Nikaia, back when it was Nea Kokkinia

Young women just arrived from Asia Minor learn to sew; two refugees from Mugla get married; five men pose for a photograph in front of a painted backdrop. These and many more scenes captured by the photographic lens offer insight into the day-to-day lives of thousands of refugees who settled in Nea Kokkinia, the present-day Piraeus suburb of Nikaia, after the 1922 Asia Minor Catastrophe and the 1923 population swaps. At the same time, a wealth of archival material, works of art, traditional clothing, personal heirlooms and written material on those who moved into the settlement breathe life into the area's history.

The Kokkinidi sweet shop at 73 Tsaladri Street, in the 1940s, as captured by Anakreon Stavridis (1908-1948), one of the foremost Greek studio photographers in Nikaia. From the Vithleem Kakkos-Stavridis Collection.

These important historical archives on the biggest...