The Ministry of Culture, through the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chalkidiki and Mount Athos, announces the launch of digital applications and the opening of the modernized information center of Ancient Olynthos to the public, following the completion of the project “Population Movements and Material Culture: Digital Mapping of Chalkidiki from Prehistory to Historical Times,” which is part of the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, Innovation 2014-2020.”
Ancient Olynthos, the most important city in Chalkidiki in the 5th century BC, was a significant economic and military center of the region, destroyed in 348 BC by the Macedonian king Philip II. It serves as an example of an organized city and an invaluable source of knowledge about daily life in the late classical period.
By modernising the existing information room within the archaeological site and transforming it into a contemporary Digital Information Center named AnODIC (Ancient Olynthos Digital Information Center), an attractive, interactive environment has been created that offers visitors an easily understandable and entertaining way to explore the journey of this significant city through time and space with texts in Greek and English, photos, drawings, and reconstructions, as noted by the Ministry of Culture in its announcement.
The new space offers visitors touch screens and projection surfaces presenting:
Digital Timeline
All the milestone events of Ancient Olynthos’ history are presented through an interactive timeline, inviting visitors on an educational and entertaining journey into the past.
Digital Interactive Map
A virtual tour of the archaeological site reveals the city’s development through its buildings and inhabitants’ artifacts, architectural remains, and archaeological finds.
Digital Display Case
The material culture of Ancient Olynthos comes to life through 3D models that visitors can “touch” and study from all angles, guided by easily understandable accompanying texts.
Stories of the Researchers
From the first visits of the initial researchers to Olynthos to modern research, visitors can discover how a great city is brought to light through photographic material and testimonies.
Video Installation
Short narratives of significant moments that marked the city’s life form an original audiovisual installation projected on five different surfaces, mainly utilizing animation techniques with an original artistic approach.
After climbing the hill, through a digital tour guide application for Android and iOS mobile phones titled “Colonies of Chalkidiki through Time and Space,” visitors can discover what lies beneath the city, listen to an original narrative in the form of a fictional story from a girl of the 4th century BC, and with the AR edition, see the past come to life before their eyes.
The applications are accessible through the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chalkidiki and Mount Athos’ website at this link or by scanning QR codes at the entrance and points within the archaeological site. Additionally, the digital tour guide application offers an extensive tour of selected points in five other cities-colonies of Chalkidiki, specifically the archaeological site of ancient Stagira, Nea Kallikratia (ancient Dikaia), Potidaea, Afytos (ancient Aphyti), and Ierissos (ancient Akanthos), as well as condensed information on 17 other colonial sites in the region.
