Timeline

On 9 May 1927, Angelos and Eva Sikelianos organised the First Delphic Festivals. The ancient Greek drama revived in the ancient theatre of Delphi with Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound and the ancient stadium of Delphi hosted the representation of the ancient Pyrrhic war dance. Angelos and Eva Sikelianos also organised sporting and dancing performances, concerts of Byzantine music, a folk art exhibition etc.

The 1st May 1930 was the opening day of the Second Delphic Festivals. The events of the Festivals included the programme of 1927 with the addition of another tragedy, Aeschylus’ Suppliants. The contribution of Eva Sikelianos with her innovative directorial insight and innovations in the choruses of the tragedies as well as in the music and costumes proved to be very significant.

In the aftermath of the Delphic Festivals (1927 & 1930) the Parliament and the Senate passed Law 6323 that provided for the establishment and organisation of an International Intellectual Cooperation Centre for the Peoples in Delphi, similar to the "treasures" of the ancient Greek city of Delphi. The law remained inactive.

In March 1957, the Greek Government submitted a plan to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers that provided for the establishment of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi. In September 1962 the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers accepted the proposal in principle.

28 March, 1966. The foundation ceremony of the facilities of the International Foundation “European Centre of Delphi” took place.  The construction of the buildings, designed by the architect and university professor Costas Kitsikis and architect Antonis Lampakis was completed in 1970.

The Greek Government re-submitted its old proposal for the establishment of a European Centre at Delphi in 1975. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe accepted the request at its 27th session (Recommendation 763) on 1 October 1975.

On 22 July 1977, the Greek Parliament passed Law 645/1977 on the establishment of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi. Academic Panagiotis Zepos was designated as the first President of the Administration Council of the new body.

A group of architects, under the supervision of the new President of the Administration Council, Professor George Kandylis, made a study to improve the Centre's infrastructure in Delphi. The conference building was renovated, the home of Eva and Angelos Sikelianos at Delphi was restored to its original form and the construction of a contemporary theatre was being planned. A neoclassical building in Plaka for the relocation of the Central Offices was also acquired.

The International Meetings on Ancient Greek Drama are considered the main event of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi. They started in 1985 with the initiative of the Director of the Centre of Delphi, Pericles Nearchou, under the artistic direction of theatre director Theodoros Terzopoulos. The aim of the programme was the recording of different theoretical views, theatrical methods and schools of representation of drama in modern times and the presentation of innovative theatre productions by international theatre directors.

The Fine Arts programme of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi that includes symposiums, exhibitions, seminars and artists “residency” programmes, was being inaugurated.

The Cultural Agreement between Greece and Sweden, in order to preserve and promote the particular cultural ties between the two countries, is signed by the Ministers of Culture of both countries in November 1990. The programme provides for a joint Greek-Swedish Committee in which the European Cultural Centre of Delphi participates with a special responsibility in the financial management of the programme.

The initiatives of the Greek-Swedish Committee from 1992 to date include: conferences and seminars in both Greece and Sweden, promoting of writers’, academics’ and artists’ exchange programmes, lectures, exhibitions, etc. The Committee has contributed to the creation of the Centre for Writers in Greece and Sweden while it has financially supported theatre, music and dance performances, exhibitions and literary translations. The Committee has also contributed financially to the creation of the Nordic-Greek dictionary by the University of Lund.

The official opening of the Museum of Delphic Festivals, in the old house of Angelos and Eva Sikelianos at Delphi, took place on 12 July 1991.

By decision of the Greek Minister of Culture, Rector Helene Glykatzi-Ahrweiler, was appointed President of the Administration Council of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi on 22 July 1993.

On 21 August 1994, the Sculpture Park of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi was being inaugurated. The first 11 sculptures of the Park, acquired during the International Meeting of Sculpture, were presented to the public.

On 29 March 1995, the Minister of Culture Thanos Mikroutsikos inaugurated the new offices of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi Central Offices at Plaka in a privately owned neoclassical building at 9, Frynihou street. The building dates back to the late 19th century (around 1890). It was restored to its original form with minimal interventions in the interior to accommodate the offices.

In July 1995, the European Cultural Centre of Delphi inaugurated its educational programmes with the launching of the Seminars on Ancient Greek Language and Civilisation. The National Student Debate Contest and the European Student Games 'Pythia' (2001-2005) were added in 2001.

The European Cultural Centre of Delphi, in cooperation with the International Committee of Theatre Olympics, participated as a key partner in the organisation of the First Theatre Olympics in Greece under the general theme “Crossing the Millennium”. The founding members of the Committee (Nuria Espert, Heiner Muller, Tony Harrison, Yuri Lyubimov, Tadashi Suzuki, Robert Wilson and Theodoros Terzopoulos), in the framework of the VIII International Meeting on Ancient Drama, presented new theatre productions, theatre workshops and working methods at Delphi.

At the initiative of the Director of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi, Professor Vassilis Karasmanis, in cooperation with Professor of Archaeology, Dimitris Pantermalis, began the research programme for the reconstruction of the ancient Hydraulis, the first key instrument in the history of music. The programme was completed in May 1999. The first presentation of the instrument was made in Japan in the autumn of 1999 during the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Greece and Japan.

On 10 June 1998, the Minister of Culture of Greece, Evangelos Venizelos, and the Governor of Shizuoka, Yoshinobu Ishikawa, signed in Athens a Protocol of Cooperation between the European Cultural Centre of Delphi and the Centre of Performing Arts in Shizuoka (Shizuoka Performing Arts Center) concerning the artistic cooperation and cultural exchanges between the two institutions. The day after the signing, 11 June 1998, the Japanese delegation from the province of Shizuoka visited Delphi.

In the framework of the cooperation, the European Cultural Centre of Delphi took part in the celebrations for the 100 years of diplomatic relations between Greece and Japan in 1999 with the presentation of Hydraulis in Japan (Shizuoka and Tokyo) and photo exhibition with works of Nelly's in Shizuoka. The Shizuoka Performing Arts Center participated with a performance and workshops at the International Meetings on Ancient Drama of 2000 and 2004.

The "Frynihos" theatre was inaugurated on 2 July 2005, in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Dr. Karolos Papoulias. The first performance hosted in the theatre was Euripides' Hecuba, a production of the Royal Shakespeare Company, in directorial adaptation and translation by Tony Harrison, with Vanessa Redgrave in the leading role.

On 25 January 2013, the Association "Friends of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi" was founded to support the activities of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi. Mrs. Dimitra Filippou was elected President of the Association. First action of the Association was the organisation of an honorary event, at the Athens Concert Hall on 1 October 2014, for Rector Helene Ahrweiler, President of the Administration Council of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi since 1993.