Dodecanese, One Hundred Years Later: KOS, LEROS AND THE OTHER ISLANDS: Vol.2 A SHORT PHOTOGRAPHIC GU

A SHORT PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE - VOL.1
The Greek historian Nikolas Doumanis, regarding the lack of attention paid by Italian historiography to the Dodecanese, wrote: "First used as a pledge by the diplomacy of the great powers, it represented one of the most precious jewels in the crown of the Italian empire (...)" Occupied in turn by the Turks, Italians, and, for a short time, by the Germans and the English and, finally, annexed to Greece, the Dodecanese represents one of the chapters of Italian history that has been little treated by scholars.
It is even worse in Italian schools: the brief epic of the Dodecanese is almost ignored in contemporary history texts.
Very few people know that the jewel that Doumanis speaks of was mostly made up not of naturalistic heritage, although important, but of incredible architectural and urbanistic achievements built there, in a very short time, in the golden years of Mario Lago's Governorship and that go from 1923 to 1936.
The author's intent is to ensure that Italian and non-Italian tourists and scholars visiting the islands can rediscover those assets that are now forgotten, due to the culpable carelessness of the Italian governments.
We also want to bear witness to the valuable and silent work of restoration and enhancement, despite everything, carried out by the Hellenic administrations.
Without any pretensions of academic rank, we have therefore intended to draw up two short photographic guides suitable for an informed tourist use. We have therefore prepared historical-descriptive cards, with period and current photos, indicating, for each building, the map indication and the streets.
Finally, the two texts attempt to provide an answer to the problem of the total absence of information in the available literature.