EDUARD SCHAUBERTʹS TRAVEL NOTES ON SOUTHERN EUBOEA IN MAY 1847

Abstract

The German architect Eduard Schaubert (1804–1860), State Architect and Director of Public Works at King Otto’s court, had a strong interest in archaeology. During his stay in Greece, between 1830 and 1850, Schaubert travelled abundantly throughout the country and studied its ancient ruins, architecture, sculpture, and inscriptions. In May/June 1847 he toured Southern Euboea visiting several sites (see appendix). His observations, written in notebooks, have never been published, but are of interest in several respects: What was to be seen, how was the condition of the monuments, how were they interpreted by other researchers before Schaubert and by himself and what sources did he use. In addition there are a number of excellent line drawings of monuments presenting detailed information about them. Eduard Schaubertʹs travel notes belong to the comprehensive surveying tradition of the island which begun in 1833 when Euboea passed by treaty from the Ottoman Empire to the newly founded Kingdom of Greece. The governmentʹs objective was not only a profound knowledge of ancient Greece, it was also striving to bring about the countryʹs economic and urban revival. The two presentations, given at the conference in Styra, are focussing on Schaubertʹs observations. They are part of a wider research project on the architectʹs travels in Euboea, the Northern Sporades (1847) and Boeotia (1848). The forthcoming critical edition will provide an insight of his life as an architect, town planner, and archaeologist.