The Project
Digital enhancement, exploitation and promotion of the recent intangible and tangible cultural heritage of the Municipality of Thessaloniki
Discover.thessaloniki.gr
The work of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, as a body of Art and Culture, aims to promote and disseminate the cultural heritage of Thessaloniki. Through the combination of culture and modern technology, a narrative of the past is sought, which also functions as a gateway to the future, opening new ways for the promotion of the cultural heritage.
With educational material based on the content of our archive, as well as innovative applications that allow the exploration of the historical wealth in new ways, a project is being formed that is a vital pillar for the promotion and preservation of the cultural and historical heritage of the country. Recognising the need to link traditions with the present, the Municipality of Thessaloniki adopts the latest technological innovations, bringing history into the present. Expanding the access and reach of its collections.
Through the management, organization and promotion of the cultural documents held by the Municipality, it actively contributes to the promotion of its cultural heritage. The digital applications that have been developed aim to document and disseminate the cultural heritage of the city using cutting-edge technologies. This digital initiative facilitates access to rich archival and artistic data and allows the integration of innovative presentation formats, enhancing the experiential and scientific interaction of users with the cultural documents.
This is an innovative initiative of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, which aims to create an integrated digital cultural unit, which will include in electronic form a significant part of the cultural heritage of the Library and the Gallery of the Municipality of Thessaloniki. The project is funded by the Ministry of Interior (MINE) and is part of the ANTONIS TRITSIS Programme.
REPOSITORY
Digital Repository of the collections of the Municipality of Thessaloniki with with a wealth of searchable documents
INTERACTIVE APPLICATIONS
Cultural Forums
Municipality of Thessaloniki
Municipal Gallery of Thessaloniki
The Department of Gallery and Art Activities of the Directorate of Libraries and Museums is housed in Casa Bianca, a listed monument of the modern architectural heritage of Thessaloniki.The Municipal Art Gallery organizes and hosts temporary exhibitions either from its permanent collections or in collaboration with institutions, museums, etc. in its three exhibition spaces, Casa Bianca (since 2013), Yeni Mosque and Aladja Imaret, buildings of particular architectural and historical value.
The Gallery's first collection was made up of works owned by the Municipality of Thessaloniki through donations, purchases, and works by Thessaloniki artists and engravings.
Collections
The Municipal Gallery's collection of paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and photographs, spanning the last 150 years, numbers around 3,000 works and continues to evolve.
Collection of Modern Greek Painting
The first works came from donations and purchases made by the Municipality of Thessaloniki in the 1950s and since then the collection has been constantly enriched. It includes 1309 works by important representatives of Modern Greek Art such as: Nikos Engonopoulos, Spyros Papaloukas, George Gounaropoulos, Epaminondas Thomopoulos, Sarantis Karavouzis, Nikos Kessanlis, George Lazogas, Loukas Venetoulias, Kostas Lachas, Kostas Lustas, Mendis Bostanzoglou, George Paralis, Nikos-Gavriel Pentzikis, Nikos Sakhinis, Yannis Svoronos, George Sikeliotis, Gerasimos Steris, Dimitris Tantanozis, Mr. α. In its annual programming, the Gallery includes thematic exhibitions with selected works from the collection, so that the public has the opportunity to see the creations of renowned Greek artists.
Collection of works by Nikolaos Gyzi
In 2001, on the 100th anniversary of the death of Nikolaos Gyzis, the descendants of the family in Munich make a large donation of 627 of his works. The collection is permanently exhibited on the first floor of Casa Bianca. The exhibition is divided into sections: portraits of the Gyzi family, posters and diplomas, ethnographic subjects, religious, allegorical, still lifes, as well as drawings and oil paintings from Bavaria and Tyrol. Noteworthy is also the section ``Gelatines`` exhibited in a separate room.
Collection of lithographs by Sotiris Christidis
In the same year, the Municipality of Thessaloniki purchased from the Dourvaris family 205 lithographs and numerous printed matter of the period 1890-1940, such as newspaper covers and popular readings, scrapbooks, sheet music, postcards, etc., works by the popular illustrator Sotiris Christides.
Collection of engraving
In the 1980s, the Gallery acquired the first works of Greek engraving, which was enriched over the years with works by important Greek engravers (Tassos, Vaso Katraki, Kostas Grammatopoulos, George Sikeliotis, Yannis Kefallinos, George Varlamos, etc.). Today the collection includes 660 works, part of which is exhibited in the gallery of Casa Bianca.
Collection of sculptures
The collection includes 71 works by important representatives of sculpture, mainly from Northern Greece. In the gallery of Casa Bianca, in direct connection with the collection of prints, the visitor can see a selection of sculptures, including Kyriakos Kabadakis, Marta Tzovaridou, George Kikotis, Christos Alehuras, George Iliopoulos, Karolos Kabelopoulos, Stathis Logothetis, George Tsakiris, Pavel Mendek, Manolis Tzobanakis, etc.
Central Library Department
The opening of the Thessaloniki Municipal Library took place in the spring of 1939. It was one of the first lending departments in Greece (1956), the first library annex (Kato Toumba Library, 1957) and the first mobile library (1963).On 1 October 2001 the new Central Municipal Library of Thessaloniki was inaugurated. Today the library network of the Municipality of Thessaloniki consists of the Central Library, 14 Regional Libraries and one Mobile Library.
