The Ephemeral City. Refugees amongst Antiquities in Inter-war Athens

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After the Greek military defeat in the depths of Anatolia, a wave of refugees fled to the Greek capital and sought shelter among the monuments and archaeological sites in the old inner city. Based on a set of documents kept in the Historical Archive of Antiquities and Restorations of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, as well as plans, photographs, legal texts, reports, newspaper articles, and memoirs, the paper discusses the mechanisms which the authorities and, in particular, the State Archaeological Service developed in order to address the multifaceted challenges arising from this transformative event. It traces back the intricate stories of the temporary presence of refugees among the Athenian antiquities, the development of tourism, and the creation of the vast archaeological zone in the historic centre, comprising the Athenian Acropolis, the surrounding hills, and the ancient Agora.