The logo of the hotelsXenia at Paliouri. Chalkidice, 1962
Xenia (Ξενία) was a nationwide hotel construction program initiated by the Hellenic Tourism Organisation (Ελληνικός Οργανισμός Τουρισμού, E.O.T.) to improve the country's tourism infrastructure in the 1960s and 1970s.[1][2][3][4] It constitutes one of the largest infrastructure projects in modern Greek history.
History
Until the 1950s, Greece featured only a few major hotels, mostly situated in the country's great cities, and a few smaller ones in islands like Corfu or Rhodes. In 1950, EOT began a program to construct and operate hotels across the country, especially in the less-travelled areas. Locations were specially selected and the architecture combined local knowledge with standardized elements. The buildings were embedded in the landscape, but at the same time followed a modernist style.[5][6]
The first manager of the project was the architect Charalambos Sfaellos (from 1950 to 1958) and from 1957 the buildings were designed by a team under Aris Konstantinidis. Many private hotel projects in Greece were inspired by the Xenia hotels and the program had reached its aims in the early 1970s.[7][8]
In 1974 the construction program was complete. The Xenia program itself was officially terminated in 1983, and the hotels were given over to private operators or eventually sold off.[9][10]
Some hotels are still operated privately under the Xenia name.[11] Many of the program's hotels have been designated as historic monuments for their architectural value. Three have been demolished, while other surviving examples have been substantially altered or are in a dilapidated state.[12][13][14]
Xenia hotels
This section lists the tourist establishments according to the administrative region to which they belong:[15][16]
^Thanasis Diamantopoulos (29 June 2024). "Hotels "Xenia": The story behind the post-war tourism" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 29 June 2024.
^"The rise and fall of Xenia hotels" (in Greek). LiFO. 15 September 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023.
^"The architecture of the Xenia Hotels: The organization, the basic compositional principles and the course of Xenia" (in Greek). 13 August 2009. Archived from the original on 6 May 2023.
^Giorgos Lialios (3 September 2018). "The renaissance of the legendary Xenia Hotels" (in Greek). Kathimerini. Archived from the original on 29 June 2024.
^"Hora Sfakion accommodation – Xenia Hotel". Archived from the original on 3 April 2015.
^"Ιnhospitable state for 44 «Xenia hotels»" (in Greek). 24 January 2005. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011.
^Fessa-Emmanouil, Eleni. "The architect Aris Konstantinidis and the EOT's Xenia hotels" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 26 February 2024.
^Vamiedaki, Viki (4 June 2022). "Xenia: The legendary history of the jewels of Greek architecture" (in Greek).
^"Hotel "Xenia" in Andros: An example of indifference for the greek modern architecture". 25 February 2007. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022.
^Christos E. Dimakis. "Photographs of the abandoned Xenia hotel in Paliouri, Chalidiki (1962/ today)" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 17 December 2007.
^Tratsa, Maxi (1 September 2018). "Seeking a second life for the Xenia" (in Greek). To Vima.
^"Xenia: The history and design of an innovative program" (in Greek). 4 January 2024.
^"The contribution of the Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT)". tourismmuseum.gr (in Greek and English). Museum of Tourism. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024.
^Athinakis, Dimitris (7 August 2018). "Xenia, the long pending issue of Andros island" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 9 May 2023.
^Kachrila, Eirini-Maria. "Spatial, morphological and economic criteria for the development of Xenia hotels in Greece" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 18 October 2023.
^"The Xenia hotels of Macedonia" (in Greek). 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023.
