Demetrios Athanasoulis

Demetrios Athanasoulis, (Ph.D. in Byzantine Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessalonike and Université Paris I- Panthéon-Sorbonne), is director of the Ephorates of Antiquities of the Cyclades (Hellenic Ministry of Culture). He is a member of the Scientific Board of Parco Archeologico di Pompei (Italy), the Board of the Christian Archaeological Society, president and member of Scientific Committees and Boards of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. He has served as curator of the byzantine monuments of Elis (Peloponnese) and Ephor of Byzantine Antiquities of Arcadia, Argolid and Corinthia, president of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, expert archaeologist of the Council of Europe, member of the Board of the European Center of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments, the Central Archaeological Council, scientific committees of international conferences and National Coordinator for the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. He has conducted numerous archaeological field research projects in the Peloponnese and the Cyclades and has planned and carried out large-scale European programs for the enhancement of monuments, digital applications, and research as well as dozens of restoration projects in Byzantine churches, in castles of the Peloponnese, and in important monuments of the Cyclades. He has also planned, studied, and implemented new archaeological museums as well as important archaeological exhibitions in Greece and abroad. He has co-organized international exhibitions of contemporary art in museums and archaeological sites. In addition to his PhD in the history of Byzantine Architecture, he has participated in international scientific conferences and has published numerous papers and articles in the fields of Byzantine architecture and archaeology as well as of the management of the cultural heritage. He has been awarded twice by the Europa Nostra for his work in two iconic cycladic monuments: the conservation of the iconoclastic byzantine frescoes in the 8th century church of Hagia Kyriaki of Naxos (2018) and the restoration of the Episkopi of Sikinos, a roman mausoleum converted into a byzantine church (2022).