ABSTRACT
The “tangible” past of ancient ruins and Byzantine churches was transformed gradually after the creation of the Greek state into a national past, preserved, registered and exhibited in modern institutions such as museums. The fifth chapter studies the memory of “the old past”, those historical periods before 1821 that were integrated, although unevenly, as an organic element in national historical memory. When and by what mechanisms did the ancient statues and Byzantine churches stop being part of “the present” and transform into “the past”? The chapter demonstrates the different chronologies, resistances and negotiations vis-à-vis antiquity and Byzantium by analyzing the “view” of ancient and medieval monuments and the stereotypical reproduction of national identity. Landscapes combining ancient ruins with neoclassical buildings boosted the national imagination, as did archaeological excavations, newly established museums, the activities of associations and societies and an increasing touristic interest in regions with antiquities. The chapter also studies the nationalization of the memory of the Byzantine era and the fall of Constantinople (1453) and its exploitation by the Greek monarchy, especially King George I and his heir, Constantine, in order to legitimize the modern Greek dynasty as the continuation of the Byzantine imperial throne.
