The Rigas Map as a source of inspiration for the Greek Revolution.
- Rigas Map or Map of Greece. It is the central exhibit of the temporary exhibition ‘The Archipelago in Flames’ of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades held at the Archaeological Museum of Mykonos to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the start of the Greek Revolution of 1821. It is part of the third section entitled The Inexhaustible Quarry of the Past, which presents the influence of Greek antiquity on the creation of national consciousness in the start of the Greek Revolution.
- The Rigas Map, one of the most important works of the Modern Greek Enlightenment, is a milestone in Greek cartography and contributed to the development of the Greek language, as well as the formation of the ideas and vision that inspired the Greek Revolution of 1821. It is numbered among the first objects recorded in the Archaeological Museum of Chora on Andros. It arrived on the island thanks to the leading Andrian practioner of the Enlightenment, Theophilos Kairis (1784-1853). It is one of the few surviving and genuine copies in Greece and abroad. It was recently restored at the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens.
Of the twelve-sheet map, with total dimensions of 2 x 2.10 m, 1220 copies were printed in 1797 at the printing house of J. Nitsch after an engraving by Fr. Müller. It is a particularly rich depiction of the Balkan peninsula, displaying a wealth of information and symbols of the Greek presence from antiquity until the year of its manufacture. Specifically, it embraces the area defined by the Danube and the Libyan Sea in latitude and from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea in longitude, along with part of Asia Minor, the islands of the Aegean and Ionian Seas, Crete and the Dodecanese. It also includes ten planographies, that is, topographic plans and views of important cities or sites of antiquity (Plataea, Salamis, Athens, Thermopylae, Sparta, Delphi, Olympia, Constantinople, Seragi, Fera). In addition, a plan of an ancient Greek theatre, the two sides of 162 coins and a list of important figures and rulers of the region from antiquity to the time of Rigas are depicted.
AMA 263
Dating: 18th century
Dimensions: 2 m x 2.10 m
PHOTOS: © EFA Cyclades, Thanos Kartsoglou
Article written by: Stavroula Papanikolopoulou, Archaeologist Msc.
