There is much to discover in the history of Athens as it is solidified in stone and ‘piled up’ in the urban space. By examining artefacts and forms of architecture that usually escape attention, but also through careful study of the shifting functions and meanings of the same building or monument over time, we get a more nuanced picture of the city. How are monuments and certain spaces used, reused (or abused) in Athens over the years? How many ‘layers’ can be distinguished in the story that a monument tells us?

You get to know the multilayered history of Athens on the basis of the study of the changing use of certain monuments. It is a first, thorough introduction to various aspects of urban history (topography, geography, history, art history, archaeology, architecture and anthropology). The emphasis is on the Ottoman period of Athens that so far has received little attention, on the transition to that of the Greek nation-state and on the transformation of Ottoman Athens to a (West) European city.

Study materials

• Bastea Eleni, The Creation of Modern Athens: Planning the Myth.Cambridge, New York and Melbourne, Cambridge University Press, 2000;
• Maloutas T., Spyrellis S. (eds) Athens Social Atlas. Digital compendium of texts and visual material,  (Athenssocialatlas.gr ). (A selection of articles);
• A corpus of articles available on Canvas.

Time, location en price

• 3 June - 26 June 2025
• Tuesday from 13:00-15:00 and Thursday from 13:00-15:00
• Location: to be announced
• Costs: € 165 (€ 148 AUV members) 

Important to know

• Registration deadline: 20 March 2025.
• You can only audit an OUC, which means that you may only attend lectures and cannot attend seminars, take part in the examination, or obtain ECTS credits.
• For the study schedule, please consult the UvA timetable website. 

Lecturer

Public programme Humanities

This Open UvA Course is part of the Faculty of Humanities' public programme. Beside Open UvA Courses, the public programme also comprises special lectures and series of courses. The public programme is intended for alumni, employees looking for extra training, and all others who are interested in art, culture, philosophy, language and literature, history and religion.