University of Macedonia to host lecture on Smyrna's architecture

Professor Emeritus Vasilis Kolonas will deliver a lecture titled ‘Smyrna 1870-1922: City and Architecture’ at the University of Macedonia on Monday, October 19, 2026. The event, which is free to the public, will take place at 6:00 PM in the ‘Professor Elias I. Kouskouvelis’ Conference Hall.

Organized by the Honorary Chair of Minor Asian Studies and the Laboratory of the History of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the lecture is the first in a series of presentations scheduled for the 2026-2027 academic year. Kolonas, an expert in 19th and 20th-century urban and architectural heritage, will analyze the urban and architectural evolution of cosmopolitan Smyrna from the late 19th century until the Great Fire.

The presentation aims to reconstruct the image of the lost city through the work of Greek architects and engineers, highlighting their role in the urban modernization of the region.