Greek roads are not safe, the 3rd worst in Europe in fact, and the reminders are all around – at countless turns, along national highways, on streets, at the countryside and within neighbourhoods. If only people would pay attention to them.
“Ekklisakia” (“little churches” in Greek) are the small roadside shrines raised in memory of those who lost their lives in fatal crashes. They are undocumented, unofficial but ever-present memorials that silently record collective tragedies. Tragedies so familiar that people have stopped noticing them.
To coincide with the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (November 16 2025), The Newtons Laboratory and the Road Safety Institute, Panos Milonas, launched ekklisakiaioas.gr – the first initiative to document all the ekklisakia on Greek roads, and build an interactive map powered by every citizen’s contribution.
Not only does the initiative only visualise the data behind tragedies, it reveals the most complete picture yet of road safety in Greece, shining a light on a tradition so deeply woven into the Greek landscape that it has become almost invisible.
The campaign was carried out through OOH, social media, and print ads.
Credits
Client: R.S.I. (Road Safety Institute) Panos Mylonas
Advertising Agency: The Newtons Laboratory
Creative Directors: Giannis Sorotos, Dimitra Andirkopoulou
Copywriters: Dionysia Lampadariou, Christos Tsirigotis
Creative Director: Giannis Sorotos
Copywriter: Dionysia Lampadariou
Art Director: Eirini Tzioti
Digital Head: Panagiotis Alefragis
Business Innovation Director: Giorgos Panagiotopoulos
Photographer: Tassos Vrettos
Production House: Hast
