Supplying the city of Ioannina with ‘modern’ waters, 1913–1940: the ‘modern infrastructural ideal’ in a mid-size Greek town

Konstantinos Chatzis (1) , Anna Mahera , Georgia Mavrogonatou

1 LATTS - Laboratoire Techniques, Territoires et Sociétés

Abstract A part of the Ottoman Empire for centuries, the city of Ioannina integrated into the Greek state following the Balkan wars of 1912–13. This article provides a first in-depth historical account of the city's water supply system from the early 1910s to the eve of World War II, and traces the path leading from a traditional system relying on private wells and public fountains to a modern water network entering inhabitants’ homes. In doing so, it also offers material and insights contributing to a larger research project on the technological modernization of urban Greece in the inter-war period, during which the Greek state itself was driven by a particularly strong urge to modernize the country.

Domains: History

Konstantinos Chatzis, Anna Mahera, Georgia Mavrogonatou. Supplying the city of Ioannina with ‘modern’ waters, 1913–1940: the ‘modern infrastructural ideal’ in a mid-size Greek town. Urban History, 2021, 48 (1), pp.71-86. ⟨10.1017/S0963926819000816⟩. ⟨hal-03599579⟩