Educational program

Paintelling: A Journey Through the Symbols and Myths of the Charta of Rigas Velestinlis – 2023

Dates

Prices

Free participation

Location

Online, In classroom

Information

Addressed to

Primary school students in third through sixth grade.

Program duration

90 minutes

Held

In classrooms or online, via an online digital platform.

The program will be presented online on Thursday, May 16, 2023 | 10:30 – 12:00

Digital educational material

Children’s book: "Young Rigas and the secret symbols of Charta" and the "Rigas Charta" AR app. Download the educational material here.

Information

Τ: +30 210 371 3000

E-mail: education@onassis.org

For yet another year, the Charta of Rigas Velestinlis is being used to create a thrilling puzzle game to be deciphered, one that draws on history and painting. The time has come for you to discover the secrets of a map that was made to lay the ground for the Greek Revolution – a struggle for independence that broke out in 1821.

Rigas Velestinlis – who wrote the battle-hymn “Thourios” (“a call to arms”) and helped prepare his people for the Greek Revolution that broke out in 1821 – cleverly managed to hide his dream for an independent Greece within a map.

By studying a rare copy of the Charta of Rigas Velestinlis – his map of Greece – held at the Onassis Library, schoolchildren will solve riddles and decipher the messages Rigas wanted to share with the Greek people, then living under Ottoman rule.

Get ready to dive deep into a map, going on a journey filled with little-known stories about coins and ancient monuments, historic battles and mythical heroes, kings and philosophers, and be inspired to create your own symbols brimming with secret meanings.

Application and selection process

Filling out the digital application form does not guarantee you a place on the program.

Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Credits

  • Lida Varvarousi

    Author – Illustrator

  • Maria Pazarli

    PhD in Cartographic History, General State Archives of Greece – Cartographic Heritage Archives

  • Vicky Gerontopoulou

    Science and Technology Historian, Onassis Library Coordinator