The residents and the Thessaloniki visitors They now have the opportunity to freely browse an extensive digital collection of thousands of rare books, to admire the details of unique tables – including works by Nikolaos Gizi – and to virtually visit the Municipal Gallery, enjoying projects of major exhibitions. This innovative initiative, aimed at digital promotion The newest cultural heritage of the city belongs to the municipality of Thessaloniki, which has received the Gold Award in the Best Project – Initiative category for Municipalities and Regions at Bite Awards 2025. It is one of the most important institutions of the technological innovation in Greece, in Greece. More than 700 market executives attended this year’s ceremony, where the top IT projects and digital transformation actions for the public and private sectors were highlighted.

As part of the work of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, “Digital Right, Utilization and Promotion of Modern Intangible and Material Cultural Heritage”, carried out in collaboration with Cosmote Telekom and IKE IKE, 300,000 pages of books were digitized from the 17th century until today, along with rare publications. This project enhances access to more than 1,200 rare books, making them available for research and study. In addition, 600 paintings were photographed from the collection of the Municipal Art Gallery and, for the first time, important works by Nikolaos Gyzi are presented to the general public. With them, includes a book with his personal sketches, which he used to create some of the most famous paintings of the 19th century.

New digital possibilities and innovations in Thessaloniki

During the implementation of the same project, archival material of cultural interest was collected and imprinted, which was documented and is now available to search for digital form. In addition, a GIS application was developed with signs, heroes, documents and paths of the Revolution of 1821, highlighting Macedonia’s offer. A sophisticated e -learning platform was also created with free access to the general public, as well as a digital museum of virtual reality of the Municipal Art Gallery.

Another innovative action is the digital game of hidden treasure, in which students and teachers can explore the culture and artwork of the city through mini-games such as puzzles and mines.

Worldwide accessibility to cultural heritage

The main objective of the venture was the Digital Mood of Cultural Heritage of Thessaloniki internationally, online. This is thus given the opportunity to a global public to tour the Library’s repository, but also to discover selected cultural issues and landmarks of the city.

In his statement, the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, stressed: “The effort for a modern, digital, accessible and citizen -friendly municipality continues. Through a series of innovative interventions such as fronttizo.thessaloniki.gr and politis.thessaloniki.gr but also with the substantial upgrade of imc.thessaloniki.gr we practice the most effective facilitation of our citizens, responding to the requirements of the new era. The transformation of Thessaloniki is in full swing and at all levels. “

Similarly, the Deputy Mayor of Administrative Restructuring, Organization, Operational Planning, Digital Policy and E -Government, Konstantinos Vassilopoulos, noted: “We work every day for the modernization of the municipality of Thessaloniki with a look at the future. The digital transition of the Municipality is moving steadily and aiming to simplify the service and information of the citizens and visitors of the city. The honors of recent months are a reward for the project produced by the competent services. “