With its cobblestone streets, Venetian facades, and sun-drenched terraces, Nafplio has long been a staple of Greek tourism. Located in the heart of the Argolis region, this city of 17,000 residents sees its population nearly double during the high season, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, most of whom are Greek.
The city thus accounts for the bulk of the region’s tourism. Its fortresses, shaded squares, and waterfront create an instantly recognizable landscape. Just a few kilometers away, the major ancient sites of Argos, Mycenae, and Tiryns extend this appeal by offering a glimpse into well-known Greek antiquity.
But behind this prosperous facade, tourism struggles to
reach all parts of the Argolian region. As one moves away from the
coastline, visitor numbers drop sharply. The roads winding
through the orange groves are rarely traveled by visitors, and the
villages in the northern part of the plain remain off the beaten path. There, there is neither
organized tourist traffic nor a structured tourism economy: only a quiet rural life
largely absent from popular depictions.
It is into these interstices that students
from the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris-Malaquais ventured.
Having come to observe the region’s territorial dynamics, they explored these
neglected margins, following in particular the artificial course of the Anavalos,
a vital hydraulic infrastructure that redistributes water across the plain. Along
this canal, the landscapes reveal another Argolis: that of a
territory shaped by irrigation, where citrus orchards stand alongside concrete
basins, modern vestiges of a water management system that remains fragile.
In the Lerna Plain, these artificial “lakes” are nestled among the olive trees, almost invisible from the main roads. Further north, between Mýloi and Kefalari, a dried-up karst spring lies hidden beneath a remarkable Orthodox church. Yet these sites remain off the tourist trail due to a lack of appropriate infrastructure. Cycling routes, for example, remain in their infancy, preventing the emergence of slow tourism that would help reveal these landscapes.
This disparity raises questions about a concentrated tourism model, in which a few hubs attract the bulk of visitors and investment. For beyond its invisibility, this agricultural region is also vulnerable. Climate change is increasing pressure on water resources, while the aging water infrastructure requires constant maintenance. Its deterioration would directly jeopardize irrigation in the plain, and thus the sustainability of this Argolian “garden.”