European students in Koroni and Methoni to learn modern Greek and Messinia’s Medieval History

Meduproject is an initiative of University of Bologna Professor, Andrea Nanetti, advisor to the Italian Ministry of Culture, and member of the Board of Directors of the Maniatakeion Foundation. Professor Andrea Nanetti is renowned for his research which focuses on the study of Venetian documents and chronicles associated with the history of the Mediterranean in the 13^th to 15^th centuries, and the study of the image of ancient Greece which existed in the later medieval and renaissance periods. Just some of his research findings have been presented between 1996 and 2009 in more than 70 talks in Italy, Greece, the USA, Russia, Turkey and Hungary.

The purpose of the Meduproject programme is to teach modern Greek and the medieval history of Messinia, coupled with courses in photography skills which are held at the archaeological sites in the wider area. The modern Greek classes are taught in Methoni and are among the best such university-level courses around. Since they are coupled with summer holidays, they transform the trip into a cultural journey. According to Prof. Nanetti, ‘knowledge of modern Greek today is a vital working tool not just for historians, archaeologists and others, but also for anyone who wants to go on holidays and at the same time learn the history of the area’.

The programme is organised by Meduproject S.r.l (Imola and Ravenna) and the Arethas Institute for Mediterranean Cultural Heritage Programmes, in collaboration with the Municipalities of Methoni and Koroni, the Messinia Prefectural Authority, the History and Palaeography Centre of the National Bank of Greece’s Cultural Foundation, and is under the aegis of the Faculty of Preservation of the Cultural Heritage / University of Bologna and the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy / Tor Vergata University of Rome.

This year the programme was attended by 15 students from Italy, Spain and Germany, and a total of 250 students have taken part since 2000. The students were accommodated at the camp site of the Municipality of Methoni and classes were held in the primary school. Teachers this year were Vasiliki Sipsa and Vivian Aivali.

On the evening of Friday, 28 August, the Maniatakeion Foundation organised an award ceremony at the Maniatakis Estate in Koroni, at which attendance certificates for the 2009 summer school were distributed. The certificates were awarded by Dimitris Maniatakis and Eleni Tagonidi-Maniataki, chairman and vice-chairman of the Maniatakeion Foundation, University of Bologna Professor Andrea Nanetti, Athens Economics University Professor Panos Bourdoukoutas, and the Mayor of Koroni, Theodoris Salandis, members of the Board of Directors of the Maniatakeion Foundation, University of Athens Archaeology Professor Georgios Korres, the principal of the Koroni Lyceum Konstantinos Demiris and the Principal of the Koroni Gymnasium Kalliopi Marandou.