Former Directors of Research / Researchers:
Voula Konti
Ilias Anagnostakis, Honorary Director of Research
Anna Lambropoulou

External collaborators                                 
Zografia Bidikoudi (2014-2015)
Marilia Lykaki (2014-2015), (2019-2020)
Christos Makrypoulias (2014-2015)

Ongoing Projects

“Historical Geography of the Byzantine Peloponnese”
Anna Lambropoulou (coordinator), Anastasia Yangaki
Collaborating Researchers: Maria Leontsini, Angeliki Panopoulou.

As part of the program of Historical Geography of the Helladic Region, two volumes have been prepared and are under publication:

• V. Konti, A. Lambropoulou, I. Anagnostakis, M. Leontsini, A. Panopoulou, Historical Geography of the Byzantine Peloponnese (395-1204), Part B: The Byzantine Sites [in print]
• Α. Lambropoulou, Historical Geography of the Byzantine Peloponnese (4th-13th c.), Part A: Synthesis [in print]

“Aspects of Byzantine material culture”
Anastasia Yangaki
As part of this program, aspects of the Byzantine material culture are being explored. Interest focuses on archaeological evidence. Emphasis is given to the study of ceramics and metalware. Issues of know-how, interaction and dissemination of practices, use of objects, commercial relations are explored. For the needs of the program, co-operation has been developed with the competent Ephorates of Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, with Universities and scientific companies.

“Immured vessels in churches of Greece. An electronic corpus”
Anastasia Yangaki
The program is conducted in close collaboration with the respective local Ephorates of Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport. The purpose of the program is to record in an electronic database the glazed pottery (the so-called bacini) that is found immured on the exterior walls of Byzantine and post-Byzantine churches in Greece. The program focuses for now in areas of the Peloponnese, Attica and Crete.

“Island space: isolation and connectivity”
Maria Leontsini
The aim of the project is to study the position of islands in networks of communication during the Middle Byzantine era. It also seeks to explore the archaeological and symbolic features of the island (isolation - connectivity). The project is based on the research carried out at the Institute within the framework of the research project "Krepis" (2013-2015), with the implementation of a digital infrastructure project aiming at the mapping of the communication networks in the Ionian Islands.

“Production, processing and distribution of agricultural products in Corinthia (9th-15th century)”
Maria Leontsini, Angeliki Panopoulou
The aim of this research project is to identify, through the geographical imprinting of agricultural production and its subsequent processing and commercial exploitation, the changes that took place and influenced the economy and the natural environment of Corinthia during the transition from the Middle Byzantine to the Late Byzantine era.

Byzantine and Latin-dominated Tenos: Old and new archaeological evidence
A. Yangaki (coordination-codirection), A. Lambropoulou, A. Koumanoudi (collaborating researchers).
The program constitutes a collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades and is conducted with the participation of D. Athanasoulis (director) and of M. Sigala and Ch. Sakellakou. It aims to explore aspects of the island's historical geography, through the recording and the documentation of specific monuments and movable finds of Tenos dating back to the Byzantine era and the period of Latin rule, i.e. from the 4th to the early 18th century. In particular, the interest of the program is focused on two major axes: a) locating, recording and documenting monuments and movable finds and b) conducting systematic excavation in areas of special archaeological interest.
More information: https://byzlatinos.eie.gr

Studies

• Study and publication of articles and monographs on the economy, trade, population, hagiology, monasticism of the continental and island Helladic region during the Byzantine period, 4th-15th century (A. Lambropoulou). The program explores aspects of monumental topography, economic and commercial life, population’s composition, monastic life, hagiology of the continental and island regions (Peloponnese, Sterea Ellada, Cyclades, Thrace etc.).
• Study and publication of the immured vessels in churches of Crete (Α. Yangaki). In the framework of the relevant sub-program, preparation of a monograph for the presentation of the immured vessels (bacini) in the churches of Crete. The material covers the period from the 12th to the 21st century.
• Study and publication of pottery from the excavation at Eleutherna, Sector II, Crete, excavator: Ch. Tsigonaki (A. Yangaki).
• Study and publication of pottery from rescue excavations in Tenos (Α. Yangaki), through the detailed recording of the different categories of pottery from these excavations.

Funded Projects

- Current

• 2016-2018: Collaboration with the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum -Forschungsinstitut für Archäologie (Mainz, Germany) for the Program “Harbours and landing places on the Balkan coasts of the Byzantine Empire (4th to 12th centuries)” in the framework of the particular research program (SPP-1630) “Harbours from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages”, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [DFG]. (Responsible: Anna Lambropoulou, collaborators: I. Anagnostakis, M. Leontsini, A. Panopoulou, A. Yangaki).
  http://www.spp-haefen.de/en/projects/haefen-an-der-balkankueste-des-byzantinischen-reiches/team/

• 2017-: Participation to the IHR/NHRF project Anavathmis. Historical Research and Digital Applications with the project: “Raw materials, natural resources and agricultural products. Evidence for the Peloponnese (4th-15th c.)” (responsible: A. Lambropoulou, collaborators: I. Anagnostakis, A. Yangaki, M. Leontsini, A. Panopoulou).
  
  
• 2017-: Participation to the IHR/NHRF project Anavathmis. Historical Research and Digital Applications with the project: “Upgrading of the existing project: Pottery as a source for the study of trade and economic networks in the Aegean region during the Byzantine era: The case of the Peloponnese” (responsible: A. Yangaki).

- Accomplished

• 2013-2015: Participation to the research program “Κύρτου πλέγματα-Convex grids” of IHR/NHRF, with the project: “Agricultural networks for the production and distribution of products in the Peloponnese during the Byzantine period” (responsible: A. Lambropoulou; collaborators: I. Anagnostakis, M. Leontsini, A. Panopoulou, A. Yangaki) (http://kyrtouplegmata.eie.gr/index.php/en/2015-03-08-11-36-11/1-4/ee2-9).
•  2013-2015: Participation to the research program “Κύρτου πλέγματα-Convex grids” of IHR/NHRF, with the project: “Pottery as a source for the study of trade and economic networks in the Aegean region during the Byzantine era: The case of the Peloponnese” (responsible: A. Yangaki) (http://kyrtouplegmata.eie.gr/index.php/en/2015-03-08-11-36-11/1-4/ee2-7).
• 2006-2008: Participation in the program of the EU "Excellence 2006-2008, Byzantiou Katoptron: Sources and Studies for the Byzantine World" (A. Lampropoulou, H. Anagnostakis, V. Konti, M. Leontsini, A. Panopoulou, A. Yangaki).
• Three year European Culture 2000 Program (2002-2005) on the topic of Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe. The 13 European nations participating were coordinated by Dieter Quast (RGZM); Greece was represented by the IBR/NHRF Historical Geography Program entitled Οι Σλάβοι στον Ελληνικό χώρο από τον 7ο μέχρι και τις αρχές του 9ου αι. / The Slavs in the Greek region from the 7th through the early 9th c. (responsible: A. Lambropoulou; external collaborators: N. Poulou- Papadimitriou, Ch. Katsougiannopoulou, A. Yangaki).

Fieldwork

Team members visit various areas, with a view to locating and identifying sites, installations, monuments, roads, ports etc. Archaeological expeditions to the Peloponnese and Crete have been organized to document and study archaeological material.

Conferences

• International Academic Symposium, Η εβραϊκή παρουσία στον ελλαδικό χώρο (4ος-19ος αι.) [The Jewish Presence in the Greek Region (4th-19th c.)], Athens, 24-25 November 1993 (in collaboration with the Society for the Study of Hellenic Judaism). Organization: A. Lambropoulou.
• International Symposium, Πρωτοβυζαντινή Mεσσήνη και Oλυμπία. Aστικός και αγροτικός χώρος στη δυτική Πελοπόννησο [Early Byzantine Messene and Olympia. Urban and Rural Space in the Western Peloponnese], Athens, 29-30 May 1998 (in collaboration with the Society for Messenian Archaeological Studies). Organization: Ν. Οikonomides, P. G. Themelis, I. Anagnostakis, V. Konti, A. Lambropoulou, V. Penna.
• Oι μεταμορφώσεις της Πελοποννήσου (4ος-15ος) [Transformations of Peloponnese (4th-15th c.)], Eιδικές Mορφωτικές Eκδηλώσεις EIE / NHRF Special Cultural Events, Athens, NHRF (February 1999).
• International Symposium, O Mοναχισμός στην Πελοπόννησο από τον 4ο μέχρι τον 15ο αι. [Monasticism in the Peloponnese from the 4th to the 15th c.], Aigion, 5-6 May 2000 (in collaboration with the VI Ephorate for Byzantine Antiquities). Organization: N. Oikonomides, M. Georgopoulou-Verra, V. Konti, A. Panopoulou, I. Anagnostakis, A. Moutzali.
• International Symposium, Μονεμβάσιος Οίνος - Μονεμβασ(ι)ά - Malvasia [Monemvasian Wine - Monemvas(i)a –Malvasia], Athens, 19-20 May 2006 (in collaboration with IBR Program “Everyday and Social Life in Byzantium”). Organization: I. Anagnostakis.
• Scientific lecture: Οι Σλάβοι στην Πελοπόννησο. Τα νέα στοιχεία από την ανασκαφή δύο νεκροταφείων στην Αρκαδία [The Slavs in the Peloponnese. New evidence from the excavation of two cemeteries in Arcadia] (main speaker: D. Athanasoulis) (February 14, 2014). Organization: A. Lambropoulou, A. Yangaki.
• Το Βυζάντιο χωρίς λάμψη. Τα ταπεινά αντικείμενα και η χρήση τους στον καθημερινό βίο των Βυζαντινών [Byzantium without splendor. Ηumble objects and their use in everyday life of the Byzantines], Special Educational Manifestations, Institute of Historical Studies, National Hellenic Research Foundation (May 2014). Organization: A. Yangaki, A. Panopoulou.
• A series of three lectures titled Η εφυαλωμένη κεραμική της Ιταλίας κατά τη Μεσαιωνική και Αναγεννησιακή περίοδο και η διάδοσή της στον ελλαδικό χώρο [The Glazed Pottery of Italy during the Medieval and Renaissance period and its dissemination in Greece], as part of a series of lectures entitled: Italian Pottery and Its Interconnections with the Greek Region organized at the Centre for the Study of Traditional Pottery from the Centre and the Network of Modern Potery (January-February 2016). Participation: A. Yangaki.
• Organization of a scientific workshop entitled Μετακινήσεις αντικειμένων, διάδοση πρακτικών μέσα από τη μελέτη των εντοιχισμένων αγγείων σε εκκλησίες της βενετοκρατούμενης Κρήτης [Movement of objects, dissemination of practices through the study of immured vessels in churches of Venetian-dominated Crete], in the framework of the 12th International Congress of Cretan Studies (24.09.2016), Herakleion. Organization: A. Yangaki.
• 12ο Διεθνές Συνέδριο AIECM3 για τη Μεσαιωνική και Νεότερη Κεραμική της Μεσογείου [12th International AIECM3 Congress on Medieval and Modern Period Ceramics of the Mediterranean] (Athens, 21-27 October 2018): Co-organizing the Department of Archaeology and History of Art of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Chairman of the Organizing Committee: Associate Professor P. Petridis) and the Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation (member of the organizing committee: A. Yangaki), with the initiative of the first and with the active participation of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Center for the Study of Traditional Pottery (G. Psaropoulos Foundation).
• Αἱ τοῦ Κέκροπος καὶ τοῦ Κάδμου: Η Αθήνα και η Θήβα κατά τη μέση βυζαντινή περίοδο [Αἱ τοῦ Κέκροπος καὶ τοῦ Κάδμου: Athens and Thebes during the middle Byzantine period], Special Educational Manifestations, Institute of Historical Studies, National Hellenic Research Foundation (5-26 February 2019). Organization: M. Gerolymatou, A. Lambropoulou.

The members of the Program and the individual Programs have occasionally collaborated or collaborate scientifically with the following bodies:

Collaborations with scientific bodies in Greece

• University of Crete, Department of History and Archaeology.
• University of the Peloponnese, Department of Philology.
• Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaia.
• Ephorate of Antiquities of Arcadia.
• Ephorate of Antiquities of Herakleion.
• Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia.
• Ephorate of Antiquities of Lakonia.
• Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi.
• Ephorate of Antiquities of Messinia.
• Ephorate of Antiquities of Rethymnon.
• German Archaeological Institute, Athens.
• Austrian Archaeological Institute, Athens.
• Society of Peloponnesian Studies.
• Society of Messenian Archaeological Studies.

International Collaborations

• Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum - Forschungsinstitut für Archäologie (Mainz, Germany).

• “Agricultural networks for the production and distribution of products in the Peloponnese during the Byzantine period”: A. Lambropoulou, I. Anagnostakis, M. Leontsini, A. Panopoulou, A. Yangaki. Open Access Electronic Database in the frame of the Kyrtou plegmata, Krepis program, 2013-2015. Project WP2.9 http://kyrtouplegmata.eie.gr/index.php/en/2015-03-08-11-36-11/1-4/ee2-9.

• “Pottery as a source for the study of trade and economic networks in the Aegean region during the Byzantine era: The case of the Peloponnese”: A. Yangaki. Open Access Electronic Database in the frame of the Kyrtou plegmata, Krepis program, 2013-2015. Project WP2.7 http://kyrtouplegmata.eie.gr/index.php/en/2015-03-08-11-36-11/1-4/ee2-7.

• "Communication Networks in the Ionian Islands from the Early Byzantine to the Mid-Byzantine era": M. Leontsini. Open Access Electronic Database in the frame of the Kyrtou plegmata, Krepis program, 2013-2015. Project WP1.3 http://kyrtouplegmata.eie.gr/index.php/databases-2/27-db1/82-db-ee1-3
  http://kyrtouplegmata.eie.gr/index.php/2015-03-08-11-36-09/1/ee1-3-6-13

• Site of the research program Immured vessels in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine churches of Greece: a digital corpus: A. Yangaki http://www.immuredvessels.gr

Publications in the Series of NHRF

- Monographs

• Anastasia G. Yangaki, Εφυαλωμένη κεραμική από τη θέση «Άγιοι Θεόδωροι» Ακροναυπλίας (11ος-17ος αι. μ.Χ.) [Glazed Pottery from the "Hagioi Theodoroi" site in Akronauplia (11th-17th c. A.D.)], IHR/NHRF, Research Library 7, Athens 2012 (with English summary).

- Collective volumes of the Historical Geography Program

• Voula Konti, Anna Lambropoulou, Ilias Anagnostakis, Maria Leontsini, Angeliki Panopoulou, Ιστορική Γεωγραφία της Πελοποννήσου (395-1204), μέρος Β´: Οι βυζαντινέςθέσεις [Historical Geography of the Peloponnese (395-1204), Part B: The Byzantine sites] (under print).

- Other publications

• Το Βυζάντιο χωρίς λάμψη. Τα ταπεινά αντικείμενα και η χρήση τους στον καθημερινό βίο των Βυζαντινών [Byzantium without glamour. The humble objects and their use in the everyday life of the Byzantines], eds. A. G. Yangaki, A. Panopoulou, EIE / NHRF, Athens 2018.
• Μονεμβάσιος Οίνος-Mονεμβασ(ι)ά –Malvasia [Monemvasian Wine – Monovas(i)a – Malvasia], Οίνον Ιστορώ V, International Symposium 17, ed. I. Anagnostakis IBR/NHRF], Athens 2008.
• Proceedings of the International IBR/NHRF and Society for the Study of Hellenic Judaism Symposium, Η εβραϊκή παρουσία στον ελλαδικό χώρο (4ος-19ος αι.) [The Jewish Presence in the Greek Region (4th-19th c.)], eds. A. Lambropoulou - K. Tsiknakis, IBR/NHRF, International Symposiums 12, Athens 2008, pp. 256.
• Proceedings of the International IBR/NHRF Symposium, O Mοναχισμός στην Πελοπόννησο 4ος-15ος αι. [Monasticism in the Peloponnese from the 4th to the 15th c.], ed. V. Konti, IBR/NHRF, International Symposiums 14, Athens 2004, pp. 347.
• Proceedings of the International Symposium, Πρωτοβυζαντινή Mεσσήνη και Oλυμπία. Aστικός και αγροτικός χώρος στη δυτική Πελοπόννησο [Early Byzantine Messene and Olympia: Urban and Rural Space in the Western Peloponnese], eds. P. G. Themelis - V. Konti, Society for Messenian Archaeological Studies / IBR/NHRF, Athens 2002, pp. 286.
• Oι μεταμορφώσεις της Πελοποννήσου (4ος-15ος αι.) [Transformations of Peloponnese (4th-15th c.], Special Cultural Events, Athens, NHRF, 2000.

Other publications

• Εκπαιδευτική Συλλογή Μεσαιωνικής και Νεότερης Κεραμικής. Κατάλογος [Educational Collection of Medieval and Modern Ceramics. Catalogue], ed. A. Yangaki, O. Gratsiou, University of Crete, School of Philosophy, Department of History and Archaeology, Rethymnon 2012.

Design and implementation of an educational program entitled “X[ρ]ώματα”, in the context of the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Researchers' Night. The program is aimed at children aged 7 to 12 years. The aim is to introduce the children to the characteristics of Byzantine pottery (responsible: A. Yangaki).