The largest part of the present study derives from my PhD research on Living sites: The Past in the Present – The monastic site of Meteora, Greece: Towards a new approach to conservation conducted at the Institute of Archaeology of University College London (Poulios 2008). The present study also benefits significantly from my consulting experience with the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and with local Greek heritage organisations Diazoma and Maniatakeion Foundation.
There are a number of people who have contributed to this study and whom I would like to thank. First, with regards to my PhD research, my deep gratitude is owed to my supervisors Tim Schadla-Hall, Tim Williams, and Peter Ucko who unfortunately did not see this study published. I would also like to thank members of staff and colleagues at the Institute of Archaeology for the most interesting discussions we had concerning the complexities in community involvement in heritage management in different parts of the world.
My field trips inside and outside Greece played a most significant role in my research. Concerning Greece, I am indebted to Alkis Prepis for the discussions we had on the management of World Heritage Byzantine sites inside and outside Greece, and to Father Ieronymos Nikolopoulos for helping me explore the meaning of Tradition in the Orthodox Church. With reference to the site of Meteora, I am profoundly thankful to the monastic communities, the Church officials and the local people of Kastraki and Kalampaka, who not only generously offered me their help but, more importantly, embraced me as part of their community. Also, to Lazaros Deriziotis for the discussions on the management of the site. I am indebted to Kostas Liolios and Athina Pantoula for their continuous support and, more importantly, their friendship.
As far as my field trips outside Greece are concerned: In Russia, special thanks to Dmitrij Macinskij and Vjaceslav Kulesov, and to my friend Nikolai Lipatov and his family for their hospitality in St Petersburg. In Cyprus, to Vassos Karageorghis, and Marina Ieronymidou. I am also thankful to my colleague and friend Katerina Ruscio for her inspirational guided tour of the basement of St Peter’s Church in the Vatican. In India, special thanks to Archana Verma, E. Sivanagi Reddy, M. N. Rajesh, K.M. Kamesan, Sri Vaishnava Sri, R. Subrahmanyam, Y.G.V. Babu and R. Satyanarayana, Ranesh Ray and A.R. Ramanathan, and Radha Champakalakshmi; above all, to my friend Krishna Vamsi Chintapalli and his family, for giving me the opportunity to make this trip in the first place, and to the family of Srinivas Chintapalli for their warmest hospitality; and also to my friend Arijit Prasad.
Regarding my visits to international organisations concerned with heritage protection: at UNESCO World Heritage Centre, special thanks to Merchtild Rossler; at UNESCO Intangible Heritage Sector, to Rieks Smeets and Cesar Moreno; and to the personnel of the Greek Maison de l’ Unesco; at Getty Conservation Institute, to Martha Demas; at ICCROM, to Nicholas Stanley-Price, Joe King, Gamini Wijesuriya, Webber Ndoro, and Zaki Aslan. This first visit to ICCROM prepared the path for my subsequent collaboration with the organization.
Last but not least, I am profoundly indebted to Stavros and Eleni Panou for their support throughout my PhD research, and to my friend Dimitris Panou for his most useful comments on an earlier draft of my thesis.
I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the S. Saripolou Foundation of the University of Athens and of the Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY), whose scholarships made it possible for me to live and study in the UK, and of the A.G. Leventis Foundation, which allowed me to conduct the extensive field trips inside and outside Greece. I feel the need to personally thank Tasso Leventis, Louisa Leventis, and Fotini Panayi.
The PhD thesis was examined by John Carman and Reuben Grima, to whom I am indebted for their most constructive comments.
Second, with regards to my consulting experience with ICCROM, UNESCO, Diazoma, and Maniatakeion Foundation: At ICCROM I contributed to the further development, promotion and implementation of a living heritage approach initially in Southeast Asia and then at an international level, under the supervision of Gamini Wijesuriya, to whom I am grateful. The present study benefits from the work of other colleagues carried out throughout the development of ICCROM Living Heritage Sites Program. I would like to thank ICCROM for allowing me access to this work and approving its dissemination.
At UNESCO, I taught at the annual School in Southeast Europe on ‘Sustainable Energy Governance in World Heritage Sites’ on the reconciliation of Renewable Energy investments with the protection of historic environments and the sustainable development of local communities. The School was organised by the Venice Office at the initiative and under the supervision of Davide Poletto, whom I thank warmly.
At Diazoma, I contributed – through the participation in the Future Leaders Program – to the crafting of a new strategy for the shift of the organization from the protection of ancient theatres to the sustainable development of local communities (through the exploitation of the ancient theatres) at a national level, and to the implementation of this strategy to the town of Eretria in Greece. Thanks to Stavros Benos, Vassilis Labrinoudakis, Petros Themelis, and Andreas Zabetas from Diazoma; to Kris Amiralis from Future Leaders; and to the students-participants of the Program.
At Maniatakeion Foundation, I contributed to the implementation of a living heritage approach at the region of Koroni in Greece, where a small community attempts to achieve – through the exploitation of its cultural heritage – a competitive advantage for its sustainable development. A milestone in this attempt was the inscription – in collaboration with local communities from Italy, Spain, and Morocco – of the Mediterranean Diet in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Thanks to Dimitris Maniatakis, and to the members of the local community of Koroni.
I am specially thankful to Ubiquity Press, and personally to Brian Hole and Tim Wakeford, for their high level of professionalism as well as their personal care throughout the publishing process. I would also like to thank Georgia Pelteki for her advice on practical issues concerning the publishing process. Furthermore, thanks are owed to Kostas Liolios, rock-climber and professional rock-climbing guide, for providing me with really impressive photos of Meteora. Thanks also to Maria Koutsari and Ioannis Tsoukalas, architects and urban planners, for their contribution to the editing of the text and the figures concerning the evolution of space at Meteora; to Anna Probonas for her help with the editing of the text; and to Corinna Fanara, museum educator, for the formulation of the index.
I am indebted to Reuben Grima for kindly accepting to review the present study. I would also like to thank Leslie Brubaker and Gamini Wijesuriya for their endorsements.
The publication was made possible thanks to the financial support of University College London.