The Printing Houses of the Greek Revolution

Printing houses were established and operating in revolutionary Greece just a few months after the beginning of the Struggle. Six printing houses operated in Greece during the revolutionary period: in Kalamata, the one that was later transferred to Corinth (1821-1822); in Missolonghi (1823-1826); in Psara (1824); in Hydra (1824-1827); in Athens (1824-1826) and the Administration Printing House (1825 and after). Their aim was to announce laws and decrees, to transmit news and to influence the ideology of the public, as well as informing the public abroad on the righteous cause of the Struggle for liberation.

As all the printing houses during the Revolution also met the needs of the government, they also served as printing houses of the “Administration”, sometimes more and sometimes less so. The hurdles they were faced with involved technical equipment and human resources, since the people who had the know-how were very few. The publications printed at the time were mostly newspapers, pamphlets and single-page leaflets, and books to a lesser extent. Beside the printing houses mentioned above, during the Struggle and until the creation of the new independent Greek state, there were other attempts to establish and operate printing houses, but they did not succeed.