Housing in Medieval and Post-Medieval Greece

Abstract

In this work the author examines the Medieval and Post-Medieval Greek house as a container of material culture, and of functional and social activity, within the context of a changing socio-economic environment. The first three introductory chapters review a series of previous vernacular studies mainly from the Late Ottoman and early Modern eras, covering a relatively broad methodological spectrum, and presented concisely socio-economic developments during Ottoman and Early Modern times. The study continues with an in-depth assessment of the methodologies and objectives of the authors in relation to contemporary developments and preconceptions. Most importantly, however, it became possible to attempt a quantitative and qualitative reinterpretation of the data provided by the previous studies in relation to the socio-economic changes briefly summarised. Five different levels of interpretation were chosen, that when interrelated provided a more complete picture of the processes that affected the housing patterns in Greece during the Middle and Late Ottoman, as well as the Early Modern eras. Chronological distributions and different settlement patterns were discussed in association with the general domestic types and internal arrangements. The stylistic considerations within the rural and urban context provided a further narrative closely related to social identities, fashions and nation-building processes. The houses were set into a dynamic chronological, settlement and social environment. Within this context the domestic structures were reclassified according to the use of space within them and their immediate surroundings.

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