In the presence of Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, the Benaki Museum amphitheater hosted the presentation of the project “Tatoi Collections: Unlocking the Material Culture and History of a Century,” an innovative project by the Ministry of Culture to document, record, and digitize the movable monuments of the former royal estate of Tatoi. The online portal (https://tatoicollections.culture.gov.gr/), created by the National Monuments Archive Management Directorate of the Ministry of Culture, offers the public the largest collection of its kind in the country, dedicated to the fine and applied arts, history, and material culture of modern Greece.

Four Gospels. Dated 1840.

Referring to the laborious effort involved in cataloguing, digitising and documenting the objects and their historical significance, Lina Mendoni said: “The documentation and digitisation of the Tatoi Collections is not simply an act of preservation. It is an act of knowledge and responsibility towards history. Each object acquires its own voice and place in a broader narrative that connects the past with the present and offers valuable tools for research, education, and public understanding of history. Documentation is not a one-off action; but a long, complex, and scientifically demanding process. It begins with inventorying, continues with study, research, and identification, and ends with publication. Through this process, each object acquires identity, content, and meaning.”

Black wooden piano with tail. It bears the manufacturer’s name, C. Bechstein.

Today, the Portal presents more than 70,000 documented objects, offering a rare, multi-layered picture of Greek and European history from the 19th to the 20th century. Focusing on European art and design of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Tatoi Collections span chronologically and geographically from Greek antiquity to everyday objects of the 1960s and from Europe to the Far East.

White silk scarf featuring the stern of the French ship Soleil Royal. Designed in 1963 for the French fashion house Hermes.

Furniture, works of art, metalwork, porcelain, jewelry, clothing, military equipment, medals, books, religious objects, and personal artifacts comprise a unique cultural collection that reveals aspects of artistic production, everyday life, and the political history of modern Greece.

Portrait of Sophia, work by Austrian painter Heinrich Anton Von Angeli

Lina Mendoni also referred to the importance of recording and documenting the material: “The competent Directorate has proceeded and continues to comprehensively and systematically record and document all of the objects. Through two co-funded projects, with a total budget of €2.87 million, it is expected that by the end of the year, more than 90,000 objects from the Tatoi collections will have been digitized, recorded, and documented by a large team of specialist scientists and Ministry officials, with the support of renowned external experts. Each object acquires its own place and voice in a broader narrative that connects the past with the present and offers valuable tools for research, education, and further cultural planning. Today’s launch of the online portal and print edition gives us a truly exceptional preview, arousing our interest in the upcoming comprehensive and in-depth presentation of the collections in the new museum spaces of the Tatoi estate, which will extend beyond the palace to other buildings, covering a variety of specific themes. I am confident that the imminent completion of all the projects currently underway, which are being implemented by a total of five departments of the Ministry of Culture at the former royal Tatoi estate, will fully justify their efforts and meet all our expectations.”