The Swedish Institute at Athens (; ) was founded in 1946 and is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes operating in Athens, Greece. The institute is one of three Swedish research institutes in the Mediterranean, along with the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome and the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul. Besides the premises in Athens the institute has an office in Stockholm and a guesthouse in Kavala. It also owns the Nordic Library along with the Danish Institute at Athens, the Finnish Institute at Athens and the Norwegian Institute at Athens.
The institute is a non-profit research foundation. The board consists of a chairman appointed by the Swedish Government, a vice-chair, secretary, treasurer, and additional members representing Classical Archaeology, Ancient Greek, and Art History.
Since 2017, Jenny Wallensten is the director of the institute and Ruth Jacoby is chairman of the board. The institute is mainly financed by the Swedish government through the Ministry of Education and Swedish private foundations provide the remaining funds.
General information According to the statutes of the Swedish Institute at Athens, the mission of the institute is to conduct research into the culture of ancient Greece, provide higher education in the field in order to enrich our own culture, and stimulate and support the cultural exchange between Sweden and Greece. The activities of the institute are mainly carried out in Greece and include education and research linked to the archaeology, history, and society, of ancient and modern Greece.
Greek law states that the foreign archaeological schools should administer all archaeological research in Greece conducted by scholars of their home countries. Terms for conducting archaeological fieldwork in Greece include that the schools present recent work during a yearly open meeting, publish results in an international journal, and keep a research library open that is accessible to Greek and foreign scholars.
The Swedish Institute at Athens organizes and hosts seminars, lecture series, conferences, and workshops on various topics. The institute offers scholarships to postgraduate students, scholars at Swedish universities, or Swedish scholars working outside Sweden, who wish to conduct work in Greece. The Nordic Library, operating through a partnership between the Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Norwegian institutes in Athens, holds circa 40 000 volumes, mainly Classical Archaeology and Ancient History. In collaboration with institutions of higher education in Sweden, the institute offers courses on undergraduate and advanced level. Several activities that the institute organizes are related to art and culture, including poetry reading and language exchanges between Swedish and Modern Greek in particular. The institute is also involved in hosting and organizing lectures and seminars dealing with various social issues. The Swedish Institute at Athens is responsible for the Kavala Guesthouse in northern Greece, that offers temporary housing for Swedish artists, authors, and researchers.
The institute has increased its activities in Sweden during recent years. Recurrent events now includes Grekiska filmdagar (Greek Film Days) in October, and the Annual Meeting where the work of the institute is presented. The events in Sweden are often collaborations between the Swedish Institute in Athens, the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome, and the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul.
The History of the Institute Greek authorities encouraged the foundation of a Swedish archaeological research institute already during the 1920s and 1930s. However, as the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies was founded in 1926 this did not occur at the time.
Swedish crown prince Gustaf Adolf, later crowned Gustaf VI Adolf, was engaged in the project at an early stage. The possibility of establishing a research institute in Greece was reinvigorated during the 1940s. Einar Gjerstad, professor of classical archaeology and ancient history at Lund University, was a driving force in the establishment of the institute after the Second World War. The Swedish businessman Herbert Jacobsson and his Greek colleague Eugenios Eugenides contacted Axel Boethius, then a professor in Classical archaeology and former director of the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome. The institute was established in Stockholm in 1946. In 1947, the archaeologist Erik J. Holmberg travelled to Athens to initiate the founding the institute. The Swedish Institute at Athens was finally inaugurated in 1948, becoming the seventh foreign archaeological institute founded in Greece, and the first one since 1909. Originally the institute was located at Vouourestiou Street in the area of Kolonaki in Athens. In 1975 the Greek government authorized its status as a so-called Archaeological School. Following this the institute moved to its current premises in 1976 on the corner of Mitseon and Kavalotti, near the New Acropolis Museum and several sites of historical importance.
In 2014 the three Swedish Mediterranean institutes ("Medelhavsinstituten") were threatened with closure after a radical reduction of funds was proposed in the Swedish Government's budget bill of 2015; the Swedish Minister of Education Helene Hellmark Knutsson proposed a halving of grants by 2016 and an ending by 2017. The proposal was withdrawn after massive protests.
Archaeological work The earliest Swedish excavations in Greece were carried out in 1894 through the German archaeological school. This was followed by work by Swedish archaeologists in e.g. Aphidna, Asine and Dendra. Since the foundation of the Swedish Institute in Athens in 1948 all work by Swedish archaeologists in Greece falls under its aegis. Currently active projects include the excavations at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia (Poros) in the Saronic Gulf, various forms of work at the ancient city of Hermione at the tip of the Argolid Peninsula, explorations at Vlochos in (Thessaly) and Pergamos (Macedonia). Previous sites for projects include Aphidna (Attica), Asine (Argolis), Agios Elias (Arcadia), Berbati (Argolis), Chania Kastelli (Crete), Dendra (Argolis), Malthi (Messenia), Midea (Argolis), Paradeisos (Western Thrace), and surveys at Asea (Arcadia), and Makrakomi (Phthiotis).
Current projects
The sanctuary of Poseidon on Kalaureia (1894 and 1997 – ongoing)
The earliest Swedish archaeological fieldwork in Greece was carried out in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia in 1894, under the direction of Sam Wide and Lennart Kjellberg. Wide initiated and raised funds for the project. Kalaureia was one of several archaeological sites that had been proposed by the German archaeologist Wilhelm Dörpfeld who also came to act as an advisor for the project. In 1894, Dörpfeld, Wide, and Kjellberg, visited the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia together. At that time, only some remains were visible above ground and Wide made the decision to carry out excavations during the journey. The excavations of the summer of 1894 lasted from June 11 until August 13. During the excavations, efforts concentrated on uncovering the architecture of the sanctuary and finds included bronze statuettes, inscriptions and various votives. No further excavations were carried out at Kalaureia until 1997. Archaeological projects since then include the Kalaureia Excavation Project (2003–2005) directed by Berit Wells, and The Sea, the City and the God (2007–2012), initially directed by Berit Wells and later Arto Penttinen. The latter is currently the director of the excavations at Kalaureia. Since 2012, excavations have been conducted at the site every year, except in 2020. The project has aimed to study the relationship between the Sanctuary of Poseidon and the ancient city of Kalaureia.
Hermione, the Argolid (2015 – ongoing)
The project A Greek cityscape and its people: a study of ancient Hermione, in the Argolid, was initiated in 2015 as a collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Argolida and the Swedish Institute at Athens. The general director for the project is Alcestis Papadimitriou, while Jenny Wallensten is responsible for the Swedish part. The aim of the field project is to explore the civic life in a Greek city state from the Archaic to Imperial periods. Studies have concerned buildings, family life, community structures and religious practices, including burial practices. Digital methods have been developed and employed to map out the extent and plan of the ancient city without having to resort to large-scale excavation.
Vlochos, Thessaly (2016 – ongoing)
The current archaeological fieldwork in Vlochos, Thessaly, (The Vlochos Archaeological Project) is a collaboration between the Swedish Institute at Athens and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa. It is under the General Directorship of Maria Vaïopoulou, director of the Ephorate, with Robin Rönnlund being the director for the Swedish side. The aim of the project is to investigate the hill of the site of Strongilvouni and its surroundings. Extensive remains of a large fortification, from the Archaic to Hellenistic periods, have been located on the hilltop. In 2016 media reported extensively about the site. Even if the results from the geophysical surveys were impressive, the presentation given in media was misleading.
Pergamos, Macedonia (2024 - ongoing) After preliminary surveys in 2021 and 2022 the Swedish Institute initiated a field project in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kavala with the title The Ancient Pergamos Project. Patrik Klingborg and Georgia Galani are directing the project from the Swedish side, and Stavroula Dadaki from the Greek side. The project aims at establishing the chronology of the site, and to gain a better understanding of its role in the surrounding area. The project also aims at making new information about the site available for both an academic and a general audience. The project published its first article in November 2024, with a thorough description of the history of the area together with interpretations pertaining to its chronology. With the exception of field surveys no previous archaeological investigation of the site has taken place.
Previous projects
Aphidna, Attica (1894)
Aphidna was one of Atticas twelve demes during the Classical period, located in northeast Attica and protecting the north borders of the region. Following the excavations at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Sam Wide decided to initiate an investigation in Aphidna. Mycaenean sherds, three graves, and a grave mound were found on site. The grave mound was excavated, after a permit had been issued by the Greek authorities. The finds dated the Bronze Age and included bronze- and silver vessels, and several spindle whorls.
Asine, Argolis (1922, 1924, 1930, 1970–1974, 1976–1978, 1985, 1989–1990)
The acropolis of Asine is located on a promontory in the Argolic Gulf, approximately 10 km southwest of modern Nafplion. Archaeological evidence demonstrates more or less continuous inhabitation from the Neolithic period. The neighboring city state of Argos razed the town of Asine around 700 BC. Since the 1920s, Swedish archaeologists have periodically carried out excavations at Asine. The first excavation was initiated on behalf of the Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden in 1922. Early excavations at Asine concentrated on the acropolis hilltop and the finds included roof tiles and vast amounts of pottery. Following a hiatus of nearly forty years, excavations at Asine were resumed in the 1970s under the leadership of Director Carl-Gustaf Styrenius. The final Swedish excavations were conducted under the leadership of Berit Wells in 1989–1990.
Dendra, Argolis (1926–1927, 1937, 1962–1963)