to provide a photo-
graph of the Parthenon for its first poster. Nellys (Aydin, Asia Minor, 1899 Athens
1998) studied art and photography in Dresden in the early 1920s and since 1924
: ,
, 1930.
The Delphi Festival: Suppliants,
Delphi, 1930. 5
,
-
. Nellys 1929,
Illustration
Mona Paeva, , -
. ,
6
, -
, ,
-

, -
( ) 30.11 [. 5, 6]

, Hugo Erfurth Franz Fiedler,
Nellys , -
,
,
, -
.
,
had settled in Athens, where she opened a portrait studio that quickly attracted
a sizeable clientele of Athenian socialites and built a professional reputation, as
the numerous commissions by cultural and state organizations manifest. Nellys
rose to fame internationally when her controversial photograph of Mona Paeva,
the prima ballerina of the Paris Opera Comique, dancing in the nude between the
Parthenon columns, was published in the French Illustration in 1929. This public
stature, together with her eclectic oeuvre from her expressionist photographs of
antiquities, taken on behalf of the Greek Archaeological Service, and her artistic
coverage of the Delphic Festivals, to romantic studies of rural landscapes and
bucolic life made her a prime candidate for the post of official photographer
of the newly-founded sub-ministry for Press and Tourism, headed by Theologos
Nikoloudis (the minister of propaganda) in the mid 1930s.11 [pl. 5, 6]
Adopting and adapting the pictorialist program of her German teachers,
Hugo Erfurth and Franz Fiedler, Nellys tour de force was idealization through a
8
masterly use of chiaroscuro and composition that she uniformly exercised whether
she photographed Hellenistic sculpture and remnants of medieval architecture,
refugees from Asia Minor and Athenian aesthetes, nude athletes and dancers
in statuesque poses or peasant women carrying water jars and shepherds in re-
gional costume. However, her infiltration of a German-bred Modernism into the
photographic interpretation of Greece was not limited to aesthetics.12
6. Nellys,
, . 1930.
Nellys, Harvest scene
in Epirus, circa 1930.
7.

.
Diptych of Minoan Parisienne
and young woman. 7
233 essays
,
.12
Nellys -
,
, , ,
. -
,
30,

. Leni
Riefenstahl, -
Olympia 1937, Nellys

9 , -
8, 9. ( , ,
)

1939. .13 [. 7]
8, 9. The two collages (portraits and -
Aegean) for the Greek Pavilion,
New York International Expo, 1939. 1937 -

Nellys
1939. , -
, :
, , -

10.
Nellys 1939.
Shot of Nellys installation at the
1939 Expo.
11. ,
, 1937-1939.
The temple of Olympian Zeus,
Athens, 1937-1939.
10
Nellys body of work demonstrates a long-standing preoccupation with

evidencing the inseparability of ancient and modern Greece, which reflected,
time and again, the Western gaze and imagination nourishing and being nour-
ished by an idealized vision of Greece. This emphasis on the continuity of Hel-
lenism informed, in the late 1930s, a comparative, quasi-anthropological project
that aimed to visually attest that modern Greeks were the direct descendants of
ancient Greeks. Not unlike Leni Riefenstahls juxtapositions of classic statues and
athletes in her 1937 film Olympia, Nellys diptychs of modern folk and ancient fig-
ures attempted to prove the continuation of the Greek race through undeniable
physiognomic and gestural similarities, between the Minoan Parisienne and a
young dark-haired woman, the Zeus of Artemision and an elderly shepherd, or the
Acropolis blue-beard figures and Cretan farmers.13 [pl. 7]
Unsurprisingly, these photographic studies on Greeces diachronic racial
identity featured in the tourist publication Hellas, published by Metaxas Sub-min-
istry of Press and Tourism in 1937 and Nellys was commissioned to decorate the 11
. [. 8, 9, 10] ,
, ,
,
,

60
. -
,
12 50
(. 1952) , -
, ,
,
.
(Instituto Geographico De
Agostini, 1949) . Nellys, -
13 (18981990) ,
.
12.
, , . 1945. 30,
Women carrying stones, Epirus,
Greece, circa 1945.
, -
13. , .14
Hellas.
Covers of Hellas albums. [. 11] -
UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration),
40
,
,
. [. 12]
, , -

Greek Pavilion at the New York International Expo of 1939. The four, mural-size
collages that she presented there encapsulate her vision of Greece as a picture:
the sun-drenched Aegean landscape, iconic ancient monuments, ecclesiastic life
and comparisons between ancient statues and contemporary peasants. [pl. 8, 9,
10] Whether photographic, painterly or graphic, this picture of a country bathed
in light, ancient history and culture, whose citizens enjoyed a blissful life on its
mountains, islands and plains, constituted the new national mythology that the
GreekNational Tourism Organization would promote at home and abroad up un-
til the 1960s and would become yet another pictorial and cultural commonplace 14
for post-war Greek photography. As the post-war wave of urbanization and emi- ,
gration devastated the provinces, the Greek photographers of the 1950s most of , . 1950.
Fisherman on the Lake of Ioannina,
whom clustered under the roof of the Hellenic Photographic Society (est. 1952) Epirus, Greece, circa 1950.
and collaborated, formally or ad hoc, with the National Tourist Organization
would return, time and again, to the countryside to record folk culture and local
traditions before they became extinct.
Voula Papaioannous albums Hellas (Instituto Geographico De Agostini,
1949) tell such a story. Unlike Nellys, Papaioannou (1898-1990), had briefly stud-
ied painting in Athens, but did not have formal training in photography. Her photo-
graphic career started in the mid 1930s, when she published her photographs of
the exhibits in the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum, in
handmade albums, commercially produced postcards and in the periodic publica-
tion Hellas of the Sub-ministry of Press and Tourism.14 [pl. 11] Being in charge of
235 essays
, , , ,
,
[. 13]
-
-
:
La Grce ciel ouvert (Clairfontaine/Guilde du Livre, 1953) Iles Grecques
(Clairfontaine/Guilde du Livre, 1956).
15 -
,
,
, . 1950. ,
A grandmother with her grandchil-
dren, Peloponnese, Greece, circa

1950. , -
, -

Nellys, -
.
,

UNRRA, -
-
-
.
[. 14]
,
, -
,
, -
the photographic department of the Greek Annex of the United Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), Papaioannou had the opportunity to tour
and photograph the length and breadth of the country, in the 1940s, and cast her
empathetic photographic eye on the Greek countryside and its destitute denizens.
[pl. 12] The albums Hellas feature photographs of those periods, in loose print
format that allowed different sequencing and juxtapositions among the classical,
byzantine and modern periods of Greece, among landscapes, people and monu-
ments, to visually articulate a diachronic essence of Greekness. [pl. 13]
Following the success of this initiative the Greek National Tourist Or-
ganization acquired a significant number of copies for circulation Papaioan-
nou published in Switzerland two photographic books La Grce ciel ouvert
(Clairfontaine/Guilde du Livre, 1953) and Iles Grecques (Clairfontaine/Guilde
du Livre, 1956). In these publications remnants of ancient and medieval civiliza-
tions coalesce with contemporary views of Greece, whereby ancient columns,
mountainous vistas and atmospheric seascapes, traditional regional architecture
and idyllic rustic scenes alternate with images of country life from peasants and
fishermen in situ, to close-ups of local types and arts and crafts and juxtaposed
with ancient verses ranging from Homer to Hesiod.
16
Unlike Nellys, Papaioannou avoided undue dramatization and aesthetic
sensationalism. Although careful lighting and composition, arrangement of sub-
, , . 1935.
jects and props as well as staging were invariably employed to maximize the Children dancing next to a windmill,
pictorial efficacy and clarity of her UNRRA photographs, Papaioannous photo- Mykonos, circa 1935.
: ,

. [. 15, 16]
[. 17], -

.

-
-
17
.15
60 -
,
, 1953.
-
Voula Papaioannou, Poster for the . , ,
Greek National Tourism Organiza-
tion, 1953.
, , -
,
,
, . [. 18]
60 70,
-

.
graphs of the Greek countryside and its people retain a simplicity and natural-
ness even when sitters were obviously aware of the camera that purposefully
enhances their authenticity and truth value. [pl. 14] Driven by a deep humanist
belief in the value of human life, her photographs celebrated the common people,
picturing their everyday life and struggles with respect and compassion, without si-
lencing the historical context of an era of political transition, economic uncertainty
and social hardship: the elderly grandmother welcomes new life while still mourn-
ing her wartime casualties; the children on the isle of Mykonos are dancing bare-
foot. [pl. 15-16] Papaioannou sporadically collaborated with the Greek National
Tourism Organization [pl. 17], but the matter-of-factness and self-understanding of
her picture of Greece did not seem to cater to the joie de vivre, tourist folklore that
the latter fostered. This was serviced more aptly by the apolitical Hellenocentrism 18
and romantic sentimentality of the Hellenic Photographic Society and the cheerful
and simplistic images its members produced to promote Greece and Greek pho- , ,
, 1965.
tography at home and in international salons.15 Ioannis Lambros , Hydra, poster for
The booming of mass tourism in the 1960s irrevocably altered Greeces the Greek National Tourism Organi-
zation, 1965.
economy and countryside, changes which were reflected in its exportable world
picture. Landscape, ancient monuments, traditional architecture, folk, even pov-
erty were commoditized and presented in saturated colors in a new moral and
aesthetic model that combined heritage, sun, sea, and sexual freedom. [pl. 18]
As the posters produced by the Greek National Tourism Organization throughout
the 1960s and 1970s show, the expectations of the western tourists did not simply
inform local iconography and mainstream visual culture; the tourists themselves
literally entered the picture.
237 essays
1. 1. The author would like to thank Aliki Tsirgialou and the team of the
. Photographic Archive of the Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece.
M. Heidegger, The Age of the World Picture (1938), The Question M. Heidegger, The Age of the World Picture (1938), in The Question
Concerning Technology and Other Essays, . William Lovitt ( : Concerning Technology and Other Essays, trans. William Lovitt (New York:
Harper and Row, 1977), 129. Harper and Row, 1977), 129.
2. E. Hight G. D. Sampson, Colonialist Photography: 2. E. Hight and G. D. Sampson, Introduction to Colonialist Photography:
Imagining Race and Place, . E. Hight G. D. Sampson (: Imagining Race and Place, ed. E. Hight and G. D. Sampson (London: Rout-
Routledge, 2004), 7, 10. ledge, 2004), 7, 10.
3. D. MacCannell, The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class (Berke- 3. D. MacCannell, The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class (Berke-
ley: University of California, 1999/1976), 43. ley: University of California, 1999/1976), 43.
4. R. Eisner, Travelers to an Antique Land: The History and Literature of 4. R. Eisner, Travelers to an Antique Land: The History and Literature of
Travel to Greece (Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1991), 13. Travel to Greece (Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1991), 13.
5. . J. Murray, A Handbook for Travellers in the Ioni- 5. See for instance J. Murray, A Handbook for Travellers in the Ionian Is-
an Islands, Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor and Constantinople (: John lands, Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor and Constantinople (London: John Mur-
Murray, 1840) , Handbook for Travellers in Greece (: ray, 1840) and idem, Handbook for Travellers in Greece (London: John
John Murray, 1854) I. L. Hunter, This is Greece (: Evans Brothers Murray, 1854); I. L. Hunter, This is Greece (London: Evans Brothers Ltd,
Ltd, 1947); O. Siegner, This is Greece: A Picture Book (: Ludwig 1947); O. Siegner, This is Greece: A Picture Book (Munich: Ludwig Simon,
Simon, 1955). - 1955). The author is grateful to the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies,
Seeger Princeton Princeton University for supporting this part of her research.
.
6. N. Panayotopoulos, On Greek Photography: Eurocentrism, Cultural
6. . , On Greek Photography: Eurocentrism, Cul- Colonialism and the Construction of Mythic Classical Greece, Third Text
tural Colonialism and the Construction of Mythic Classical Greece, Third 23:2 (2009): 181-94.
Text 23:2 (2009): 181-94.
7. R. Barthes, The Blue Guide,in Mythologies, trans. Annette Lavers
7. R. Barthes, The Blue Guide, Mythologies, . Annette Lavers (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1991), 76.
( : Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1991), 76.
8. For a detailed analysis of this period in the history of Greek photogra-
8. - phy, see A. Tsirgialou, Greek Photography 1847-1909: Uniformity and a
.: . , Greek Photography 1847-1909: Difference of Perspective, in A. Moschovi and A. Tsirgialou (eds), Greece
Uniformity and a Difference of Perspective, A. Moschovi A. Tsirgi- through Photographs: 160 Years of Visual Testimony (Athens: Melissa Pub-
alou (.), Greece through Photographs: 160 Years of Visual Testimony lishing House, 2009/2007), 28-49.
(: , 2009/2007), 28-49.
9. D. Tziovas, i Metamorphoseis tou Ethnismou kai to Ideologima tis
9. . , Hellinikotitas sto Mesopolemo (Athens: Odysseas, 1989).
(: , 1989).
10. For an analysis of the construction of the mythic national landscape
10. of Greece since the 19th century, see J. Stathatos, The Invention of Land-
19 , . J. Stathatos, The Invention of Landscape: scape: Greek Landscape and Greek Photography 1870-1995, exhibition
Greek Landscape and Greek Photography 1870-1995, - catalogue (Thessaloniki: Camera Obscura, 1996).
(: Camera Obscura, 1996).
11. See He Hellada tis Nellys, ed. Marina Sophianou, Fani Constantinou
11. . Nellys, . , - and Irene Boudouri (Nicosia: Benaki Museum/Laiki Bank Cultural Centre,
(: / 1993), unpaginated.
, 1993), ..
12. For a discussion of how Nellys use of antiquity underpinned the fun-
12. - damentals of Metaxas nationalism, see D. Damaskos, Uses of Antiquity in
Nellys - Nellys Photographs: Imported Modernism and Indigenous Ancestral Love
, . D. Damaskos, Uses of Antiquity in Nellys Photographs: in Inter-war Greece, in D. Damaskos and D. Plantzos (eds), A Singular
Imported Modernism and Indigenous Ancestral Love in Inter-war Greece, Antiquity: Archaeology and Hellenic Identity in Twentieth-century Greece,
D. Damaskos D. Plantzos (.), A Singular Antiquity: Archaeolo- Benaki Museum, 3rd Supplement (Athens: Benaki Museum, 2008), 321-
gy and Hellenic Identity in Twentieth-century Greece, , 336.
3rd Supplement (: , 2008), 321-336.
13. See the series of diptychs under the title The photographs speak for
13. . themselves: the Greeks are the same as their ancestors in He Hellada tis
: Nellys, op. cit. and Damaskos, op.cit., 327-333.
Nellys, .. Damaskos, .., 327-333.
14. F. Constantinou, Gyro apo ti Zoi kai to Ergo tis Voulas Papaioannou,
14. . , - in F. Constantinou, J. Weber, S. Petsopoulos (eds), He Fotografos Voula
, . , J. Weber, . (.), - Papaioannou apo to Fotografiko Archeio tou Mouseiou Benaki, Athens:
Agra/ Benaki Museum, 11-38.
, : / , 11-38.
15. A. Moschovi, From the Representation of Politics to the Politics of
15. . , From the Representation of Politics to the Politics of Representation, in Greece through Photographs, op.cit., 63-66.
Representation, Greece through Photographs, .., 63-66.

:

The Archaeological Landscape in
Epidaurus: Bearer of Meaning and
Vehicle of Modernization
- I I
, . , - EMILIA ATHANASSIOU

. - i i
.1
Emilia Athanassiou
is an architect
1950,
-

, -
, .
, -

.
Introduction The ideal archaeological landscape

It is sheer perfection, as in Mozarts music. Indeed, I venture to say that there is
more of Mozart here than anywhere else in the world. The road to Epidaurus is
like the road to creation.1
In the course of the 50s the Greek government put several of Greeces archae-
ological sites under a process of sacrification into the Greek and international
tourist market, by means of restoration interventions, technical modernization pro-
jects, and intensive re-plantings, which would transform them into international
tourist destinations. The archaeological landscapes of ancient Epidaurus and the
broader area surrounding the Acropolis of Athens, in particular, were further en-
hanced as tourist centers of attraction for the hosting of arts festivals. The Epi-
daurus Festival began in 1954 with the staging of ancient Greek drama, while,
beginning in 1955, the Athens Festival aspired to gain recognition as a music
event of international calibre. Both the reconstruction and restoration projects in
Epidaurus, as well as the landscaping surrounding the Acropolis, with the projects
of the Philopappos monument and environs, and of the Ancient Agora, came un-
239 essays
1954 1955
-
. -
, ,
,
, -

.
-
-

-
,
-
. Reigl, -

, 17
,

.2
der the framework of a broader post-war policy of reconstruction, its main thrust
being the reconstruction of archaeological sites and the instauration of tourism as
a dominant pillar of the Greek economy.
On the part of the official state, the attribution of sacredness to histori-
cal monuments and sites in Greece has constituted, through the course of time, an
ideological extension of their value-related identity and a way of dealing with
the historical evidence of the past, as constituent element in constructing modern
Greek statehood and its national idea, within a process of shaping the dominant
national perception, which constantly seeks to recall the provenance of present
day Greece as deriving from a glorious past. According to Reigl, the idealization
of the archaeological landscape and the architectural ruins of classical antiquity,
which had inspired all sorts of representations from the 17th century onwards, con-
stitutes an imaginary construct for the projection of the grandeur of former times
onto a present day of decline or stagnancy, in anticipation of its renaissance.2
. , ,
, 1958.
Ph. Carabott, GNTO Brochure,
Epidaurus Festival, 1958. 1
2.

.3
-. , . ,
1952-1957, 1961.
, Odeon of Herodes Atticus after
. [] the restoration of the Koilon by
A. Orlandos, 1952-1957, 1961.
, .4 , 5
, - 3. . ,
,
, , ,
24 1961, ,
. .
. . - Scenography by K. Klonis, National
Theater, Euripides Iphigeneia in
Aulis, Epidaurus Festival, 24 June
1961, K. Michailidis, director.
,
.6 . , -

, ,
, ,

.7 -
-
.
Under Ottoman rule local communities in Greece regarded the forgot-

ten marbles in fear and awe.3 This view is reinforced also by A-I. Metaxas, who
maintains that the elliptical form of the ruins generated in the public a duty of
protection afforded to something valuable, which seems to be weakened only in
material terms. [] As a rule, ruins are more human, dialogical, rather than mono-
logical. 4 However, the materiality5 of the ruins accrued maximum significance as
interest upon the national narrative, providing it with tangible proof of the link of
modern Hellenism to ancient Greece, contributing to a fixed orientation of the na-
tional conscience to its ancient Greek past. According to S. Pesmazoglou the rhet-
oric of the antiquities contributed to the narrative process of constituting the nation
by means of a mechanism producing persuasive arguments through an emotive
play of remembrance and oblivion, which steadily aims at flattering the collective
unconscious.6 According to P. Tournikiotis, the national value of the monuments of
antiquity and of their natural surroundings was the one that, over time, determined
241 essays

: 1. -
, 2. ,
, , 3. -
4.
.
1948

8 1950.

-

.
, 12.000 ,
1881
. (1850-1928).9 1952,
,
. (1887-1979),10 -
,
(), . -
, ,
,
.11 -
, 1952-1957
.

their political management, which subsequently formulated their economic value,

within the post-war society of modernism, i.e. the criterion by which the manage-
ment of antiquity participated in the development and propagation of the phe-
nomenon of tourism.7 Consequently, the archaeological landscape found itself at
the heart of governmental reconstruction policies, playing a substantial part in the
development of tourism and economic recovery.
The Marshall Plan and archaeological sites as constructs

The archaeological site of Epidaurus constituted a cohesive example of the con-
struction of a tourist destination, that was designed and implemented along four
main axes: 1. Archaeological project with extensive anastylosis of the ancient
theater, 2. Modernization of the archaeological site, accessways to it, and design
of new, modern installations, 3. Plan to redesign and replant the landscape, and
4. Organizing and promoting an ancient Greek drama festival. The entire under-
taking was implemented in successive phases starting in 1948, when the program
was implemented to upgrade and sacrify the tourist sites with funding from the
Marshall Plan8 and continued through the 50s. With the inclusion of Epidaurus
in the Marshall plans program for a tourist infrastructure upgrade, the restoration
program of the ancient theater was put on track with the objective of its post-war
institutional re-commissioning with ancient Greek drama performances.
The theater, with a capacity of 12,000, had remained non-functional
since its unearthing in 1881, by archaeologist P. Kavadias (1850-1928).9 In
1952, the Department for the Restoration of Ancient and Historical Monuments of
Greece, in the Ministry of Education, headed by A. Orlandos (1887-1979),10 re-
, ,
, -
.12
,
,
. , -
. -Tufano
-
4 , -
. , , ,
, , ,
, 9
1961, , . . .13
Scenography by G. Vakalo, 1957 . -
National Theater, Aristophanes
The Acharnians, Epidaurus Festival, -
9 July 1961, A. Solomos, director. .14
,
-
, ,
. , ,
-
. -
,
, ,
.
,
solved upon its general restoration, after sustained pressure exerted by the Greek
National Tourism Organization (GNTO), at the instigation of the American Mis-
sion in Greece. Orlandos executed a huge restoration project in Epidaurus, as
much in the Asclepeion, the Stadium, and the Tholos, as in the ancient Theater
also, where a faster rate of work had been imposed, impelled by the requirement
that it become usable again, and that a festival be held there.11 Also in the 1952-
1957 period he proceeded with restoration work on the Acropolis monuments.
With the prospect of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus becoming functional once
more for the hosting of concerts and theater performances in the context of the
Athens Festival, he restored the entire dilapidated hollow, the front seats, benches
and tiers, plus the walls and arches of the facade.12
Nonetheless, despite their huge contribution in spreading the word about
and gaining acceptance for the ancient monuments, the restoration works of the
day were greeted with skepticism by later generations of archaeologists. Ar-
chaeologist F. Mallouchou-Tufano typically points out that the interventions in the
monuments were dictated by the developmental and ideological objectives of the
post-war governments so as to meet the urgent need of their utilization for tourist
purposes, which led Orlandos to formalized, undocumented approaches, deeply
anchored in the past, and to errors of restoration.13
The restorations continued in 1957, under the K. Karamanlis government,
with the aim of reinforcing tourism and promoting the antiquities.14 Even though in
the GNTOs BoD the American view had prevailed, whereby the key criterion for
planning new technical works in archaeological sites was their prospect of tourist
exploitation, rather than their historical significance, there were voices, like that of
archaeologist I. Papadimitriou, which opposed this rationale and, as a national
priority, promoted the diffusion of archaeological interest throughout the land and
243 essays
, , ,
, promenade touristique,
-
, ,
.
-

, -
,
. (couleur
locale),
.

11 1954, -
, (1899-
1981),15 1955
(1898-1990).16 -

. ,
,
, 1960-1962,
, 1971.
A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Guest Quar-
ters, Epidaurus Archaeological Site,
1960-1962, exterior view, 1971.
the assurance of support for new excavations. Actually, the American approach
did not oppose that of the archaeologists: it merely sought to achieve the best
possible outcome for every facet of the tourist phenomenon, given the general
paucity of funds. In this context, the GNTOs activities were of service, consistently,
to the concept of an organized, stage-managed, guided and enjoyble tourist ex-
perience, a promenade touristique so to speak, in which foreign, and in fact
rich, American visitors were looking not only for archaeological sites and ancient
drama festivals, but also for local festivals and customs, such as the Hellenic Tour-
ing Clubs Wine Festival. The revival of local festivals was a sort of representa-
tion of old communal functions, of an anthropological interest, which lent their
weight to the preservation of communal cohesion and, through a stage-managed
authenticity, aspired to revive certain customs and traditions that had fallen into
disuse on account of the wars and the pervasive poverty. Thus the concept of the
picturesque - couleur locale - was formulated, which in just a short time was trans-
formed into a value per se for any tourist area.

. , ,

1960 1961, Bellini (1801-1835)
Cherubini (1760-1842) . -
-

6

- .17 . ,
,
, , 1960-1962,
, , 1971.
A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Guest Quar-
18 , ters, Epidaurus Archaeological Site,
, - 1960-1962, interior view, 1971.
- -
.

,
-

,
,
.
,19
-
.

And facta est festival

With the recommissioning of the ancient theater, the Epidaurus festival first opened
its gates with a test event on 11 July 1954: the National Theaters staging of Eu-
ripides Hippolytus, directed by Dimitris Rondiris (1899-1981),15 while the official
opening was in 1955 with Euripides Hecuba directed by Alexis Minotis (1898-
1990).16 The first productions had to contend with many a technical difficulty
such as power having to be supplied by a generator loaned by the Greek Army
and many an organizational worry fears that the sounds might intrude of don-
keys braying, there being plenty around. Since then, and for about twenty years,
the stage at Epidaurus belonged exclusively to the National Theater, the only
exceptions being Maria Callas performances as Bellinis (1801-1835) Norma
and Cherubinis (1760-1842) Medea in 1960 and 1961 respectively. The huge
success and mass turnout of the public led to the planning of a series of technical
works aimed, on the one hand, at supporting and enhancing the festivals unhin-
dered operation and the modernization of its services, and, on the other hand,
at the stage-managed guidance of the entire experience gained by visitors-spec-
tators arriving at the ancient theater.17 Those works included supplying the entire
vicinity with running water, the archaeological site with electricity, creating and
illuminating parking lots18 as well as access roads and pathways, the construction
of the public roads of Nafplion-Epidaurus and Lygourio-Palaia Evidavros, and the
reconstruction of the port of Palaia Epidavros.
To realize those projects, farming land neighboring the archaeological
site had to be expropriated under express proceedings, which led to a precipi-
245 essays
.
,
-
, -
. 1956,
, -
-
.20 4.700 , , -
, , , , .

,

.
. ,
,
, 1949-1955,
, 1971.
Laskaris, GNTO Tourist Pavilion,
Epidaurus Archaeological Site,
1949-1955, exterior view, 1971.
tous increase of property value in the region, and to a rush of demand for plots
around the archaeological site, to be leased by entrepreneurs for the setting up
of makeshift tavernas or other amenities, with an eye to future tourist development
on account of the festival. Repeatedly the GNTO had to pay dearly for its lack of
foresight regarding the purchase of land around its facilities,19 in order to ensure
the necessary visual and aural isolation from local besiegement, and to maintain
the authenticity of the tourist landscapes. The upgrading and modernization of
areas resulting from the GNTOs tourist investments inescapably led to a spate
of uncontrollable and undesirable private construction. Following the same ra-
tionale, with the assurance of adequate surrounding space, the GNTO also saw
to the removal of makeshift business premises from the visitors field of vision, to
an intensive program of plantings, and to the blockage of large scale building
interventions. Thus it was resolved in 1956 to plant the slopes intensively and to re-
afforest the vicinity of the theater, so that the place would approach the imagined
vision of an ideal archaeological site.20 This involved the planting of 4,700 trees,
pines, and oleanders, two species of cypresses, acacias, casuarinas, poplars and
planes. The plantings continued in an organized manner and with unflagging in-
tensity over the ensuing years, in archaeological sites and tourist facilities through-
, 1950, -

-
.21

, -
,
(landscaping)
1953 Ralph E. Griswold, Pittsburg.22
-
Rockefeller 1955.
,

(1887-1968) 1951-1957,
.

(1913-1993) 1957,
8
-
.23
. , ,
, 1966.
,
M. Kantzourakis, GNTO Brochure, . -
Epidaurus festival, 1966.
(1960 1962)
. ,
, -

.

out the country, with the aim of either beautifying the sites, or isolating the GNTOs
new facilities from uncontrollable and irksome surrounding circumstances.
However, in the 50s, the most extensive example of reproducing nature
through organized replantings aiming at constructing the ideal archaeological
landscape was the landscaping of the excavation of the Ancient Agora by the
American School of Classical Studies in Athens and its transformation into an ar-
chaeological park.21 The replanting was part of a broader and ambitious plan
that included the conservation of the excavation findings, the reconstruction of the
Attalos Stoa, the restoration of the Church of the Holy Apostles and the landscap-
ing design of the archaeological site, which was undertaken in August of 1953
by Ralph E. Griswold a landscape architect from Pittsburg.22 The project was
financed partly by the Marshall Plan and, substantially, by private funding from
the Rockefeller Foundation, and inaugurated in 1955. In the period from 1951
to 1957, the work of the American School in combination with the Philopappos
monument and the landscaping of the Philopappos hill by Dimitris Pikionis (1887-
1968) contributed positively to the international sacrification of the Acropolis
landscape.
The issue of harmoniously incorporating new buildings into archaeologi-
cal sites was addressed by Aris Konstantinidis (1913-1993) in 1957, when he was
appointed to the GNTO as head of the Architecural Design Section.23 His first
project in his new post was designing the dressing rooms for the casts of the per-
fomances in the ancient theater of Epidaurus, where he gave a foretaste of his
future work. Subsequently, in two phases (1960 and 1962, belonging properly to
247 essays
[]
.24
(1914-2004) 1955 25 -
-
.
,
[]
.
-

, -
.
-
, -
(1956-1963),
,
. 1958,
. ,
, , ,
. -

, ,
[] .
,
, -
[]

, .26
the Xenia program), he designed a group of seven guest-houses for the festivals
needs. He mentioned himself that the form of the buildings he designed for Epi-
daurus was characterised by the coexistence of exposed, unplastered masonry
as if Id built a dry stone wall with the also exposed concrete in its natural
hue and just as it came out of the timber form blocks. Konstantinidis was aiming,
as he said, to achieve a composition that would seem as if it had sprouted from
the soil [] and in a manner that the modern building stood naturally within the
ancient site.24 On the same theme, Charalambos Sfaellos (1914-2004) argued in
195525 in favor of contemporary constructions close to or within archaeological
sites as the necessary condition of the tourist phenomenon. He maintained that the
9
new buildings ought not to be self-effacing or stunted, side by side with the ancient
monuments, but functional constructions that would harmonize in the surroundings
. , , without any absurd [formal] efforts to revive the past. He ruled out the copying
, 1960.
A. Tassos, GNTO Brochure, of older forms on the sole basis of preserving an imaginary unity in the overall
Epidaurus Festival, 1960. set and advocated that the newer works within the historical frame should be in-
spired by what is preserved of the past, in an effort, by means of the contemporary
manner, to express not the dead form, but the spirit.
The views of Sfaellos did not coincide with those of the architectural and
archaeological community at large, especially when, during the eight years of the
Karamanlis government (1956-1963), the interventions for restoring and modern-
izing archaeological sites had a mass and urgent character, under the pressure
of the prospect of immediate tourist exploitation. In 1958, Kostas I. Biris, apropos
of the works to modernize the archaeological site of Delphi, objected over what
;
, -
, -
.

, -
,
,
, -
,
. , , -
10
-
. , ,
, 1961.
, , M. Katzourakis, GNTO Poster,
Epidaurus Festival, 1961.
.
, -
(performative act).
Times 195827

, -
, , .
J. Lacarrire (1925-2005),
Groupe de Thtre Antique de la Sorbonne

he felt was the barbarous treatment of archaeological sites by the people working
in Tourism. He felt that the exuberance of public works led to the distortion of
the Delphic landscape and said of the GNTO that it was a business department
of the government, purely commercial, [which] insists on imposing itself on our
conscience as if theirs were a sacred vocation. At the same time he apportioned
blame on the GNTOs architects since they themselves are engaged in the de-
basement of the archaeological sites, with modern works [whereas] the architects
and engineers mission in protecting and enhancing archaeological landscapes
and their monuments, ought to be conservative, rather than creative, and in any
event, modest and inconspicuous.26
A place of festival or a place for tourism?

The procedure of manufacturing archaeological tourist sights, especially those
in the countryside, unavoidably led to a transformation of archaeological sites
and of the inhabitants in their environs. Central authority gradually imposed clear
restrictions with a view to sequestering those places from any other activity of the
local community, such as grazing sheep or cultivating the soil, while, quite quickly,
the character of the festival changed from being a feast of the local inhabitants
within nature, into a properly planned arts-event that sought, among other things,
to promote the country internationally and to draw in foreign tourists and foreign
currency. The rhetoric of the new, idealized, organized archaeological site of Epi-
daurus put forth persuasive arguments to foreign visitors on the modern path fol-
lowed by a post-war Greece that maintained authentic material and spiritual ties
with antiquity within an idyllic, natural environment, ostensibly unaltered through
the course of time. The re-commissioning of the ancient theater with stagings of
ancient drama lent its weight to the landscape in an experiential, almost meta-
physical sense that converted it to the setting of a performative act. The testimonial
249 essays
1947 1955,
. 1947 -
,
, , -

. ,

.28 ,
-
, -
, , -
.29
,
1955,
[] []
of the correspondent of the Times in September 195827 describes his experience

of the ancient drama performances as a memorable interaction between present
and past, modern and rural Greece, nature and art, knowledge and experience.
Author J. Lacarrire (1925-2005), who, as a member of the Groupe de
Thtre Antique de la Sorbonne, participated in the performance of Aeschylus
Persians, which was staged in Epidaurus both in 1947 and in 1955, has put on re-
cord the change suffered by the Epidaurus landscape within a span of eight years.
The performance in 1947 had taken place in daytime, due to the lack of electric-
ity, in a Dionysian atmosphere, where all the regions population came to attend
with shouts, cries, songs mixed with the braying of donkeys and the neighing of
mules to watch the Persians in French. Typically, the people were eating on ker-
chiefs spread amid the marble of the temple of Asclepios, and savoring the music
of itinerant musicians.28 Eight years later he described wistfully the transformation
of the landscape and especially the difference in the public attending the per-
formance since the villagers, their lined faces, the feasting amidst the pines, the
donkeys and the mules had yielded their place to the foreign tourists who turned
up in droves in their Pullman coaches.29 In just the same spirit, Alexis Minotis,
describing the ambience of the performances in 1955, spoke of the thousands of
, ,
,
, 23 1963,
, . ,
,
. .
Still, National Theater, Aristophanes
The Wasps, Epidaurus Festival,
23 June 1963, A. Solomos, director,
G. Vakalo, scenography and
costume design. 11
[ ]
! 30

1955 . (1918-
2006),
.
,
Metropolitan Opera
, (1919-2003).31
, ,
, 1955
, -
(1896-1960).32
. ,
, ,
,
29 1963, ,
. .
Scenography by K. Klonis, National
Theater, Euripides Alcestis,
Epidaurus Festival, 29 June 1963,
T. Mouzenidis, director.
12
people who were eating their meatballs under the trees [and] also brought their
transistor radios into the theater [] if it fell on a Sunday, which meant a football
match, [and while] we were being Hecuba and Oedipus, they were following the
goals as they were scored!30
In 1955 the success that crowned the re-commissioning of the Epidaurus
theater inevitably sparked-off the institution, by G. Rallis (1918-2006), then minis-
ter to the Prime Minister in the Papagos government, of the Athens Festival, which
was to be hosted in the restored Herodeion. The organization of the new institution
was once again assigned to the GNTO, while the artistic programming was en-
trusted to the Greek-American Dino Yannopoulos (1919-2003), a stage director
with New Yorks Metropolitan Opera.31 In the first year, participants included the
National Theater, the Athens State Orchestra, and the National Opera of Greece,
with the program finale of three concerts of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960) given in October 1955.32
Epilog
It is clear that in the 50s Greece was on the receiving end of the phenomenon of
tourism while it was bidding farewell to any pontentially unmediated relationship
between modern Greeks and the archaeological sites or monuments. At the time,
the management of the archaeological sites of Greece was not planned along the
axis of broadening the public sphere of local communities; rather it was dictated
by a supra-local interest of an international public of visitors and by intensive tour-
ist development. That was when the foundations were laid for the management of
archaeological sites by the state in perpetuity almost exclusively as tourist sights,
251 essays

1950

. ,

, -

.

,
,33 -
,
. -

, -

, , . -
,
,
,

, , , ,
.
gradually transforming the ruins from emotional voids to sterilized and pure
solids,33 cut-off from the everyday, real life of town or countryside, and dissociated
from any symbolic meaning. The development that was founded exclusively on
tourist criteria led to the removal of the century-old bonds of the inhabitants with
the ancient architecture, the identity of which was transformed, in order to meet
the nations needs, from an ancient ruin, to a restored or reconstructed ancient
monument and, ultimately, a tourist sight. A renewed, contemporary approach to
the management of archeological sights should include, apart from any national
and economic objectives, a care for a natural and unpretentious continuity of in-
habiting, by Greeks together with the antiquities, in ways that shall dialectically
enhance their potent, symbolic import, and that, out of a past filled to the brim with
national and imported stereotypes, shall set free notions of momentous signifi-
cance, such as those pertaining to identity, history, and antiquity.
13
1. . (1970) [1941]. , : - 1. H. Miller [1941]. The Colossus of Marousi. San Fransisco: Colt Press,
, . 74. p. 67.
2. A. Reigl [1903] (1998) The Modern Cult of Monuments: its character 2. A. Reigl [1903] (1998) The Modern Cult of Monuments: its character
and its origin, K. M. Hays (.) (1998) Oppositions Reader, and its origin, in K. M. Hays (ed.) (1998) Oppositions Reader. New York:
: Princeton Architectural Press, . 631. Princeton Architectural Press, p. 631.
3. Y. Hamilakis (2007), The Nation and its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeolo- 3. Y. Hamilakis (2007) The Nation and its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeology,
gy, and National Imagination in Greece, Oxford: Oxford University Press, and National Imagination in Greece. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.
. 84. 84.
4. -. . (2003), 4. -. D. Metaxas (2003) Usurpation of forms From the political

, : , . 61, speech of classicism. Athens: Kastaniotis, p.61, reprinted in The Rhetoric of
, : , . 13. Ruins. Athens: Kastaniotis, p.13.
5. . (1999), - 5. L. Althusser (1999) Premises - Ideology and ideological state appara-

, : . 99-102. : - tuses. Athens: Themelio pp. 99-102. Premise One: Ideology represents the
imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence.
. : . Premise Two: Ideology has a material existence.
6. . , - 6. S. Pesmazoglou The mythological founding of the modern Greek

, , State, in Myths and Ideological Constructs in Contemporary Greece, sym-
23-24 , 2005, : - posium proceedings 23-24 November 2005. Athens: Society for the Study
& , . 35. of Modern Greek Culture and General Education, p. 35.
7. . (2010), 7. P. Tournikiotis (2010) Ideological and theoretical problems pertain-

ing to the restoration of architectural monuments in Greece during the
, . , . (.) (2010), - second half of the twentieth century, in Ch. Bouras, P. Tournikiotis (ed.)
, 1950- (2010) Conservation, anastylosis and restoration of monuments in Greece
2000, : , . 13-28. 1950-2000. Athens: Piraeus Group Cultural Foundation, pp. 13-28.
8. /1946, 147 / 7-5-1946, , - 8. Legislative Decree/1946, Government Gazette Issue 147 / 7-5-
. 1946, Regarding Tourist Sites, their organization and administration.
9. .. (1957) , 9. E.G. Stikas (1957) The Anastylosis of the Theater in Epidaurus, in

, , . 2, - 1957, Architektoniki, year I, issue 2, March-April 1957, p.37.
. 37.
10. A. G. Kalogeropoulos (ed.) (1978) Anastasios Orlandos. The man
10. . . (.), (1978) . and his work. Athens: Bureau of Publications of the Academy of Athens,
. : - p. 37. Among other things, Anastasios Orlandos was: Architect Engineer
, . 37. : NTUA (1908); PhD Hon. in Literature, National Capodistrian University of
... (1908), - Athens (1915); auditor for 4 years of courses on ancient Greek architec-
/ (1915), 4 ture delivered in Athens by Wilhelm Drpfeld, director of the German Ar-
chaeological Institute of Athens; Director of the Anastylosis of the ancient
Wilhelm Drpfeld, - monuments of Greece (except for the Acropolis, due to his differences with
, N. Balanos on the manner of anastylosis of the north colonnade of the
( Parthenon) (1920-1942); Director of Anastylosis of Greeces ancient and
. historical monuments (including also the Acropolis) (1942-1958); Profes-
) (1920-1942), sor of Byzantine Archaelogy at the National Capodistrian University of
( Athens (1939-1958); Professor of the History of Architecture at the NTUA
) (1942-1958), (1943-1958); member of the Academy of Athens as of 1926; and Sec.
/ (1939-1958), - Gen. of the Archaeological Society as of 1951.
... (1943-1958), -
1926 .. 11. E. Stikas (1978) Orlandos the restorer, in A. G. Kalogeropoulos
1951. (Ed.) Anastasios Orlandos. The man and his work. Athens: Bureau of Publi-
cations of the Academy of Athens, p. 443.
11. . (1978), ,
.. (.) . 12. E. Stikas (1978), op. cit., p. 418.
. : , .
443. 13. F. Malouchou-Tufano, The restoration of monuments in Greece:
1834-2000, in Anastyloses of Monuments, Kathimerini-Hepta Hemeres,
12. . (1978), . ., . 418. Sun. 20 February 2000, pp. 2-5.
13. . - Tufano, - 14. Meeting 18/15-4-1957 Proceedings of the GNTOs Board of Direc-
: 1834-2000, , - tors Meetings, vol. 1957, p. 192.
, . 20 2000, . 2-5.
15. Euripides Hippolytos (1954), director D. Rondiris, set design Kl.
14. 18/15-4-1957 Klonis, costumes Ant. Fokas, music D. Mitropoulos, choreography Loukia.
, . 1957, . 192. Hippolytos, Alekos Alexandrakis. First performed in Epidaurus on 11-7-
1954.
15. (1954), . ,
. , . , . , - 16. Euripides Hecuba (1955), director Alexis Minotis (1898-1990), set
. . - design Kl. Klonis, costumes Ant. Fokas, music Menelaos Pallandios, cho-
11-7-1954. reography Maria Kazazi. Hecuba, Katina Paxinou (1900-1973). First per-
formed in Epidaurus on 19-6-1955.
16. (1955), (1898-
253 essays
1990), . , . , - 17. Op. cit., Meeting 13/15-3-1955. Item: Announcements regarding the
, . , Epidaurus Festival, vol. 1955, p. 76.
(1900-1973). 19-6-1955.
18. Meeting 9/1-3-1955. Item: Expropriation of fields in the vicinity of
17. .., 13/15-3-1955. : the Asclepion in Ancient Epidaurus, Proceedings of the GNTOs Board of
, . 1955, . 76. Directors Meetings, vol. 1955, p. 57.
18. 9/1-3-1955. : 19. Op. cit., Meeting 12/20-3-1957, vol. 1957, pp. 128-131.
,
.., 1955, . 57 20. Applications for seedlings to the Forest Service of Argos, no. 9408/4-
4-1956 and no. 34650/6-12-1956, GNTO records.
19. .., 12/20-3-1957, . 1957, . 128-131.
21. The project was realized in collaboration between American and
20. , Greek archaeologists, under the supervision of the Minsitry of Education,
. . 9408/4-4-1956 . . 34650/6-12-1956, Directorate of Anastylosis, and professor Anastassios Orlandos. Heading
. the excavation was Homer A. Thompson, professor at Princeton Univer-
sitys Institute for Advanced Studies, while the excavation architect was
21. - Ioannis Travlos (1908-1985).
,
. . . 22. A. Konstantinidis (1992) op. cit., pp. 266-7.
Homer A. Thompson, Institute for Ad-
vanced Studies Princeton University , 23. Ch. A. Sfaellos, Contemporary construction projects in archaeologi-
(1908-1985). cal sites, Zygos, vol. A (Nov.1955-Oct.1956), issue 8, June 1956 p. 11.
22. H. A.Thompson (1956) 24. K. I. Biris, Phoebus no longer has his house Zygos, vol. 1957-58,
, , . (.1955-.1956), . 16, 17, 20. issue 18, p. 14.
23. . (1992) - - 25. Unknown correspondent, Iphigenia at Epidaurus: When Greek Acts
. : , . 139. - Greek, in The Times, issue of 10 September 1958.
...
. , 25 1957. 26. J. Lacarrire (2005), The Greek Summer, Athens: Editions I.
Hadzinikoli, pp. 127-129.
24. . (1992), . ., . 266-7.
27. J. Lacarrire (2005), op.cit., p. 135.
25. . . , , -
, . (.1955-.1956), . 8, 1956, . 11. 28. Reprint of an interview given by Alexis Minotis to Spyros Payatakis in
1979, Kathimerini 24 July 2005. Reprint of excerpt in question in Cogito,
26. . . , , , . 1957- Meatballs and goals scored in Epidaurus, issue 04, February 2006, p.
58, . 18 . 14. 124.
27. , Iphigenia at Epidaurus: When Greek Acts 29. Konstantinos Yannopoulos was born in Athens in 1919. He pursued
Greek, The Times, 10 September 1958. his musical studies in Vienna, Leipzig and Salzburg. He was principal stage
director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1945 to 1977.
28. J. Lacarrire (2005), , : . . -
, . 127-129. 30. I. Svolos (2005) Opening with the greatest, in 50 years of Athens
Festival Best moments, Kathimerini-Hepta Hemeres, Sun. 5 June 2005, p. 3.
29. J. Lacarrire (2005), .., . 135.
31. A-I. D. Metaxas (2003), op. cit.
30. -
1979, 24 2005. - 32. I. Svolos (2005) Opening with the greatest, in 50 years of Athens
Cogito, , Festival Best moments, Kathimerini-Hepta Hemeres, Sun. 5 June 2005, p. 3
04, 2006, . 124.
33. A-I. D. Metaxas (2003), op. cit.
31. 1919.
, -
. Metropolitan Opera
1945-1977.
32. . (2005) , 50 -
- , - -
, . 5 2005, . 3.
33. -. . (2003), . ..

Cinematic Gazes
into Greek Tourism
1.
, - STAVROS ALIFRAGKIS
,
, -
, , - . ,
University of Cambridge

Stavros Alifragkis holds
1950 1960. a PhD in rchitecture,
. University of Cambridge
, -

.
, -
,

() -
.

. ,
1. Introduction
This paper maps out some of the multiple, parallel, mutually complementary and
occasionally contradictory viewpoints on Greek tourism in its representations in
motion pictures, which, to varying degrees, were instrumental in creating aspects
of a more or less cohesive image regarding Greece and the Greeks during the
prolific 50s and 60s. There are two key reasons that justify the strict and narrow
delimitation of the reference period. One is that the emergence of a genuinely
local vernacular in a post-war Europe of emerging and competing tourist markets
was regarded as the most suitable means for attracting the average American
tourist. In Greece, this trend quickly assumed the form of a renewed bid to gain
ideological emancipation from the advanced West, manifested spatially through
the modern tourist facilities of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO)
and captured on film in various representations on screen of the Greek summer
experience. This was a conscious attempt to highlight a new national identity
addressed to both potential visitors and the people of Greece. The other is that
the first two post-war decades present a characteristic density, because of the
special dynamic that began to be recorded after the end of the civil war, along
257 essays
,
,
-
.
,
, , ,
-
.

, , , , -
.
,
-
.1
2.

Basil Wright
(1907-1987) Greece: The Immortal Land (, 1958). ,
-

18 . Wright
-
-
.2 -
Empire
Marketing Board,3 Wright Greece: The Immortal
with the key impetus toward reconstruction and development through rebuilding
and modernization. This density lends certain attributes of both ending and be-
ginning to the era; a temporal threshold where, on the one hand, are summarized
the viewpoints of the past and, on the other, new ones are fashioned, which, to a
major degree, prefigure future transcriptions of the image of Greek tourism. In this
paper, the views of Greek tourism, seen through its motion picture representations
are analyzed and put forth as a succession of gazes, in other words simultaneous,
parallel, partial and fragmentary motion picture reconstructions of the national
narrative. For a future historian those multiple and diverse narratives form an al-
ternative framework for rethinking the mechanisms of construction of a modern
identity for Greece.1
2. The Gaze of the British Touring Tradition

As an indicative starting point for our eclectic peregrination through the corpus
of Greek and international cinematography, with certain selected stops along the
way, we shall use a documentary by British director Basil Wright (1907-1987):
Greece: The Immortal Land (UK, 1958). It is a poetic, cinematic reconstitution of
the Greek space of town and country, which refers indirectly to the Grand Tour
of the 18th century. Through motion picture and narrative Wright describes the
experience of the visitor-traveler responding with respect and awe to the ancient
civilization of Greece, and moved by the recognition of its traces in the Greek peo-
ple of the time.2 Following the interwar tradition of the Empire Marketing Boards
Film Unit,3 in producing Greece: The Immortal Land, Wright involved a host of
Land , -

.
1950
. Wright
, -

Michael Ayrton (1921-1975), 4 ,

(, -, , , ).
Wright -

.
-
,

. 5
able and valuable contributors, most of whom had become familiar with the idea
of classical Greece during their privileged Oxbridge education. Their contact with
a sorely beleaguered Greece in the 50s doesnt appear to alter their idealizing
and romanticizing approach. The countrys past chiefly through the filming of the
sculptures in the National Archaeological Museum and the Archaeological Mu-
seum in Delphi, under the exemplary guidance of British sculptor Michael Ayrton
(1921-1975)4 and present through portraits of anonymous people of toil, as well
as exponents from amongst Greek artists and intellectuals (Seferis, Ghika, Cacoy-
annis, Lambeti, Horn) are creatively intertwined in Wrights narrative. Wright cre-
ates an idyllic picture on film of a proto-industrial Greek society engaged in chief-
ly farming-related handicraft and cottage industry occupations. Modern Greeks
are striving to tame the unruliness of a landscape interspersed with the fragments
of architectural members hailing from a distant and glorious past, which remains
inert, both as a constituent element of the post-war Greek identity in the imagina-
tion of the countrys inhabitants, and as tradable commodity. 5
3. The Gaze of French Social Sciences Exploration

With the advent of director Roussos Koundouros (1923-1990) and documentaries,
such as Argolis (Greece, 1964), of the Institute for Educational and Sociological
Film6 [pl. 1] an epistemological paradigm shift is in evidence. Koundouros refers
to the grand tradition of anthropological and ethnographical cinematography of
careful scientific observation and recording of the French cinematographer Jean
Rouch (1917-2004).7 In Koundouros work the cinematographic gaze becomes
more objective, distanced and penetrating, as it recedes from the emotional
charge of the visitor-travelers peculiarly religious-like experience. Koundouros ad-
dresses the modern and sophisticated visitor to Greece, who is looking for socio-
logical and ethnological knowledge in situ. The documentary Argolis is illustrative
of such new intentions. In their cinematic reconstruction the archaeological sites
of Mycenae and Epidaurus appear relieved of any human presence, cut-off both
from the modern Greeks quotidian reality and from a visitors routine. The sole
exception is posed by the ancient drama performances in the Epidaurus Festival,
where the camera lens observes the throngs of people pouring into the ancient
theater.8 The shots of the Festival complete the import of the first part of Argolis,
259 essays
3.
(1923-1990)
,6
(, 1964), -
[. 1].
-
Jean
Rouch (1917-2004).7
, , -
-
-.
in
situ. .
, -
, -
,
.
,
.8 -
, -
,
.
, ,

which is devoted to culture, and commence the narrative section on recreation. -

(1959)
This is focused on showcasing the modern tourist infrastructure of Argolis, which, .
at the time, is at the nexus of the GNTOs tourist development strategy. The viewer (1923-
1990), (, 1964).
is led to the gradual discovery of the Xenia in Akronafplia (1959), by architect Views of the Xenia in Akronafplia
Ioannis Triantafillidis, the Amfitryon hotel (1951-1956), by architect Kleon Kran- (1959) by architect Ioannis Triantafil-
lidis. Roussos Koundouros, (1923-
tonellis (1912-1978) (Kardamitsi-Adami 2009: 74-80), and the much smaller hotel 1990), Argolis (Greece, 1964).
that operated for a short time on the Venetian Castle of Bourdzi.9 The even-handed
inclusion, within the narrative frame of Koundouros documentary, of shots of the
GNTOs modern architecture - the result of local production that appears in synch
with developments in the West side by side with the ruins of the past constitutes
a significant differentiation of the travelers gaze.
4. Democratizing the Gaze: The American Marshall Plan

The democratization of the tourist gaze is accomplished with Greeces gradual
entry into the American political and cultural sphere of influence, and particularly
with the onset of Marshall Plan aid. As far as the cinema is concerned, this democ-
ratization is effected in at least two ways. First, the expanded objective of observ-
ing monuments of the past and modern Greeks is filtered through the concepts
of modernism and tradition, which, for the time being, are posited in Greek society
as contrasting and mutually exclusive phenomena. Second, observers themselves
are transmuted, as they stop being travelers or sophisticated visitors to the diptych
(1959) -
, (1951-1956) -
(1912-1978) (- 2009: 74-80)

.9 ,
,
,
, ,
.
4. : 2
- Sophia Loren (. 1934)

, Negulesco, Jean
(1900-1993), Boy on a Dolphin
. , - [ ]
(, , 1957).
. , Sophia Loren (b. 1934) during
filming on Hydra, Negulesco,
Jean (1900-1993), Boy on a Dolphin
, , , (USA, Italy, 1957).
-
. , ,
--
,
. -
civilization-recreation, having become middle-class vacationers in an era of mass

tourism and commercialization. Typical examples of the current for renewal that
came from the opposite shore of the Atlantic are the films Wide, Wide World:
Blue Holiday (USA, 1965)10 of Carl Dudley (1910-1973) an American producer
of tourist documentaries and White City (1968) of John Christian (Yannis Chris-
todoulou) a director of Greek originboth of which were made on behalf of
the GNTO. Those are films that stylistically adopt features of Hollywoods motion
picture narrative idiom11 and, with regard to their subject matter, focus on show-
casing the modern Athens of progress and modernization as the dialectical coun-
terpart of a traditional, slightly backward, yet also unspoiled hinterland, and
of the Greek archipelago. The central thrust of the narrative frequently consists
3
in the juxtaposition of paradoxical encounters between tradition and modernity,
occasionally within the immediate environment of state-run or private sector tour-

(1915-2001) ist and recreation facilities, the modern architecture of which constituted the most
advanced enclave within the conservatism of the Greek countryside propagan-

. dizing in favor of innovative ideas.
The paradox in the modern worlds encounter with a primitive and
(. 1926),
ingenuous Greece, through tourist practices, is described eloquently by Jean
Negulesco (1900-1993), an American director of Romanian extraction, in his

, Boy on a Dolphin (USA, Italy, 1957),12 where the challenges of a new era of
(. 1926), emerging national identities are summarized in the figures of its leading char-
(, 1956).
Protagonist Dinos Iliopoulos acters [pl. 2]. Setting aside its simplistic story and plot, the film is justified as a
(1915-2001) as Draco, next to a particular look at Greek tourism, especially for its cinematic representation of
copy of an ancient Greek statue.
In the background are actors Tha- two important constituents of Greeces image destined for internal consump-
nassis Vengos (b. 1926), Kostas tion and for export. The one is how it records the vicissitudes (emotional, ideo-
Stavrinoudakis and Frixos Nasou as
the professor, Nikos Koundouros, logical, etc.) of a peculiar process of national awakening, activated through
(b. 1926), Draco (Greece, 1956). contact with what is alien, unfamiliar, or other. The other is how it contains
Boy on a Dolphin
(USA, Italy, 1957). traces and evidence of the past within the framework of an intensive utilization/
261 essays

Carl Dudley (1910-1973)
Wide, Wide World: Blue Holiday (, 1965)10
John Christian ( ) White City (, 1968),
.
-
Hollywood11 -
-
,
.
-
,
,
-
.
-

Jean
Negulesco (1900-1993) Boy on a Dolphin (, , 1957),12
-
[. 2]. ,
, -

-
. , (,
, ..) -
exploitation and commercialization of the nations natural and cultural resourc-

es that was being initiated at the time. (Alifragkis & Athanassiou 2013: 706).
Draco (Greece, 1956), Nikos Koundouros (b. 1926) feature film of the previous
year, in which the main characters attempt to sell a column of the Olympeion
to an American art-lover visiting Greece as a member of one of UNRRAs
4
humanitarian missions, functioned in a similar fashion [pl. 3].13 The significant
differentiation in the gaze of American democratization lay in the fact that in
between the picturesque and under-developed Greek countryside and western
,
modernity was a fully modernized cinematic Athens, as interstitial domain in the
(1924-2010) realization of an evolving ideological and cultural fraternization.
(1920-1994),
Negulesco constructs his landscape of Athenian modernism mainly by
, means of a diptych, made up of the anastylosis work performed in Athens by the
,
, American School of Classical Studies, and the tourist facilities of the National
, (1921-2011). Bank of Greeces Astir hotel corporation. One component consists of the re-
[Stella] (, 1955).
Still from the last scene of Stella, with cord within the motion picture of the Stoa of Attalos reconstruction (1953-1956)
actors Giorgos Foundas and the Acropolis Museum recent renovation (1954-1958) by architect Patroclos
(1924-2010) and Melina Merkouri
(1920-1994), which was filmed Karandinos (1903-1976).14 The second component was exclusively about the pro-
in Exarcheia, on the corner of motion of the most prominent investment in tourism in the Athens vicinity, without
Kallidromiou and Ioustinianou street.
Michalis Cacoyannis, (1921-2011), any at least outright government involvement: the large scale bathing and tourist
Stella (Greece, 1955). facilities of Astir in Glyfada (1955-1958), the work of Periklis Sakellarios (1905-
1985), Emmanuel Vourekas (1905-1993) and Prokopis Vassiliadis (1912-1977),
that was commissioned in tranches as of the summer of 1955. The narrative section
of the film, shot in the newly-built night-club Asteria, uniquely encapsulates the
insistent claim of modernization through the democratic entitlement to leisure and
vacation time of the urban middle-classes.
, , . -
, -
/
(Alifragkis
& Athanassiou 2013: 706). -
(. 1926) (-
, 1956), -

U.N.R.R.A [. 3].13

-

.
Negulesco
: -
- -
- .

(1953-1956)
(1903-1976)
(1954-1958).14 -
()
, -
(1955-1958), -
(1905-1985), (1905-1993)
(1912-1977), 1955. -
5. A Genuinely Greek Gaze

The term genuinely Greek involves a degree of irony, in dealing with creators
maintaining elective affinities with Greece, through films with a problematic choice
of subject-matter, not readily conducive to Greeces tourist promotion abroad, and
making distant stylistic references to Italian neo-realism. Despite that, they were
greeted as genuine ambassadors of Greek idiosyncrasy, though they raised ob-
jections as to their authenticity. Their gaze transfers interest from antiquities and
their usage in Greeces contemporary cultural milieu, to natural urban or rural
environments, an everyday reality, and ways in which these are reconstructed cin-
ematically through the well-nigh metaphysical qualities attributed to Greek light.
Typical examples are two early works by Greek-Cypriot director Michalis Cacoy-
annis (1921-2011): Stella (Greece, 1955) and A Girl in Black (Greece, 1956). The
former, unfolding in the lower-middle-class neighborhood of Exarcheia, pursues
an indirect questioning of the bid for modernization, which, spatially at least, had
263 essays
5.
(1926-1983), Greta
Garbo
,

. ,
(1918-1994)
,
5. , (1921-2011),
- [A Girl in
Black], (, 1956).
Actress Ellie Lambeti (1926-1983),
, - Greeces Greta Garbo according
to the British press of the day, before
the town of Hydra, photograph by
. Dimitris Papadimos (1918-1994),
taken during filming, Michalis Cacoy-
annis, (1921-2011), A Girl in Black
. - (Greece, 1956).
6.
, , (1920-1994)
/
- Pierre Vaneck (19312010)
/

. -
(1921-2011), (, 1955) ,
,
(, 1956). , ,
, .
Jules Dassin (1911-2008).
, , - Celui qui doit Mourir [
.15 ] (,
, 1957).
, Actors Melina Merkouri (1920-
( 1956), 1994) as Katerina/Mary Magdalen
and Pierre Vaneck (19312010) as
Manolios/Christ in a scene outside
[. 4]. , - Kritsa, a village in the prefecture
of Lassithi that became famous on
, account of the filming, according to
carte-postale. - the Greek daily press, Jules Dassin
(1911-2008), Celui qui doit Mourir
(France, Italy, 1957).
Walter Lassally (. 1926)
-
[. 5].
Jules Dassin (1911-2008)
Celui qui doit Mourir (, , 1957).
been manifested in the capitals swift-paced reconstruction.15 The paradox of jux-

taposing an emancipated female lead, criticized as not being representative of
Greek mores (Anonymus, 1956) and a traditional urban environment in which
the action is shot, is quite striking [pl. 4]. The latter, which obliquely addresses
the issue of domestic tourism, cinematically reconstructs the rugged, other-worldly
landscape of Hydra, without the beautifying tendency of tourist postcards. Wal-
ter Lassally (b. 1926) a British cinematographer of German descent filmed the
amphitheatrically situated settlement of the island in an engaging manner that
intensified a sense that the viewer is watching a contemporary Greek tragedy
[pl. 5]. Similar claims seem to be put forth through the gaze of Jules Dassin (1911-
2008) in his feature film Celui qui doit Mourir (France, Italy, 1957). According to
critic and author Marios Ploritis (1919-2006) the realism and ascetic black and
white photography by Jacques Natteau (1920-2007), a French cinematographer
of Turkish descent, function as markers of a certain Greekness in this Franco-Italian
production (1957). Here, Greek provenance is found in the successful transposi-
tion of a shared conception of the Greek spirit, shared by western intellectuals,

Jacques Natteau (1920-2007) ,
(1919-2006), -
(1957). ,
-

7
[. 6].
(.1936)
(1934-1996)
,
,
(1919-1964),
[. 7]. -
16 - (, 1958).
Actors Andreas Barkoulis (b. 1936)
. and Aliki Vouyouklaki (1934-1996),
- with the town of Aigina in the
distance, photograph by Kostas
Korais, Andreas Lambrinos
. (1919-1964), Vacations in Aigina
(Greece, 1958).
,17
,18 [. 8],19
20 .21 , -
1960,22 -
-
, , ,
( 2009: 209-235) ,
Dassin, -
[. 9, 10].
rather than in the reproduction of familiar ethnographic or folk motifs in a fictive

context [pl. 6].
Greek cinemas output of feature films could not but touch on the themes
of summer vacationing and sea bathing as social attainments for an emerging ur-
ban middle class [pl. 7]. A sketchy outline of the corpus of Greek cinematography
related to the subject16 demonstrates the exuberance and variety of a production
8 that resists strict categorizations and interpretations. The fact is that very soon af-
ter, offshoots would appear from the central corpus of cinematic tourism that we
have been looking at, which would function in a supplementary manner on the
themes of vacationing and sea-bathing. As such let us mention in passing the trips
of Greeks abroad,17 the contact of Greeks with foreigners visiting Greece,18 the
microcosm of hotels [pl. 8],19 archaeological sites20 and trafficking in antiquities.21
Finally, a major role is played by Greek 60s musicals,22 to which we owe some of
the most persistent and stereotypical imagery of a Dionysian Greece of tavernas,
fun, feasting, dance, and wine (Papadimitriou 2009: 209-235), regarding which,
by contrast to Cacoyannis and Dassins gazes, no issue is raised as to authenticity
of representation [pl. 9, 10].
6. The Hybrid Gaze of International Co-productions

Joint ventures of foreign and Greek funding and human resources for the financ-
ing and execution of ambitious co-productions filmed within Greeces borders
resulted in the construction of film representations of Greece which, within this
paper, are deemed the composite products of gazes traversing the distance from
Greece to the West and the reverse. Those hybrid gazes cinematically reconstruct
265 essays
6. 8.
(. 1942)

(1934-1996)
,
- (1913-1991)
, , - (. 1936)
,

.
,
(- .
2007: 116-8), ,
(1913-1991),
( (, 1964).
) ( Actors Vangelis Voulgaridis (b.
1942) as Miltos and Aliki Vouy-
). - ouklaki (1934-1996) as Kaiti, with
, Alekos Sakellarios (1913-1991) and
Kostas Fyssoun (b. 1936) as extras,
in a taverna at the Kallithea Baths
. , , - in Rhodes. Photograph by Mimis
Andoniou. Alekos Sakellarios
, (1913-1991), The Bait
, . (Greece, 1964).
,
, , -
.
, -

-
,
, ,
aspects of the disparate identities of the inhabitants of and visitors to the country
(Stefani 2007: 116-8), which are constituted afresh through an analytical, simul-
taneous and reciprocal process of introspection (searching gazes to the interior)
and hetero-determination (reconnoitering gazes to the other). The deconstruc-
tion and reconstruction of partial identities include the recognition of variety as a
constituting factor of modernity, the conditional acceptance of alterities and the
reciprocal and gradual transition to a mutually acceptable condition. However,
during this period at least, it does not include a full assimilation on both sides of
9
cultural elements or attributes, ergo the hybrid hypostasis of the gazes. A propen-
sity toward a philosophical rethinking ought to be acknowledged in them, which,
(. 1931) (), however, is often restricted and exhausted in a superficial renegotiation of identity
(. 1940)
through cultural stereotyping. Those are romantic gazes par excellence, since the
substantive prerequisite to activate an osmosis between identities is deemed to be

. the existence on the one hand of a Greek who, in opposition to the dictates of the
. , intensive and mass tourism of entertainment, affords sufficient time, persistence
(1924-2010),
(, 1967). and patience to be able to decode his new environment, beyond the usual preju-
Actors Kostas Voutsas (b. 1931), dices or, less frequently, any excessive expectations. Oddly enough, in Greek and
Vyron Steris (b. 1940) and Alekos
Kouris trying to sell souvenirs to international motion picture co-productions, those prerequisites are found much
tourists on Philopappos Hill. Photo- more frequently than one might expect.
graph by D. Andoniou,
Giannis Dalianidis (1924-2010), Some typical examples of this interesting manifestation of the tourist phe-
The Blue Beads (Greece, 1967). nomenon are seen in the feature films Never On A Sunday (Greece, USA, 1960)
of Dassin [pl. 11], and Zorba the Greek (USA, UK, Greece, 1964) of Cacoyannis
[pl. 12]. The two directors, perhaps inspired by personal experiences and mo-
ments, take up the, often comic, consequences that are brought about by contacts
between Greeks and visitors to Greece, Americans or Britons respectively. The
comic dimension is underscored by the schematization and hyperbole with which
-
, , -
. ,

.

-
(, , 1960) Dassin [. 11] Zorba the Greek (, , -
10
, 1964) [. 12].
,
(. 1939), , ,
(. 1939),
(1932-1984) . -
(. 1935)
,
. .
, (1924-2010), Zorba
(,
1968). -
Actors Phaedon Yorgitsis (b. 1939), , , -
Martha Karayanni (b. 1939),
Chronis Exarchakos (1932-1984) . , Dassin
and Christos Doxaras (b. 1935)
in one of the islands tavernas.
Photograph by Giorgos Agriostathis. .
Giannis Dalianidis, (1924-2010). -
Mermaids and Guys
(Greece, 1968). ,
, , -
. -
the quality of everyday life in Greece is rendered on the screen. The adventurous 11.
(1920-1994) Jules Dassin
passage through the tempest in the Aegean the opening scene of Zorba or the (1911-2008)
constant expression of bewilderment on the protagonists face in Never On A Sun-
,
day are telling instances of purposeful navet, and, therefore, of a beautification
of reality. Particular value lies also in the fact that Dassin and Cacoyannis do not . Jules Dassin
(1911-2008).
identify the imported gaze of modernization and rationality as the dominant view- [Never on Sunday] (,
point. All this sets up the strictly necessary preconditions so that the mutual mis- , 1960).
Melina Merkouri (1920-1994) and
understandings between the main characters, the product of incompatibilities in Jules Dassin (1911-2008) photo-
ways of life and attitudes amongst Greece, Europe and America, lead to the final graphed during night-time filming
on the Acropolis of Athens, in the
and inescapable reconciliation. This is a mutual acceptance of the twofold capac- background is the temple of Athena
ity of Greek cinematic space, which functions simultaneously as an everyday set- Nike, Jules Dassin (1911-2008)
[Never on Sunday] (Greece, USA,
ting within a Greece in the throes of modernization, through the reconstruction of 1960).
its economy and the rebuilding of the land, and as a locus of reference for the myth
and history underlying the western world of modernity. Thus, through the hybrid
gazes of international co-productions, arises an idiosyncratic co-existence in cin-
12
11
267 essays
12. Anthony Quinn ,

(1915-2001) Alan Bates
(1934-2003)
-
,
, (1921- -
2011). Zorba the Greek [ . ,
] (, , ,
1964). - , -
Melina Merkouri (1920-1994) and , ,
Jules Dassin (1911-2008) photo-
graphed during night-time filming ,
on the Acropolis of Athens. In the -
background is the temple of Athena
Nike. Jules Dassin (1911-2008). .
Never on Sunday (Greece, USA,
1960), source: Melina Merkouri
Foundation. 7. :

. -
-
-
.

.
-

ematic, post-war Greece between domestic and imported vantage points, which,
even if it is never transmuted into a substantive coexistence, does recognize, in the
non-dominant vantage points, the right of active participation in the creation and
preservation of an imaginary construct regarding a charming under-development
imputed to the land and its inhabitants.
7. Epilog: The Perpetual Return

The domestic and international film output of the time points to the emerging cul-
ture of mass tourism as an important constituent of the contemporary era and as
an agent of progress and modernization. The multiple and simultaneous cinematic
gazes of the first post-war decades upon Greek tourism demonstrate the complexi-
ty of the phenomenon and promote the strong impact felt by the Greek society and
economy. The prolific output of the era seems to distil both the pre-existing views
of the traveler-explorer, and the contemporary trends of tourist-consumers. The fol-
lowing decades are characterized, on the one hand, by a certain standardization
as to the means by which Greece is constructed and promoted as a tourist prod-
uct, and, on the other hand, by a certain shabbiness to a lesser or greater degree.
By way of indication, it is enough to mention that domestic cinema production
invents the eroticism of the Greek summer as one additional domain of tourist
services, with the most typical examples of the 80s being The Harpoons (Greece,
1981) of Omiros Efstratiadis and Lets Go Naked Darling (Greece, 1984) of Gian-
nis Dalianidis (1924-2010). After a brief flourish, which might be attributed to the
favorable legislation for foreign producers enacted by the government of Konstan-
tinos Karamanlis in 1961, the number of international productions and co-produc-
tions filmed in Greece dwindled with time. What initially appeared as evidence of
variations of approach may be grouped and analyzed under two major trends.
One relates to the capitalization of a putative eroticization of the Greek summer,
which is most typically reflected in the film Summer Lovers (USA, 1982) of Randal
.

, -
1980 (, 1981)
(, 1984)
(1924-2010). ,

1961 ,
-
. -
.

Summer Lovers (,
1982) Randal Kleiser (. 1946).
, -
.
Mama Mia! (, , , 2008) Phyllida Lloyd (. 1957) Before
Midnight (, 2013) Richard Linklater (. 1960).

, Le Grand Bleu
(, , , 1988) Luc Besson (. 1959) Mediterraneo (,
1991) Gabriele Salvatores, (. 1950). -
1960 -
, ,
.
Kleiser (b. 1946). The other trend reverts to the polarity of modernity versus tradi-
tion, which is no longer reformulated as pair of opposites or even as dilemma.
Typical films in this trend are Mama Mia! (USA, UK, Germany, 2008) of Phyllida
Lloyd (b. 1957) and Before Midnight (USA, 2013) of Richard Linklater (b. 1960).
Representations of the country as a refuge for retreat and contemplation or ana-
choritism can be regarded as supplement to that, in feature films such as Le Grand
Bleu (France, USA, Italy, 1988) of Luc Besson (b. 1959) and Mediterraneo (Italy,
1991) of Gabriele Salvatores, (b. 1950). The other trend effects an approach to
the suspended integration of the parallel existence, in Greeces cinematic space,
of the various gazes cast upon Greek tourism, with greater daring and frankness
than was seen in the 60s.
269 essays
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, (1921-2000), (, 1968).
Dalianidis, Giannis (1924-2010). The Blue Beads (Greece, 1967).
, (1919-2005), (, 1963).
Dimopoulos, Dinos (1921-2003). Amok (Greece, 1963).
, (1927-1982), (, 1959).
Dimopoulos, Dinos (1921-2003). The Man in the Train (Greece, 1958).
, (1924-2010), (,
1968). Efstratiadis, Omiros The Harpoons (Greece, 1981).
, (1924-2010), Georgiadis, Vassilis (1921-2000). Holiday in Kolopetinitsa (Greece,

(, 1984). 1959).
, (1924-2010), (,
1967). Georgiadis, Vassilis (1921-2000). Girls in the Sun (Greece, 1968).
, (1921-2003), (, 1963). Grigoriou, Grigoris (1919-2005). Brother Anna (Greece, 1963).
, (1921-2003), (, Kapsaskis, Socrates (1928-2007). The Matador Advances (Greece,

1958). 1963).
Katsouridis, Dinos (1927-2011). The Air Marshal (Greece, 1963).
, , (, 1981).
Koundouros, Nikos (b. 1926). Draco (Greece, 1956).
, (1921-2011), The Day the Fish Came Out [
] (, , , 1967). Koundouros, Roussos (1923-1990). Argolis (Greece, 1964).
, (1921-2011), Zorba the Greek [ Konstantinou, Giorgos (b. 1937). A Man for All Chores (Greece, 1966).
] (, , , 1964).
Konstantinou, Panos (1939-2013). When Women Love (Greece, 1967).
, (1921-2011), [Stella] (, 1955).
Lambrinos, Andreas (1919-1964). Vacations in Aigina (Greece, 1958).
, (1921-2011), [A Girl in
Black] (, 1956). Laskos, Orestis (1907-1992). Ten Days in Paris (Greece, 1962).
, (1927-2011), (, Laskos, Orestis (1907-1992). The Face of the Day (Greece, 1965).
1963).
Manthoulis, Roviros (b. 1929). Face to Face (Greece, 1966).
, (1928-2007), (,
1963). Plyta, Maria (1915-2006). Eva (Greece, 1953).
, (. 1926), (, 1956). Sakellarios, Alekos (1913-1991). Modern Cinderella (Greece, 1965).

, (1923-1990), (, 1964).
, (. 1937), Sakellarios, Alekos (1913-1991). The Bait (Greece, 1964).
(, 1966).
271 essays
, (1939-2013), (, Skalenakis, Giorgos (b. 1926). Queen of Clubs (Greece, 1966).

1967).
Skalenakis, Giorgos (b. 1926). Operation Apollo (Greece, 1968).
, (1919-1964), (,
1958). Links to Web Resources
, (1907-1992), (, British Path: http://www.britishpathe.com/ [last accessed: Thursday 24

1962). April 2014]
, (1907-1992), (, The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/ [last accessed:

1965). Thursday 24 April 2014]
, (. 1929), (, 1966). The Travel Film Archive: http://www.travelfilmarchive.com/home.php [last

, (1915-2006), (, 1953). accessed: Thursday 24 April 2014]
, (1913-1991), (,
1965). National Audiovisual Archive: http://mam.avarchive.gr/portal/ [last ac-
cessed: Thursday 24 April 2014]
, (1913-1991), (, 1964).
Melina Merkouri Foundation: http://www.melinamercourifoundation.org.
, (. 1926), (, 1966). gr/index [last accessed: Thursday 24 April 2014]
, (. 1926), (, 1968). Michalis Cacoyannis Foundation: http://www.mcf.gr/ [last accessed:

Thursday 24 April 2014]
British Path: http://www.britishpathe.com/ [ 24 2014] Greek Film Archive: http://www.tainiothiki.gr/v2/ [last accessed: Thurs-
The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/ [ 24 day 24 April 2014]
2014]
1. This paper draws material from Ideologies and Representations: The
The Travel Film Archive: http://www.travelfilmarchive.com/home.php Post War Condition of Greek Tourism, 1945-1967, by Em. Athanassiou and
[ 24 2014] S. Alifragkis, (Futura, forthcoming). The Tourist Gaze (1990 by British soci-
ologist John Urry, served as an inspiration for this paper.
: http://mam.avarchive.gr/portal/ 2. Special emphasis is given to the quest to establish the continuity and
[ 24 2014] prove the unbroken presence of the Greeks in the land, by a much more
recent archaeological documentary: Triumph over Time (USA, 1947) of
: http://www.melinamercourifoundation.org. the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, directed by archaeolo-
gr/index [ 24 2014] gist Oscar Broneer (1894-1992) and produced by numismatist Margaret
Thompson (1911-1992) both of whom were engaged in the Schools exca-
: http://www.mcf.gr/ [ 24 vations in Athens and Corinth. More information on that film can be found
2014] in Triumph over Time (Vogeikoff-Brogan 2007).
: http://www.tainiothiki.gr/v2/ [ 24 3. From 1927 to 1939 the Film Unit was run by John Grierson (1898-
2014] 1972), the pioneer of the British documentary movement. The Unit start-
ed out with young and inexperienced film-makers such as Edgar Anstey
1. (1907-1987), Arthur Elton (1906-1973), Stuart Legg (1910-1988), Paul Ro-
: tha (1907-1984) and Basil Wright, to which were gradually added more
, 1945-1967 . . directors, such as Brazilian Alberto Cavalcanti (1897-1982) and American
Futura. Robert Flaherty (1884-1951) (Barnouw 1974: 85-100). After the Empire
John Urry The Tourist Gaze (1990) Marketing Board was dissolved in 1934, the Unit passed under the juris-
. diction, successively, of the General Post Office, the Ministry of Informa-
tion during World War II, and, finally, the Central Office of Information,
2. until it was finally dismantled in 1952.

Triumph over Time 4. Michael Ayrton studied prehistoric and classical Greek art and was
(, 1947), deeply influenced by it, particularly by the figures of Icarus, Daedalus and
, Oscar Broneer (1894-1992) the Minotaur. The outcome of the good cooperation between Wright and
Margaret Thompson (19111992), Ayrton was a second documentary film on the subject of Greek sculpture:
. award winning Greek Sculpture 3000 B.C. t 300 B.C. (UK, 1959), made
with the collaboration of sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986), actor Leo
Triumph over Time (Vogeikoff-Brogan 2007). Genn and composer Humphrey Searle (1915-1982) (Nyenhuis 2003).
3. 5. According to Aufderheide, Wrights way of looking in Greece: The

John Grierson (1898-1972) 1927 Immortal Land is not much different in this respect, to the one he adopted in
1939. the much earlier documentary The Song of Ceylon (UK, 1934), a romantic
Edgar Anstey (1907-1987), Arthur Elton (1906-1973), Stuart account of life in pre-colonial Sri Lanka, (2007: 66).
Legg (1910-1988), Paul Rotha (1907-1984) Basil Wright
, Al- 6. The Institute for Educational and Scientific Film was established ei-
berto Cavalcanti (1897-1982) Robert Flaherty (1884- ther in 1953 (Linardou 2007: 51) or in 1959 (Neofotistou 2008: 58), with
1951) (Barnouw 1974: 85-100). Empire the aim of disseminating social science documentary films. Similar aims
Marketing Board 1934, were shared by the Group of 5, established either in 1958 (Dimitriou
General Post Office, 1993), or in 1960 by Directors Roviros Manthoulis, Fotis Mesthenaios,
, , Heraklis Papadakis, Giannis Bakoyiannopoulos and Roussos Koundouros.
[Central Office of Information] Koundouros multifaceted activity was not confined to this. Beyond his
1952. markedly political action, he took up initiatives to form the Greek Com-
mittee for Ethnographic Film, and the Institute of the Sociological Film As-
4. Michael Ayrton sociation with ties to the International Committee on Ethnographic and
Sociological Film which were established in 1952 and were run under the
, . direction of Rouch and the International Association of Sociological Film
Wright Ayrton respectively, as well as the Greek Film Club in September 1961. Finally,
, Greek Sculpture 3000 B.C. t 300 B.C. from 1961 to 1967, Koundouros headed the directorate for Greek News-
(, 1959), reels, with much success (Kymionis: 2011).
Henry Moore (1898-1986) ), Leo Genn Hum- 7. Since the early 60s, Rouch had already been led from anthropo-
phrey Searle (1915-1982) (Nyenhuis 2003). logical documentaries laden perhaps with latent colonial references, to
a cinma vrit type of modernism, with tangible references to the film
5. , Wright Greece: The Immortal Land tradition of Soviet director Dziga Vertov (1896-1954) (Barnouw 1974:
207, 210, 253-255). Vertovs personality and opus functioned as a link
The Song of Ceylon (, 1934), between Griersons British movement and Rouchs French school and, ulti-
, Aufderheide, - mately, between Wright and Koundouros.
(2007: 66).
8. There are pictures of the National Theatres performances of Pro-
6. metheus Bound, directed by Alexis Minotis, and of The Wasps, directed by
1953 ( 2007: 51) 1959 ( 2008: Alexis Solomos (1918-2012).
58) .
5 1958 9. Scenes at Bourdzi, while it functioned as a hotel, have been pre-
( 1993) 1960 , served in the feature film The Man in the Train (Greece, 1958), directed by
, , Dinos Dimopoulos (1921-2003). GNTO hotels Akronafplia and Amfitryon
. appear in the film Queen of Clubs (Greece, 1966), directed by Giorgos
. Skalenakis (b. 1926).
,
10. This was Dudleys second tourist documentary on Greece. It was
, International Com- preceded by a b/w documentary entitled Greece (USA, 1951) which lent
mittee on Ethnographic and Sociological Film, 1952 particular emphasis on the swift rate of reconstruction of the countrys in-
Rouch, frastructure following the destruction caused by World War II.
,
1961. , 1961 11. Particularly in the case of Christians White City, spectators are
1967 shown round some of the most important sights in Athens, but also a few
( 2011). of those that were less familiar, following the amusing misadventures of
two young protagonists: Johnny, an American visiting Greece for the first
7. 1960, Rouch time, and Marianna, a Greek girl selling flowers to passersby outside the
National Archaeological Museum. The use of motion picture narrative el-
cinma vrit ements becomes obvious through both the brisk editing and the actions
close framing middle shots and close-ups of the protagonists that Chris-
Dziga Vertov (1896-1954) (Barnouw 1974: 207, 210, tian adopts.
253-255). Vertov
Grierson 12. Along with Celui qui doit Mourir, (France, Italy, 1957) by American
Rouch , , Wright director Jules Dassin (1911-2008), this is the second international film pro-
. duction to be shot in post-war Greece after Liebe ist ja nur ein Mrchen
[Rendezvous in Athens] (West Germany, 1955) by Austrian director Maria
8. Rabenalt (1905-1993), but substantively the first, as far as the broad public
is concerned. An important part in realising the entire venture was played
(1918-2012). by Spyros Skouras (1893-1971), then president of Twentieth Century Fox
film production company, who had repeatedly sought to lend his support to
9. the fortunes of Greek post-war reconstruction. An ancillary consideration
(, in Skouras decision to finance a costly production in Greece must have
1958) (1921-2003). been the technological advances achieved in the area of filming and pro-
... jection, on the one hand, particularly CinemaScope, the newly adopted
(, 1966) system of wide-screen projection, and the technical details in American
(. 1926). legislation on the other hand, which regulated the repatriation of profits
into the USA from activities funded in Europe through the Marshall Plan.
10. Dudley . Irrespective of any aesthetic evaluation of the outcome, Skouras venture
Greece (, 1951) was wholly successful, at least as to the primary objective that sought to
achieve a favourable promotion of Greece abroad, and particularly to
. the American tourist market. As to the secondary objective of boosting
local cinematography through the transfer of know-how and the supply
11. White City Christian, of modern material and technical equipment, the outcome was somewhat
, meagre.
,
, 13. Initials of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
Johnny organization. For a discussion of American presence in Greece and of ar-
chaeology through Draco see: Athanassiou 2012: 509-510.
.
14. According to the press of the day, the first four rooms of the Museum
were opened to the public in September 1956.
, ,
Christian. 15. Greek film scholar Anna Poupous term attributed to the whole of the
50s film production inspired by the attainments of Italian neo-realism and
12. , Celui qui doit Mourir (, , depicting the urban landscape without romantic excesses or idealization,
1957) Jules Dassin (1911-2008), and which seems to fit Stella too (2011: 41-42).
,
Liebe ist ja nur ein Mrchen [ ] ( 16. See the romantic drama Eva (Greece, 1953) of Maria Plyta (1915-
, 1955) Arthur Maria Rabenalt 2006) and a few light-hearted comedies or farces such as Vacation in Ae-
(1905-1993), . gina (Greece, 1958) of Andreas Lambrinos, The Tomboy (Greece, 1959)
of Dimis Dadiras (1927-1982), and Holiday in Kolopetinitsa (Greece,
Twen- 1959) of Vassilis Georgiadis (1921-2000).
tieth Century Fox (1893-1971),
17. see the feature films Ten Days in Paris (Greece, 1962) of Orestis
. Laskos (1907-1992), Modern Cinderella (Greece, 1965) of Alekos Sakel-
larios (1913-1991), and The Matador Advances (Greece, 1963) of So-
crates Kapsaskis (1928-2007).

CinemaScope, 18. See the feature films Girls in the Sun (Greece, 1968) of Vassilis Geor-
273 essays
giadis, The Day the Fish Came Out (Greece, UK, USA, 1967) of Michalis
... Cacoyannis and Operation Apollo (Greece) of Giorgos Skalenakis.
.
, 19. See the feature films A Man for all Chores (Greece, 1966) of Giorgos
, Konstantinou (b. 1937), The Bait (Greece, 1964) of Alecos Sakellarios,
and The Air Marshal (Greece) of Dinos Katsouridis (1927-2011).
.
20. See the feature films Face to Face (Greece, 1966) of Roviros Man-
thoulis (b. 1929), When Women Love (Greece, 1967) of Panos Konstanti-
, . nou (1939-2013), and He and She (Greece, 1967) of Errikos Andreou.
13. United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation 21. See the feature films Brother Anna (Greece, 1963) of Grigoris Grigo-
Administration. riou, Amok (Greece, 1963) of Dinos Dimopoulos, and The Face of the Day
(Greece, 1965) of Orestis Laskos.
: 2012: 509-510.
22. See the feature films The Blue Beads (Greece, 1967), and Mermaids
14. , and Guys (Greece, 1968) of Yannis Dalianidis (1924-2010).
1956.
15.

1950

(2011: 41-42).
16.
(, 1953) (1915-2006)
(, 1958)
, (, 1959) (1927-
1982) (, 1959)
(1921-2000).
17.
(, 1962) (1907-1992),
(, 1965) (1913-1991)
(, 1963) (1928-
2007).
18.
(, 1968) , The Day the Fish Came
Out (, , , 1967)
(, 1968) .
19.
(, 1966) (. 1937),
(, 1964)
(, 1963) (1927-2011).
20.
(, 1966) (. 1929),
(, 1967) (1939-
2013) (, 1967) .
21.
(, 1963) (1919-2005), (,
1963) (,
1965) .
22.
(, 1967) (, 1968)
(1924-2010).

Beyond Babylon
ADRIAN LAHOUD ,
,
O Adrian Lahoud
Reader , -

MArchUD, Bartlett UCL ,
Adrian Lahoud is
1
a Reader and Director,
MArchUD Program,
Bartlett UCL ,
,
,
. ,
. 2
. ,
,
.
-
.
-

. ,
.
. -
Because it is bereft of ideas, because it lives to itself and cuts itself off from the
people, undermined by its hereditary incapacity to think in terms of all the prob-
lems of the nation as seen from the point of view of the whole of that nation, the
national middle class will have nothing better to do than to take on the role of
manager for Western enterprise, and it will in practice set up its country as the
brothel of Europe1
The minute they have a couple of days of freedom, the inhabitants of western
Europe dash off to the other side of the world, they go halfway round the world
in a plane, they behave literally like escaped convicts. I dont blame them, I was
preparing to do just the same. 2
The tourist is nothing. A hunger that will be fed, some senses to be stirred from
slumber, cheap memories that must be recorded. Athens will build her palaces
on stories told by others; Beirut will build a cardboard heart for her martyrs and
sell her sea to the highest bidder. In Marseille and Salonica they think nothing of
fashioning guesthouses from wire on one street and soliciting their services to tour-
275 essays

.

.

.
,

, -
,
,
.
1

, .

Club Mditerrane,
1979. .
Playing at primitivism, european tour-
ists at the Club Mditerrane leisure
resort, 1979. ;
;

- ,
. , , -
,
,
. ,

:
. -
ists on the other. The Mediterranean may have invented tourism, but its invention
was captured by zealots and swindlers. Today the tourist is nothing more than a
flow. A bundle of appetites that must be channeled according to a competition
for attention and the extraction of profit. The Mediterranean is that which must
be reproduced as a setting able to solicit this attention that is to say it must be
reproduced as a commodity.
The very history of tourism is imbricated with the history of the Mediter-
ranean itself. From the idea of education by peregrinatio, to the recuperative idea
of bathing, to the journeying traditions of guild apprentices; from the aristocratic
edification of the grand tour, until the rise of mass leisure and what we now know
as modern tourism the Mediterranean has borne witness to different touristic ide-
als, practices and political aspirations. What unites them is the value accorded to
differences in custom or climate and a desire to go beyond the limits of the known
world and its habits. The scale of this activity has a profound effect on the way
that we conceive of economies and the landscapes that service them. But can we
think tourism as more than a mere enticement thrown to ravenous appetites for con-
sumption? That is to say can we think tourism outside a strictly economic rationalist
form of reasoning?
A preliminary response to this question should begin with a classification
of tourism according to its phases where each phase corresponds to a unique
socio-political diagram, is animated by a different impetus and finally, directed
toward specific ends. Though these phases are crudely chronological, it would be

, : , -
, , .

19 -

.

-.

, ,
,
.

, , .3
-
.
, --
, , -

, Ibiza,
Instant City.
Maximizing choice and individual
freedom, Ibiza, Instant City. 2
more correct to say that one phase does not extinguish another, but rather that it
is added to it in either complimentary or contradictory ways. In any case, there is
much to be gained by attempting to clarify differences in what today seems to be
an uncomplicated activity to leave work and home temporarily for the purpose
of something other than work. For present purposes we can describe these phases
most clearly according to three different drives, the drive to civilize, to liberate and
finally, to relieve.
To Civilize
The first phase is properly a product of the 19th Century and the violent struggles
by organized labor to establish limits on the time dedicated to work. The rewards
of this conflict were constitutive of the new middle classes who could now commit
a portion of their year to paid, non-work time. Turning an aristocratic luxury into a
right for working people was nothing short of a social revolution: for the first time
in history, large sections of the population could afford to travel.
277 essays
-
.
,

. -
:
,
, ,

. 4

, -

. -

. -
,
,
.

,
. ,
,
- -
This unprecedented potential for expenditure by the working class had to

be disciplined however.3 Time not devoted to some activity would soon fall prey
to vice the most dangerous of which may have simply been idleness itself. The
unproductive had to be made productive again time itself had to be restituted
lest it turn into a pure loss beyond any socio-political value and so the negative
definition of non-work began to acquire a more positive potential in the shape of
leisure and of tourism. In the spirit of social reform that characterized this age,
both leisure and tourism would take on a pedagogical role united in the attempt to
produce a morally enlightened citizen. This project is conceived according to two
axes: on one hand, the reform of the city in order to prevent future political insur-
rection through the creation of public squares, gardens and museums set in pasto-
ral landscapes, which along with exhibitions and fairs become the paradigmatic
architectural type of the era. 4 On the other axis, as the Sunday is secularized and
the state comes to take on the role previously occupied by the Church, an attempt
is made to encourage the middle classes to leave the city, initially for weekend
trips and then later for longer holidays, to the countryside. What holds both ideas
together is a belief in the intrinsically recuperative powers of nature and the intrin-
sic inequity and corruption that was characteristic of the city. Whether this was
expressed through the quaintly domesticated planting plans of city squares or the
bucolic landscape of the countryside outside the city, in each case there is an idea
that the mere presence of nature would act like a moral palliative.
From very early on the state was assisted in this endeavor by the private
sector, while the Mediterranean soon became a locus for this new scale of touristic
activity. The first operator of mass tourism as we understand it today was the travel
entrepreneur, Thomas Cook, who was motivated by a strong socio-political desire
to help all classes get away from the squalid misery of the city with its rampant
crime and alcoholism by organizing package tours to the English countryside and
-
,
,
,
, ,
19 .
.
, -
. 5
, ,
, -

.
-
, , .
, -

-
/
.
-
, -
-
, -
2.500
later to various locations in Europe and on the coast of the Mediterranean, with
routes established to Italy, Turkey, Egypt and Palestine by the late 19th century.
The development of modern tourism and leisure can be located at precisely this
point. Simply, one either went to town read the museum or the park or out of it. 5
In a European and Mediterranean context, for this project to produce a
certain kind of citizenry, the state nonetheless still took a leading role understand-
ably so since nothing less than the physical and moral health of the working popu-
lation was at stake. The period until WWII is marked by the intervention of the
state in matters of leisure, recreation and tourism though this often took different
forms both socialist and capitalist nations invested heavily in resort and holiday
infrastructure that had in most cases the explicit aim of channeling surplus time to-
wards pursuits that encouraged a sense of communality among their participants.
For the first time, the non-urban would have to be re-imagined on an infrastructural
scale in order to accommodate the newly mobile masses, and the architectural
Santa Gulia Club Mditerrane,

1969.
Santa Gulia Club Mditerrane,
1969. 3
279 essays
.

-
.6

, 60, 45%
, ,
, - -
.
, 10% -
, -
85%.
-
-
,
,
-

.7

-, -
, , , ,
,
paradigm of this era is the resort complex, with France taking a lead with the
creation of some 2,500 sporting clubs for the newly imagined youth market in the
post-war period. Architecture and architectural experimentation would play an
important projective role in defining the somewhat vague impetus for large-scale
social recreation.6
To Liberate
Still, by the mid 1960s only 45% of people in France took an annual vacation
and, much like today, the right to time for non-work was highly differentiated in its
application both in terms of social structure and geography. For agrarian workers
in France in the same period, only 10% of the population had any paid leisure
time: in comparison, in the professional classes this percentage rose to 85%. It is
therefore no surprise that these cadres occupied a formative role in transforming
the previous socio-political phase from one useful in the civilizing of the new mid-
dle class through reform and public convention, to another scheme in which the
role of recreation was directed precisely to liberate the individual from the very
constriction presented by these conventions themselves.7
The post-war period marked the beginning of the second phase of tour-
ism described at the outset, and it is inextricably linked to the idea of the post-trau-
matic, beginning with an idea of recovery from injury be it psychological or physi-
cal through nature but colored by the experience of war and later transformed
by the booming Marshall Plan economies.8 Almost 100 years after Thomas Cook
offered his first package tours to the English countryside, the French government
introduced the paid vacation, and a non-profit successor to Cook, called Club de
lOurs Blanc, was established, which set out to offer modest accommodation and
.8 100 -

, -
, , Club de
lOurs lanc, -
-
. ,
Gilbert Trigano
Grard Blitz
, ,
, .
, Trigano

. Blitz, , , ,
,
. -
,
, ,
.9
Club Mditerrane
,
travel organization in a single package with a recreational emphasis on commu-

nal activities and social solidarity. A little over a decade later, a former member
of the French resistance and his friend Gilbert Trigano and Gerard Blitz came
up with the idea of providing simple, temporary and modest holiday accommoda-
tion in tents during the summer months starting in the Balearic island of Majorca.
Trigano helped to rehabilitate soldiers after the war, an experience that convinced
him of the importance and role of nature in human well-being; Blitz was the son of
a Tarpaulin manufacturer who would eventually appropriate his fathers factory to
produce tents for the first series of resorts: both of them would go on to revolution-
ize this second phase of tourism with a project that would irrevocably change the
face of tourism, despite its humble beginnings.9
Club Mditerrane was envisaged as a single class cruise ship, though
its origins and aspirations were both at once modest and strongly collectivist (Tri-
gano would go on to write for LHumanite). Club Med, as it became known, distin-
guished itself from the previous eras attitude toward recreational time by setting
itself precisely against the idea of a civilizing impetus: seeing itself as nothing less
than the antidote to civilization, as the promotional material later put it. Rather
than conceive of recreation according to moral enlightenment the construction of
a new social subject the time of non-work would be committed to a different activ-
ity, less pedagogically informed but no less productive: the tourist would now dis-
cover themselves. Through a suspension of social mores, through pleasure and a
play at primitivism, the individual could finally uncover a form of subjectivity whol-
ly their own and temporarily avoid the stultifying capture of life by conventions.
White-collar workers could exercise dormant muscles in all-inclusive holidays with
the tantalizing prospect of sexual promiscuity unburdened of metropolitan social
norms dampening their working lives.
The resorts were spatially defined and carefully excised from their con-
text in order to signify a space of alternative possibility conceived along the lines
of a mythic Polynesian community. The indigenous context would be reified within
the confines of the resort and reproduced as a commodity for the white, European
audience. The fabrication of this kind of pre-history is inextricable from the era
281 essays
( Trigano -
LHumanit). Club Med
,
,

, , ,
.

- -
, ,
:
. , -
,

Ku Ibiza, 1984. of mass tourism. In a Mediterranean context this invariably means establishing
Clubbers at Ku Ibiza, 1984.
some form of cultural continuity between an archaic past and the present while
exacerbating regional differences something one will later encounter in every
Mediterranean nation with a developed tourist economy.
With time, however, even the emphasis on sport and comradeship would
disappear, to be replaced by an emphasis on sex and pleasure. Club Med would
be known as a place where one could go to eat, tan and fuck. Behind all the
swinging and liberalism, however, a clear geopolitical conception of the world
was being materialized in which the territorial logic of tourism would play a vi-
tal part. Club Med conceived of the world as organized around three different
lakes: the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the South China Sea. The market
for tourism was found above and below the lakes with a north-south traffic con-
necting them.10 With some prescience, Club Med unwittingly captured a model of
tourism that drew its market advantage from the inequalities between the devel-
, , -
. ,

,
.
-
, -
-
.

. -
.

-
.
, ,

Club Med
, . ,
, -

. Club Med
: , -
. ,
.10
, Club Med
oped and developing worlds. Club Med was for some time, and in many ways, at
the very front line of socio-economic and geopolitical transformations in the post
war economy, ushering in an era of service industries in which what is being sold
today is an experience of the self produced by an act of affective labor.11 It is no
surprise, then, that during May 1968, protestors destroyed and ransacked Club
Med agencies throughout Paris since, for the protestors, the organization embod-
ied all of the narcissistic horrors of the burgeoning consumer society.
Architecturally, many in the post-war generation sought to move away
from the supposedly technocratic ethos of control and limits established by early
modernism toward a more subjective idea of the individual and the unpredictable
nature of their social encounters. In a reflection of the prevailing ethos the idea
that flexible, adaptive structures could dismantle socio-political authority, serving
Club Med, , 1963.

Club Med, Greece, 1963. 5
283 essays

.
Club Med -
, -

,
.11
68, Club Med
,
.
, ,

,

.
, -
-
-

,
Hilton, ,
1963

.
Hilton and the new front line of
the cold war, Athens Hilton, 1963;
Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos
Karamanlis (second from right)
examines the hotels model.
as an anarchic context for personal liberation, was epitomized by projects by Con-

stant Nieuwenhuys, Cedric Price and some decades later by Bernard Tschumi. All
were emblematic of this renewed interest in the emancipatory possibilities offered
by hedonism the logic of the tourist as a liberated individual became coextensive
with the political idea of the individual. There is no doubt that the constitution of in-
dividual freedom as both the locus and the means of this emancipation appealed
to the counter-cultural ethos of the era. In retrospect, the so-called radicalism of
this baby boomer generation meshed all too neatly with the rise of neo-liberalism
in the 1970s. The kind of subject produced by this work the procurers of new
sensations imagine the world as a Club Med resort, but at a planetary scale.
Today they appear as the forlorn, sexually disenfranchised protagonists in tourist
novels by Houellebecq the great documenter of the fate of that generations Fun
Palaces and New Babylons.
Constant Nieuwenhuys Cedric Price ,

, Bernard Tschumi.

-
. -

. baby boom
-
70.

Club Med, .
, ,
Michel Houellebecq, -
Fun Palaces New Babylons .

. ,
, - -
, ,

. -

-
, ,

- .
To Relieve
The last and most recent phase once again re-installs tourism within a dialectic
relationship dictated by the character of contemporary work. If the first phase saw
a certain amount of non-productive time liberated through the efforts of organized
labor, today we see that for many people, these gains have been forsaken as work
has begun to re-colonize more aspects of human life through the use of technol-
ogy. This is not the time to repeat by now well-rehearsed arguments about eco-
nomic shifts and the social implications of the service and knowledge economy,
but nonetheless, in simple terms for many the expansion of technologies of com-
munication means that work becomes less and less discernable from non-work.
Though complimentary to both previous phases in many ways, tourism
both changes and intensifies its relation to non-productivity. Today, leisure time is
needed to survive work; work becomes increasingly dependent on leisure time to
sustain it, to support its excesses. Because the specter of social disorder has faded
and the pedagogical role is taken up by a dispersed set of social apparatus, what
tourism is left with is simply the idea of recuperation from exhaustion one travels
not to escape the city or to unhinge social codes: one travels simply to escape
from work, to disconnect with communication to prevent in some small way, work
becoming coextensive with life.
Feelings of stress and relaxation become the principal organizing poles
of this new social-diagram. The tourist must seek ways to disengage from the con-
tinual technical immersion in communication in order to insulate oneself in the com-
fort of relief. The very idea of downtime, a term once used to describe the period
285 essays
, -
-.

, . -

,
: -

, , -

.
-
.

, .
, -
,

.
,
. -
-
. Easy Jet -
.

,
of inactivity during which a machine is repaired, is now applied to the automaton-

like activities of those within the working class who still have jobs. This last phase
is not without its major spatial transformations either, and once again the Mediter-
ranean has become a laboratory for touristic experimentation. The most important
of these is without a doubt the rise of short holidays and budget air travel. Com-
panies like Easy Jet owe their business model to some simple principles keeping
jets in the air for longer. In order to do this they avoid as much as possible the long
delays at major airports by using smaller airports with lower fees and less waiting
time. This phenomenon has radically reorganized the economies of second tier cit-
ies in Mediterranean nations which have, for some decades now, been competing
over potential routes, cultivating their histories and improving their infrastructure in
order to entice the hovering horde of capital to land near by.
Alfred Neumann
Club
Med ,
al-Zib, 1960.
Alfred Neumann on site of Israels first
Club Med; the destroyed Palestinian
7 village al-Zib is in the background.
. -
-
, , ,
,

.
-
-
, -

,
. ,
-
-
:

-, -
.
,
, -
,
/-,

. ,
,
.
Today, it is worth speculating on the unexplored potential of the brief

period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when non-productive
time was legally formalized, but before this expenditure-without-an-object be-
came prey to fears of idleness in the working classes, only to become instrumen-
talized by the state. After the drive to civilize and the urge to liberate comes the
necessity to relieve or alleviate the touristic escape from work now increasingly
takes the form of a short-break: in contradiction to early twentieth century argu-
ments for clear limits on the relation between work and non-work, tourism today
becomes opportunistic and deregulated. In the shadow of the dismantling of a
social project for mass leisure by the post-war generation and its replacement by
an entrepreneurialism of the self, it would seem that it is precisely in a form of rea-
soning beyond the strictly economic, especially in the very distinction productive/
non-productive, that the next phase of touristic experimentation can be thought.
It is from here, by redefining the very terrain of debate that a different political
horizon for the unforced movement of people might begin to be re-imagined.
287 essays
1. Frantz Fanon, 1. The effect of tourism according to Frantz Fanon, in Fanon, F. The
Fanon, F. The Wretched of the Earth. Macgibbon and Kee, 1961. Wretched of the Earth. Macgibbon and Kee. 1961
2. Michel Houellebecq, 2. The impetus for tourism according to Michel Houellebecq, in Houelle-
Houllebecq, M. Platform. Vintage, 2003. .27. becq, M. Platform. Vintage, 2003. P.27.
3. . : Hollier, D. Against Architecture: The Writings of 3. See the introduction in: Hollier, D. Against Architecture: The Writings
George Bataille. MIT Press, 1992. of George Bataille. MIT Press, 1992.
4. . Bennet, T. The Exhibitionary Complex, New formations 4, 4. See: Bennet, T. The Exhibitionary Complex, New formations 4,
I 1988 Spring I 1988
5. Clark, T.J. The Painting of Modern Life. Princeton, 1999. 5. Clark, T.J. The Painting of Modern Life, Princeton, 1999.
6. 6. For a discussion of mass leisure in France from the late thirties to the
30 .: Tom Avermaete post war period see: Tom Avermaete (2013) A Thousand Youth Clubs:
(2013) A Thousand Youth Clubs: Architecture, Mass leisure and the Architecture, Mass leisure and the Rejuvenation of Post-war France, The
Rejuvenation of Post-war France, The Journal of Architecture, 18:5, 632- Journal of Architecture, 18:5, 632-646.
646,
7. Furlough, E. Packaging Pleasures: Club Mditerrane and French
7. Furlough, E. Packaging Pleasures: Club Mditerrane and French Consumer Culture, 1950-1968, French Historical Studies, Vol. 18, No. 1
Consumer Culture, 1950-1968, French Historical Studies, . 18, . 1 (Spring, 1993), pp. 65-81
(, 1993), . 65-81 P
8. For a geopolitical analysis of the strategic role of the Greek tourism
8. industry in the Mediterranean during the cold war see: Stavros Alifragkis
. Alifragkis & Emilia Athanassiou (2013) Educating Greece in Modernity: Post-war
& Emilia Athanassiou (2013) Educating Greece in Modernity: Post-war Tourism and Western Politics, The Journal of Architecture, 18:5, 699-720
Tourism and Western Politics, The Journal of Architecture, 18:5, 699-720.
9. M. Gordon, B. The Mediterranean as a Tourist Destination from
9. M. Gordon, B. The Mediterranean as a Tourist Destination from Classical Antiquity to Club Med, Mediterranean Studies, Vol. 12 (2003),
Classical Antiquity to Club Med, Mediterranean Studies, Vol. 12 (2003), pp. 203-226
pp. 203-226
10. For the purposes of tourism, we see the world as divided into three
10. holiday lakes: the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the South China
: , Sea. The major markets for tourism are to be found above and below these
. lakes. They are Western Europe, North America, and Japan/Australia.
. , The orientation of movements in the current phase is vertical mainly
/. from the North to South. There will also be a second phase, though we
. have no means of determining the precise moment when it will start per-
, haps towards the turn of the century. This phase will witness major lateral
. movements of tourists from East to West. Kartun, D. Club Mditerrane
Growth Policies, International Journal of Tourism Management, June,
. Kartun, D. Club Mditerrane Growth 1981.
Policies, International Journal of Tourism Management, , 1981.
11. Club Med is restlessly chasing the zeitgeist, its current slogan working
11. , as a gruesome if faithful index to recent history: And what is your idea
, of happiness? is the latest in a long series of campaigns that attempt to
, : capture and reflect the predominant character of each era. The return to
; primitivism in the face of social codes: Antidote for civilization; the rise
of individualism: Happiness the way I want it; post 9/11: Being happy
. again.
:
: 11
: .
-:

Postcards: Greek Desirability
In and Out of Frame
-
,
KONSTANTINOS . , .
KALANTZIS
-
,
.
. : ,
, UCL , . -
Konstantinos Kalantzis ( ) (), -
holds a PhD in .
Anthropology, UCL
, ,
. -
:
, , , ,
-
.
.
Lets begin by spatially situating two postcard consumption sites in different Greek
cities that attract tourists. Our first location is the old town of Chania in Western
Crete. In a pedestrianized alley with rows of shops, a postcard stand sits next to
stalls featuring leather bags, olive-oil soap bars and miniature renditions of Cre-
tan archaeological sites. The postcard stand is replete with colorful landscapes.
Pictures of beaches, archaeological sites and views of old towns. Amidst the re-
touched blue (sea and sky) and pink (sunset) colors, one also locates a few por-
traits of men. Contrary to most landscape images, the sitters appear uncaptioned
and unnamed. Their features include the desirable idioms attributed to Crete
nationally: whiskers, a white beard, a black shirt and a solemnly mellow gaze
that alludes to notions of wisdom emanating from a rugged lifestyle. The location
is rhythmically animated by the sound of Cretan lyre music playing through the
shops speakers.
Our second site is the pedestrianized street in the center of Athens that is
celebrated, among other things, for the views of the Acropolis that it offers. These
views of the monument are materially replicated in the postcard stands, found in
various kiosks on that street, further highlighting the importance granted to vision
in contemporary tourist practices. As with the Cretan case, the pictures are color-
291 essays
, -
, , .
-
,
.
, ,
(
, , -

).
-

.
(
), -
. -
-
,
,

-.
- . ,
- ,
, .
,
- -

. -
.
ful, but, this time, they focus on the city of Athens and its antiquities (e.g. a satyr
with an erect penis that may serve as jocular token of a trip to the South).
The imagery in postcard stands throughout Greece encapsulates and
constructs particular versions of what is deemed desirably national and export-
able. Drawing on photographys realist claims (the idea that what is represented
is true), postcards selectively synthesize particular kinds of places and people for
display. The photographic work of erasure and selectivity is rendered invisible in
the final frame, given that viewers have no access to what has been excluded; i.e.
those human figures, social practices and landscapes that did not fit the postcard
producers vision of culture and place. We might best describe postcard motifs as
palatable. Despite their differences, postcards in Greece portray people and
places that are accessible and enjoyable from the perspective of a visitor. Such
enjoyability may even exceed the conventionally picturesque, as is testified by im-
ages of road signs with bullet holes and pictures of old men with crooked teeth that
can be found in postcard stands in Crete. In these latter cases, the images offer the
thrills of aversion from a safe distance.
Even though locals tend to classify the markets where postcards are sold
as touristic (with connotation of inauthentic superficiality), the discussed images
capture understandings of culture that are widely accepted in Greece. These con-
ceptions draw on 19th-century typologies popularized in Greece especially by
nationalist folklore studies. Dominant ideas captured in postcards include notions

- ( -
) -
.
19 ,
,
.
-
, -
. -

. ,
, (.. ). -
,
(
),
()
.
of the nation as a bounded entity, of culture as an accumulation of objects and

of the rural population as the bearer of tradition. Greek postcards displaying
people particularly testify to the position ascribed to the rural periphery. These
images depict anonymous farmers, artisans and shepherds, often on the field (e.g.
fishing). They tend to function within the so-called salvage-paradigm, claiming
to preserve these people and their crafts against time, while placing them in a
domain (tradition) that is spatially and temporally different from the daily experi-
ence of the urbanite tourist.
In many ways, postcards crystallize official concepts of nation, culture,
gender, modernity and tradition, thus allowing insights into dominant ideology.
Interestingly, this ideology is not just the product of a single mechanism since vari-
ous agents partake in the production process. Careful research on postcards even
reveals differences in how the producers approach the subjects, even if most post-
cards converge in the delivery of a palatable world. Particularly, in postcards that
address visitors through a caption (e.g. Greetings from Kos) and a composite
collage of images (a beach, a windmill and a medieval site) one observes the
evocation of the main axes in contemporary tourist experiences: pleasure and the
exploration of the material past.
1
-
:

.
Postcard stand in western Crete
portraying an assembly of palatable
places and portraits.
293 essays
-
, , , ,
. ,
, -
.
-
,
-
/ . H
- -
(.. )
(.. , -
). /
(, , .).
-
(..
) Edward Said
: -

. -

. ,

. -

.
,
.

-
From a critical perspective the objectification of rurality in postcards (as in

the anonymous human figures reduced into types and the attractively abandoned
houses) entails elements of what Edward Said has called Orientalism. A type of
representation that emphasizes the alterity of the sitters in ways that subjects them
to the power of producers and spectators. The sitters are thus enjoyably tradi-
tional in ways that conform to the demands of the urbanite, middle-class specta-
tors. The rural countryside itself must be preserved as a vacation playground that
excludes structures, which disturb bourgeois fantasies of tradition. The Oriental-
ism of Greek postcards is most poignantly apparent in cases where the producers
have effaced from the pictures specific elements that are deemed undesirable.
The absence of the undesirable element makes the producers agenda even more
transparent as regards his/her vision and claims on the represented subject.
An interesting case of visual effacement concerns the erasure of modern
materiality from a series of postcards of rural Crete produced by a renowned com-
mercial photographer. Electricity pylons, neon signs and concrete buildings are
removed so the sitters appear in ways that more aptly fit the traditional-man-in-
place bourgeois conception. Another case concerns the visual removal of the alu-
minum window frame in a postcard depicting an old man sitting at a coffeehouse
in highland Crete. The aluminum was substituted with a colorful wooden door
that resembles similar surfaces depicted in postcards of Greek old towns. While
,
. ,

-
, .
-, -
,
-
.
( -
), ,
.
-
19 -
-
(
).
-
( ) .
-
60 70 ( ) -
, ,
. H -
,
, ,
. - -
70, ,
. -
-
the photographer chose the man for his traditional appearance (headscarf and
beard) he cleansed the recorded environment in order to harmonize him with a
vision of purified tradition. The photo-effacement paradigm could be compared to
the 19th-century officialdoms agenda of removing non-classical antiquities from
the Athens Acropolis site so as to conform to Western European hierarchies of
value about the past (classical seen as superior to Byzantine or archaic).
The desire to erase modernity from Greek (particularly rural) landscapes
pertains to the present moment, however. My research on 1960s and 1970s post-
cards of Greek cities reveals that the (par excellence modern) concrete blocks of
flats of that period are rendered visible and are even, at times, visually celebrated.
This is reflective of cultural investments in the periods urban environment and also
a claim directed outwards that Greece is indeed modern, as manifested in its built
structures. In a postcard from the Dodecanese, made in the 1970s, a parking lot
with cars is featured next to the islands historic castle. It is quite possible that the
postcard producer included this structure as a means of noting that the charms of
the island (e.g. the vernacular ruin also featured in the picture) are available within
an environment of modern amenities that allows visitors to enjoy the commodities,
transportation and lifestyle that they are used to back home.
Another postcard from that same period represents the Athens Acropo-
lis by night, as noted in the caption. A neon sign advertising a fabric factory ap-
pears at the center of the image almost as big as the Parthenon itself. It would be
hard to imagine that such a photograph would be chosen as a postcard today
295 essays
(..
) -
,
.
-
: by night, .
, , -
. -
- (
). - 60,
-
.
. , ,
-

.

, , -
60 ( -
). , , ,
(outside the possibility of a retro-nostalgia paradigm). In another postcard from

the 1960s, three views of a newly built concrete hotel are pasted behind the
inscription Sparta. It is exactly the kind of concrete building, discussed above,
that is currently deemed unattractive by Greeks. Dominant tourist endeavors,
today, in Greece and internationally, revolve around notions of backcountry ex-
ploration and the veneration of antiquity and vernacular lifestyle. Modernity
is desirable insofar as it belongs to the city and conforms to official architec-
tural canons, which exclude unattractively hybrid modernisms, like those of the
1960s European periphery (especially when these happen in the countryside).
Of course, even the tourist admiration of the pastorale occurs through the use of
modern amenities such as airplanes to reach ones destination. Such amenities
are classified as necessary to arrive to ones object of desire but would hardly
qualify as photographic objects.
-
.

,
(..
).
Postcard stand in Athens. Note the
emphasis on monumental sites and
iconic nationalized aesthetics
2 (e.g. blue white church).
, ,
.
,
.

-. , , -
( ) -
.

. -
his text has so far focused on the content level of postcards. However, it
is important to remember that postcards are also (if not mostly) material items that
carry inscriptions and change numerous hands. It is at the level of the postcards
consumption that one particularly locates departures from the original meanings
intended by the photographers. Doing research on used postcards, I have found
various inscriptions, some of which mock the seriousness of nationalized figures or
the authenticity of vernacular sites. Some of these inscriptions capitalize exactly
on what Walter Benjamin called the tiny spark of contingency, i.e. photographys
capacity to include even details that exceed the photographers intention, as in a
case where a Greek user humorously commented on the awkwardly stiff postures
-
.
Postcard stand in Athens.
297 essays
- :

.
-
,
,
- 80,
.
, , ,
.
-
, -.
- -
, , ,
. -
,
/ .
,

- .
of the kilted warrior figures in a 1980s postcard. On another occasion, a user

from the US has jokingly written our room over the photograph of a monastery
in Meteora, Thessaly. This denotes a playful appropriation of sacred space that is
only possible on the postcard surface.
Postcards are indeed reflections of dominant ideologies, replete with
official aspirations about the position of the nation, gender, class and place in
a hierarchy of value. These aspirations change over time, leaving their traces
through the choice of subjects or the censorship/effacement of particular angles
and things. Yet, photographys inclusiveness and mostly peoples unpredictable
uses have the final word in what postcards as objects and signs may mean and do.
Recommended Readings
Benjamin, Walter 1999, Little History of Photography, Walter Ben- Benjamin, Walter 1999, Little History of Photography, in Walter Ben-
jamin: Selected Writings vol. 2, pt. 2: 19311934, M. W. Jennings, H. jamin: Selected Writings vol. 2, pt. 2: 19311934, M. W. Jennings, H.
Eiland, and G. Smith (.), Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard Eiland, and G. Smith, eds., Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard
Edwards, Elizabeth 1997, Beyond the Boundary: A Consideration of Edwards, Elizabeth 1997, Beyond the Boundary: A Consideration of
the Expressive in Photography and Anthropology, Rethinking Visual the Expressive in Photography and Anthropology, in Rethinking Visual
Anthropology, M. Banks and H. Morphy, (). New Haven, CT: Yale Anthropology, M. Banks and H. Morphy, eds. New Haven, CT: Yale
Kalantzis, Konstantinos, 2014, On Ambivalent Nativism: Hegemony, Kalantzis, Konstantinos, 2014, On Ambivalent Nativism: Hegemony, Pho-
Photography and Recalcitrant Alterity in Sphakia, Crete, American Eth- tography and Recalcitrant Alterity in Sphakia, Crete, American Ethnolo-
nologist 41 (1): 56-75. gist 41 (1): 56-75.
Pinney, Christopher, 2011, Photography and Anthropology, : Pinney, Christopher, 2011, Photography and Anthropology, London:
Reaktion Books. Reaktion Books.
Said, Edward W. 1978, Orientalism, : Routledge and Kegan Paul. Said, Edward W., 1978, Orientalism, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

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21

274 ADRIAN LAHOUD

a locus that contributed to the shaping of the indigenous discourse on develop-

The possibility of viewing, the multiplicity of experience, the contact with

27. . . , 28. See Vasiliki Galani-Moutafi Tourism Research on Greece: A Critical

31. . , : , ogy and aesthetics, [unpublished doctoral dissertation], (Aristotle Univer-

32. . , : 33. See N. Bastounopoulos, How to look at Greece: Tourist Snapshot,

42. , 43. See Heraklis Papaioannou, Photographing Greek landscapes: ideol-

46. . Orvar Lfgren, On holidays: A History of Vacationing, (Berkeley:

In 1976, Dean MacCannell, a pioneer of sociological and anthropological re-

als, the more the international economic environment is liberalized. As information

3. . , , 3. . Kalinski, Long-term tourist planning, Architecture in Greece, issue

4. , , 4. Aris Konstantinidis, Architecture and tourism, Architecture in

5. , 5. Angelos Vlachos, Tourist Development and Public Policy in Contem-

7. . , : 7. G. Stathakis, The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan: A History of

8. , : - 8. Panos Kazakos, Between State and Market: Economy and Economic

14. , , 268. 14. Kazakos, Between State and Market, 268.

19. . , : 19. Gerasimos . Zacharatos, Hotel Chamber of Greece: Milestones

22. , , 366-371. 22. Kazakos, Between State and Market, 366-371.

29. : 30 Angelos Vlachos, The Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens (Athens:

The offer of hospitality to travellers is inextricably tied to the history of civilization.

Under those circumstances, and with an air of perhaps excessive op-

1967, with D. Zivas, K. Stamatis, K. Dialeisma, I. Triantafillidis, Ph. Vokos and G.

Xenia hotels built on the bastions of byzantine fortifications replaced

hotel and sea-bathing facilities15. Notwithstanding the question of integration, or

Until now Tourism meant Archaeology: Delphi, Olympia, Knossos, etc.,

of using them as hospitality accommodation through the Program for Traditional

2. . , 1945-1974, 2. M. Nikolakakis, Tourism and Greek Society 1945-1974, Unpublished

3. . . , E 3. See V. Kolonas, Greek architectural creation during the Interwar

20. . , , , 20. Eleftheria, 26/3/1966

22. . 66: . 22. Kalokardou-Krantonelli R., Tourism and Architecture in Tsartas

23. - ., 23. Eleftheria, 26/3/1966

No one seemed to have an inkling of what exactly was to follow. One

. , . , dictated by populist considerations, of granting uncontrolled loans for tourist de-

Porto Carras 477

ployed vertically or in tiers, were abandoned and replaced by dense arrays of

Divercity & Mplusm,

Divercity & Mplusm,

Occasionally, luxury became a question of scale: large tourist complexes

2. Le Corbusier Unit d Habitation 2. I am referring to works such as Le Corbusiers Unit dHabitation

History and Landscape

The tourist transformation of the landscape is followed by history. The

required the demolition of an entire old Athenian neighborhood of simple home- . ,

However, in certain instances,11 the relationship of hotel and landscape

Tradition and Interiors

11. , 2014, City and Countryside Meet

1. 1. The question of modernization in Greek architecture and cityscapes

13. . , , , . 56 14. Op.cit.

promotion and advertisement of Greek tourism. The second agreement was on

had to be re-conquered on different terms by its users, inhabitants and visitors.

3. 3. On human scales in architecture and urban planning see: C. A. Doxi-

. 22. As Yorgos Simeoforidis points out, with reference to Dimitris Fatouros,

1. . . 1. In collaboration with M. Zagorisiou.

2. 1974, - 2. The Xenia program continued until 1974, in a desultory

3. . , , , 1958, . , - 3. I. Triantafyllidis, Xenia, Nafplion, 1958, Ph. Vokos, Xenia

4. . , , , 1960, . 4. A. Konstantinidis, Xenia Motel, Kalambaka, 1960, A.

5. . , , , 1958, . - 5. A. Konstantinidis, Xenia, Andros, 1958, A. Konstantinidis,

Modernization, Originality and

Aris Konstantinidis (1913-1993) was a leading figure of Greek contemporary

der Rohe (, 1981 &

His Architectural Approach and Work

approach of critical or folkloric regionalism. He knowingly criticized the com-

tained that the ultimate purpose of architecture is to create ephemeral vessels

The Groundbreaking Xenia Hotels