The Purpose
This blog is written in a semi academic, semi colloquial style. I have included posts that emphasise important Athenian architectural motifs as well as posts about parts of Athenian architecture that I find important or have stood out to me.
When reading the following posts it might make sense to begin at the first post so that I can establish the scene: 19th vs 20th century architecture. From there you can either move chronologically towards this post or reverse chronologically back towards the first post, there is no intended order.
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When I started this blog I thought I had a clear answer to the final prompt, but as my work draws to a close I have come to realise that my answer and opinion are more nuanced than I anticipated. Architecturally, I think most of Athens has escaped its ancient past. However, the few, but important, buildings of the 19th century keep the past in the forefront of the Athenian image. This observation has led me to conclude that not only has Greece had trouble escaping its ancient past, it also has struggled to escape its recent past. The actions of a few elites (especially non-Greek elites) have definitively grounded modern Athens and by extent modern Greece in the classical past.
While a lot of architectural features have moved away from the past, there is an unspoken question or debate as to how far back do you consider the past. We assume the ancient past, but from what I see when I walk around Pangrati or Plaka is modern Greece trying to escape the actions of 19th century Philhellenes. I see a Greece entrenched in modernist architecture, reminiscent of the population and economic bombs scattered throughout the 20th century. I don’t see a Greece that is removing its past to make room for the 21st century, I see a Greece that is weighed down by non-Greeks fascination with a history that is not there own.
We can all agree there is no and never will be a black or white answer to this question, but it is my intention to demonstrate what a non-Greek who is fascinated with antiquity sees when she walks through Athens. I hope you enjoy my photo journey and feel free to message me for more photos!
