338 Georgopoulou
socio-historical framework of the Venetian maritime empire these formal ele-
ments pointed to the Byzantine Empire and its cultural supremacy, which was
waning fast in the 13th century. By the same token, the presence of Venetian
(read: non-Byzantine or Gothic) architectonic and decorative forms on the soil
of Venice’s colonies would have the opposite effect, that is, to boast Venetian
hegemony overseas.35 The cultural affinity between Venice and Byzantium
and the prolonged presence of the Venetians on Crete have had a significant
impact on the urban landscape of Crete. The vestiges of the majestic Venetian
fortifications of the 16th and 17th centuries have dictated urban growth in the
modern towns of the island and the preservation and repurposing of medieval
and early modern structures has been a de facto priority.
In the last decade a new appreciation of Frankish monuments in the
Peloponnese has brought about a more nuanced understanding of the interac-
tions between East and West and has opened new vistas for Frankish archaeol-
ogy. The Austrian Tabula Imperii Byzantini, an atlas for each Byzantine province,
provides a gazetteer and a map for all published Frankish-era monuments and
excavations as well as historically referenced sites.36 Two major symposia at
Dumbarton Oaks have assembled important studies on the Morea.37 The cru-
sader museum in the 13th-century Clermont castle (Chlemoutsi), installed in
the palace of the Villehardouin princes, showcases military architecture and
brings to light the interaction between Franks and Greeks in the 13th and 14th
centuries.38 This most characteristic of Frankish monuments on Greek soil has
already provided fertile ground for numerous fresh studies of archaeological
remains and material that have provided new scenarios for thinking about the
landscape of Latin Greece.39
‘Gothic’: Toward a Redefinition,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 50 (1991),
22–37.
35 Georgopoulou, Venice’s Mediterranean Colonies, pp. 1–2.
36 Johannes Koder, “Perspektiven der Tabula Imperii Byzantini. Zu Planung, Inhalt und
Methode,” Geographia Antiqua 5 (1996), 75–86.
37 Angeliki E. Laiou and Roy Parviz Mottahedeh, eds., The Crusades from the Perspective
of Byzantium and the Muslim World (Washington dc, 2001), and Sharon E.J. Gerstel, ed.,
Viewing the Morea: Land and People in the Late Medieval Peloponnese (Washington dc,
2013).
38 Demetrios Athanasoulis, “Οι ιππότες στο Clermont. Ένα μουσείο για τους Σταυροφόρους”
[“The Knights at Clermont. A Museum for the Crusaders”], Ilissia 5–6 (2009–10), 36–45.
39 Stefania S. Skartsis, Chlemoutsi Castle (Clermont, Castel Tornese), nw Peloponnese: Its
Pottery and its Relations with the West (13th–Early 19th Centuries), (Oxford, 2012).