Rediscovering the cultural importance of Greek Cemeteries

An insight into how membership in ASCE has contributed to the development and preservation of Greek cemeteries.

For the past two decades, the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe has gone to inspiring lengths to promote and highlight the importance of cemeteries all over Europe as part of our tangible and intangible common cultural heritage.

Skiathos, the second Municipality in Greece to become a member of the ASCE, albeit a tiny island, is home to a cemetery of great historical and artistic value. Through the inspiring leadership of the President Lidija Pliberšek, and the collaboration with the Board of ASCE, we managed to lead the way for more and more Municipalities of Greece to join or be in process of joining ASCE in the context of the European Cemeteries Route as well as to mobilise the Ministry of Culture and set a lot of different actions in motion through synergies with various bodies throughout Europe.

Skiathos’ Cemetery became a historic site, an exceptional landmark not to be missed by anyone visiting the island, even making it on the list of the “10 must-see” spots of Skiathos, according to TripAdvisor. Moreover, the local society of the island had the chance to rediscover the cultural importance of the Cemetery and its ties to not only the island’s past but the future, by strengthening the community’s bonds with the identity of Skiathos. Furthermore, promoting the significant European Cemeteries through the ASCE channels, simultaneously promotes tourism development.

Understanding the significance of European cemeteries is inextricably interwoven with understanding European culture. ASCE, a vehicle to preserve collective historical memory through protecting cemeteries, turned 20 and I personally cannot wait to see what the future hold.

Thodoris Tzoumas
Mayor of Skiathos, Greece
ASCE’s Steering Committee Member
ASCE’s Representative in Greece


You can access the original article HERE.

WDEC in Skiathos, Greece

#EuropeForCulture Greece’s first time in ASCE’s Week of Discovering European Cemeteries – WDEC.

Celebrating at the Cemetery of Kifissia: A Photo Exhibition of Greece’s Historic Graveyards

A celebration in honour of Saint Tryfon, the patron saint of the Kifissia Municipal Cemetery, was successfully held on February 1st.Following a Church Service, which welcomed a big crowd, a photographic exhibition of Greece’s historic graveyards was organised in the cemetery’s courtyard.

Cemetery of Skiathos (Skiathos island, Greece)

The Cemetery of Skiathos was established in 1835. It is an outdoor museum that includes unique monuments of the neoclassical period, some of them dedicated to famous Greek personalities.

The History of Skiathos

The name “Skiathos” was given to the island in the pre-Hellenic period. There are two alternatives about the origin of the name. According to the first, the name was given by the Pelasgians, who were the first inhabitants, because they were impressed by the great shadow (skia in Greek) of the many trees they found there. According to the other version, the island took its name after Dionysus, the main god on the island, as his cult name was “Skianthos”.

After its first settlers, Skiathos was inhabited by Cretans and then by Mycenaeans. During the Persian Wars, Skiathos was a great help to the Athenians and its harbor was used as a fleet base. In 478 B.C., the island became a member of the Athenian League. After the Peloponnesian War (404 B.C.), Skiathos gained its autonomy. Despite the efforts of the Spartians to conquer the island, Skiathos managed to stay free.

Under the Macedonian rule and the enforcement of tyranny, the inhabitants of Skiathos suffered very much. In 146 B.C., the Romans took the island and gave many liberties to the Skiathians who lived peacefully until 88 B.C. when the King of Pontus Mithridates the 6th destroyed the island in the war against the Romans. During the Byzantine period, Skiathos was part of the province of Thessaly.

In 1204 A.D. Crusaders conquered Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire fell. All its territories went to the Crusaders except for the Aegean islands which were given to the Venetians. During this period, Skiathos, was ruled by the Ghisi family, with the help of Marco Sanudo (Duke of Naxos). The Venetians, with the acquiescence of the Skiathians, stayed on the island until 1538 when the Ottomans managed to conquer it. 

In 1830s Skiathos became free along with the rest of Greece, the island's capital was moved to the original site, where it still remains. The inhabitants had to leave the town and move at 1335 to Kastro, (the Greek word for castle), a high rock, overlooking a steep cliff above the sea at the northernmost part of the island, where they were safe. During the 19th century Skiathos became an important shipbuilding centre in the Aegean due to the abundance of pine forests on the island.

An act of great importance both for the island and the whole of Greece was the creation and raising of the first official Greek flag in September 1807, at the holy convent of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary (monastery of Evagelistria) in Skiathos. In World War II, the island suffered from the Nazis. On 14 September 1943, the Nazis sank a submarine with Skiathian heroes and on 23 August 1944 they burned the island and executed seven young Skiathians.

The Skiathos Cemetery

Skiathos Cemetery spreads on the slope of the hill, with a great sea view. It is an important sightseeing, which you don’t easily find in a Greek island.

The style of the cemetery can be traced to the Romantic period. As all the Greek Cemeteries of that period it has it’s entrance at the east side and a main path, which separates it in two parts, the south and the north. At this times Skiathos was a class sociaty and that was reflected at the Cemetery, where the north part was for the upper class and the south part was for the middle-lower class.

Major Greek figures are buried in the Cemetery - heroes of the Greek Revolution and world famous writers as Alexandros Papadiamantis.

The collection of sculptures in the cemetery represents a significant example of the Neoclassicism, a revival of the styles and spirit of classic antiquity inspired directly from the classical period (stelae). Some samples can be found of Egyptian patterns, such as obelisks.

Basic data

• a Greek Orthodox cemetery
• area of 550m2
• deceased are mostly Greek nationality
• characterized as an Historical Site, by the Ministry of Culture

Ownership

Municipality of Skiathos

Managing organization

Culture association Skiathos

Contact

Thodoris Tzoumas
Skiathos island, 37002,
Greece

Tel.: 00306 938 246 755
Email: theotzoumas@yahoo.gr