Overview
Platform for data aggregation or retrieval Photos Historical Documents (e.g. Notarial sources; Census records; Ecclesiastical documents; Correspondence) Digital Tourism Digitization of collections Apps / Interfaces for data visualization
The project “Retrology” is a digital platform, which draws upon a massive private archive with various publications, photographs and documents of the last two centuries (1850-2021). Its aspiration is to narrate in a unique high-tech way interesting stories of places from the Greek past.
Users from anywhere in the world get access to specially-configured features of Google maps, and visit a central platform with a separate database and search engine that hosts multimedia slides and timelapse videos. These give anyone the opportunity to digitally time-travel, to “meet” important people and get to know past events relevant to a Greek building, a street or an institution.
Apart from its significant contribution to our culture, history, and education, Retrology is a powerful tool at the service of every prospective visitor to Greece, as it invites users to create their own digital trips based on their personal interests. For instance, a music lover may visit the house and the neighbourhood where remarkable artists, such as Maria Kallas, Vangelis Papathanassiou, and Manos Hadjidakis, have lived or studied. Or a film lover could wander in various locations where important films have been shot. The examples to re-discover multiple aspects of the culture of a place are indeed innumerable.
You can find more information about the project by visiting the Retrology Google Drive folder (you can download: 1.a short presentation including a timelapse from Panepistimiou street, and photographs of Kanaris’ house, 2. a video demonstrating the digitisation of the Greek magazines “Fantasia” and “Atlantis”).
The Hellenic Centre for Digital Culture (HCDC), which runs Retrology, has been working in the field of education, culture and technology for more than a decade and, among other digital projects, HCDC has digitised multiple newspapers and magazines. Their aim is to provide teachers, students, and everyone interested in Greek history and culture, with highly aesthetic, user-friendly, informative and, at the same time entertaining, tools.