Marathonisi
is a private island within the National Marine Park of Zakynthos. Its northern
coast is host to a nesting beach of the protected Loggerhead sea turtle
Caretta-Caretta. Existing legislation allows the restoration of the old
agricultural estate as well as the implementation of light infrastructure for
ecotourism. The restoration project is a painstaking study of the existing
ruined complex of buildings in parallel with a study of local architectural
heritage that was swept away in the devastating earthquake that hit the island
in 1953. The landscape plan incorporates the old estate agricultural
infrastructure with the new proposed environmental interpretation
infrastructures into a unified whole for eco-tourism. The target set by the
brief is to enable the reorganization of current ad-hoc tourism which is
harming the sensitive beach biotope into a controlled unique educational and
recreational experience