About myEleusis
myEleusis is a pioneering project in the buildup to Eleusis as the European Capital of Culture in 2023. The sanctuary of Demeter and Kore will be a principal attraction for the anticipated visitors. myEleusis will serve as their go-to for an authoritative and artful companion to their visit.
The project employs a comprehensive approach to provide visitors with pertinent information before, during, and after their time in Eleusis. The sanctuary of Demeter and the archaeological museum of Eleusis are listed among the most prominent and world-renowned Greek classical sites (Mylonas 1961, Papangeli 2002). myEleusis envisions a resourceful set of pioneering digital systems that will initiate users into the Mysteries.
The Eleusinian Mysteries were the oldest, most venerable, and best-known cult in the ancient Mediterranean. People from every corner of the Greek and Roman world came to Eleusis seeking spiritual comfort and hope for a blessed afterlife. For more than a thousand years, the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis attracted initiates from various ethnic origins and social statuses who proved the cult’s tremendous popularity. The selfless dedication and boundless passion of archaeologists and researchers unearthed most of the buildings of the sanctuary and provided us with a general reconstruction of the ancient rituals. Unfortunately, the silence of the ancient sources obscures the true essence and content of the Mysteries from our eyes. Still, the archaeological site remains a fascinating historical palimpsest that elucidates a cornerstone of our cultural history.
The proposed technologies will generate personalized experiences and robust interactivity with heritage and the associated digital content without undermining the actual monuments. They synthesize vast amounts of archaeological and textual data and present them meaningfully and coherently to uninitiated users. As a result, the archaeological site and museum of Eleusis become accessible and intelligible before, during, and after the visit.
myEleusis will directly contribute to:
1) the thorough revision and upgrade of current (traditional) dissemination methods, and
2) the installation of novel and engaging interpretative tools
Indirectly, myEleusis will supplement the region’s sustainable long-term economic development.
Combining 3D digitization technologies, virtual and augmented reality, digital storytelling, and serious games will produce a series of modern interactive applications to enhance the site’s allure for the general public. The applications include the creation of a digital assets repository with artefacts from the archaeological site and museum of Eleusis. The repository will serve as the primary source of scientific data to facilitate the development of applications that will:
a) enhance real-world navigation with additional, on-demand, and personalized historical-cum-archaeological-cum-architectural information through smart portable devices and virtual reality technologies, and
b) facilitate the readability of these sites with novel and more attractive methods.
At the same time, the digital assets will provide:
a) information for creating educational activities (serious games), and
b) an inventory of material to enrich the virtual museum
A web-based interactive map will offer an overview of the classical architectural heritage of Eleusis and bring together landmarks scattered throughout the city and the Sacred Way. In addition, original audiovisual material will introduce ancient Eleusis and the Mysteries to people with mobility limitations or those who live far away. This set of tools will transform the archaeological site into the most significant comparative advantage of Eleusis 2023.
