Rigas' Charta

Une application AR inspirée de l'œuvre héroïque de Rigas Velestinlis, la Charta.

The Charta of Greece was printed in Vienna (1796-7) in 1220 copies by Rigas Velestinlis, a revolutionary figure of the Greek Enlightenment. It consists of 12 sheets (each ~50X70 cm.) which, if joined, form a large map with a total dimension of 2m x 2m. It is widely considered as the most important example of Greek cartography that inspired the Greek Revolution for Independence in 1821. Besides the traditional depiction of a map of the Balkan Peninsula, it includes an extensive array of symbols, figures and pictures and is considered the “multimedia” of its time.

In an attempt to transfer these maps from Vienna to Trieste, Rigas was betrayed and was arrested by the Austrian police. He was accused of going to start a revolution inside the Ottoman Empire through his radical ideas inside his maps, books and poems. Consequently, he was handed over to the Ottomans, held in captivity and martyred together with seven of his companions near Belgrade.

Today, there are only 59 surviving copies of Rigas’ Charta. The Onassis Library accumulates a full copy of the 12-sheet map and organizes many educational programs giving prominence to this important historical document.

The pedagogical goal of this AR app is to motivate the new generation to decode the iconographic wealth of the Charta by using new technology tools. Through this application, children and adults alike have the opportunity to interact with a historical document in a playful and creative way. They are motivated to search for the secret symbols that Rigas printed on the map, to recognize them and to learn their meaning. At the same time, this game of hidden treasure is an entertaining experience that creates images and emotions that can remain for a long time after the end of the educational activity.

The application initially focuses on over fifteen symbols depicted on the Rigas’ Charta that are presented in the form of 2D and 3D animated visualizations. The app can be used with all copies and versions of the map, both physical and digital. The user is triggered to explore this historical document, to discover the 3D animated stories and unveil the hidden symbolisms of the following icons:

The 162 ancient and medieval coins

Jason and the Argo

Heracles and the Amazon

The ancient Greek theatre

Ancient Olympia and the Olympic games

Delphi

Colossus of Rhodes

Pyrrha and Deucalion

The female figure on the forehead

Hero and Leander

The battle of Plataea / the naval battle of Salamis / the battle of Thermopylae

The sleeping lion

The wind rose

The Rigas’ Charta AR application strengthens the emotional involvement of people with a historical document and cultivates a positive attitude and enthusiasm towards the learning process, enriching history and geography lessons, promoting cartographic cultural heritage through the use of innovative technical tools in education. It manages to bring out of the obscurity a significant cultural wealth, to enrich and animate it and to motivate students and teachers to rediscover the treasures of Greek spiritual tradition, to unlock hidden secrets and to highlight historical sources and rare works, with the help of technology, storytelling, iconography and visual art creation. Furthermore, the creative engagement of people with the original map leads to a deeper understanding of its significance and its connection with the vision and the other publishing works of Rigas Velestinlis.

The children book “Young Rigas and the secret symbols of Charta”, published in 2021 by the Onassis Foundation (only in Greek) can be also combined with the AR application.