How I Found a Google Earth File of 550+ Ancient Greek Places

Last night on Twitter Wes Fryer asked me if I knew of any Google Earth files that displayed ancient Greek locations. I didn't have anything within my own bookmarks so I did a quick Google search that I filtered according to file type. I first filtered by file type .KMZ but that didn't get me anywhere. My second search I filtered by file type .KML. That search landed me on what I thought was a promising file. However, as you can see in my video below, the file was simply a frame of a website that talked about Google Earth files about ancient Greece. While that framed website didn't display placemarks it did contain a link to discussion forum in which some people had created a KML file containing more than 550 Ancient Greek places. Watch my video to see how this process played out.



Update May 29, 2019: The creator of the file reached out to me to clarify that all of the work was his alone and not a collaboration. The creator of the file is Loren Hall who goes by the name Apollonious. Here's what he shared with me:

It was not made by a group of people, I made it and posted it on the google forums. I am Apollonius.

Anyway just thought I'd let you know where the list came from, I had to look for the coordinates using various techniques, and the whole process took several years to complete. There was a forum called "archaeology fieldwork" years ago that I used to post in at various stages of completion, but I don't think that board exists any more. I would post at 200 places, and then 300, etc. It was very tedious and time-consuming at times, but I love the work.

Again, I'm glad the list is getting some use! It once was official google content, but now it's gotten moved to someplace else. I have no idea what google is doing, but I still care about my Greek places, that was an insane amount of work!

But again, I'm glad you getting some use out of them. Teachers are the BEST use for them. :)

~Loren Hall ('Apollonius')

Virtual Tours of Ancient and Modern Greece

Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Expeditions all provide good ways for students to see the sites of Greece. But if you would like your students to find a bit more detail about those sites, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has an excellent resource for you.

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has produced a website called You Go Culture where you can find virtual tours of ancient Greek sites. Select one of the nine tours to view videos, immersive photospheres, and to read about the sites within each tour. After watching a video overview of each site choose either "myth" or "experience" on the left side of the screen to select links to specific sites within the tour. Each of those links will lead you to text, photographs, and videos about the history of the site as well as information about the site today.

Applications for Education
The virtual tours produced by You Go Culture don't have the "wow" factor of a Google Expedition, but they are more accessible and more detailed than what you'll find through Google Expeditions. History teachers who are building reference pages in their classroom blog/ website would do well to include links to the virtual tours offered on You Go Culture.

H/T to Maps Mania.