At the beginning of the late sixteenth century, the traditional tour of Europe started to be fashionablefor young

European aristocrats and thus the idea of the Grand Tour was born. The travel was a costlyone and it was

generally done by young men who were interested in Classical Antiquity and had anin-depth knowledge of

Greek and Latin literature. The tour generally started in London then continued in Paris, and after Paris, the

destinations of the travelers would vary. Some traveled to Rome, others to the Netherlands, Switzerland or

Germany and few of them would go to Spain, Greece, and Turkey. For the young travelers, the Grand Tour was

an occasion to explore the Greco-Roman world and most ofthem later published their travel experience.

 

                                                Traveling and Exploring Greece

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                                                      The first Grand Tour travelers arrived in Greece either by boat or train.

                                                      The main harbors in Greece were Corfu, Patras, and Piraeus. The second most

                                                      used transportation to arrive in Greece was the train. In 1909 the train journey

                                                      from Paris to Athens was four days. In 1930s, the “Simplon-Orient Express”

                                                      traveled from Paris to Athens in three days and it also included a visit to

                                                      Macedonia and Thessaloniki.

 

                                                      In the 19th century, the Grand Tour travelers who arrived in Greece would first stay in Athens and

                                                      prepare their excursion. The most important preparation was to find the right guide for the excursion,

                                                      and this was generally done in Athens according to the counseling of the travelers’ embassies. The

                                                      ones who were able to speak Greek had guides called “agoyate”. The agoyates were local guides who

                                                      acted as intermediaries between the locals and the travelers. They were the experts of the regions and

                                                      knew the passes in the mountains where they would go with their horses or mules. The travelers who did not know                                                       Greek would generally traveler with the guides called “dragoman”. The dragomans were fluent in Greek, Turkish, 

and Arabic and they generally knew at least two or three European languages such as, Italian, English, French or German. The dragomans did not only guide the travelers but also worked as interpreters and translators in the embassies and Ottoman administration. The painting on the left side dates from 1780 and it depicts the French Ambassador and the Drogman in the Ottoman palace. Hence, the European travelers were not encouraged to travel in Greece on their own but always have a local expert with them.

 

The Emerge of the Guidebooks

 

As a result of the popularity of the travels, a new literature genre emerged, and that was the guidebooksor also known as travel guides. The first guidebook in France, La guide chemins de France de Charles Estienne (The guide of the roads of France of Charles Estienne ) was published in 1552. The first major guidebook for the entire Europe, Handbuch für Reisende durch Europa (The handbook for travelers through Europe) was written by Heinrich August Ottokar Reichard and it was published in 1784. The guidebooks which were specifically about Greece started to be published in the 19th century. The principal guidebooks about Greece were published by Bernard Haussoullier, the former director of the French Schools of Athens, in 1888 and in 1891, Grèce I, Athènes et ses environs (Greece I, Athens and its surroundings) and Grèce II, Grèce continental et îles (Greece II, continental Greece, and the islands). In 1855, the French editor Louis Hachette started to publish the Guides Joanne –Guides Bleu,after 1919–  that became an essential guidebook for the travelers who did the Grand Tour. Originally guidebooks had elaborate literary descriptions of the historical and archeological sites. However, by the mid-twentieth century, the long descriptions of the archeological sites were shortened, and the guidebooks started to include information on restaurants, accommodation, and beaches. Hence, the guidebooks that were once a comprehensive literary source for historical and archeological sites, are now practical travel books that focus less on antiquities but more on leisure.

 

Sources

Stiastna, Blanka. La Grèce Moderne dans les Guides-Joanne et les Guides Bleus 1861-1959. Etudes Greques, 2016.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grtr/hd_grtr.htm

http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/what-is-the-grand-tour/?_r=0

http://eng.travelogues.gr/item.php?view=59684

http://retours.eu/nl/19-affiches-orient-express/#