The international festival of photojournalism, titled "Visa pour l’ Image- Perpignan à Athènes", is back in Athens, for the third consecutive time, and this year's events will run between November 1-15.
The event features two exhibitions:
A tribute to photojournalist Rémi Ochlik, who was killed in Homs, Syria, in February 2012
and an exhibition by the collective Zmâla – L’œil curieux titled Le vivant est ce qui se transforme.
Both exhibits are hosted at M55 Projects Gallery and set to run until November 15.
On November 2, the French Institute in Athens is hosting a conference on War Photojournalism, featuring Jean-François Leroy, director of Visa pour l’Image, and photojournalists Aris Messinis (AFP) and Dimitris Messinis (AP).
To find out more about this festival, as well as all the other events planned on the sidelines of this festival then please click here - http://www.visapourlimage.com/index.do
When planning to tour the southern Peloponnese, and specifically Mani, keep in mind that this journey is not for timid or easy travelers or for those seeking idyllic, digestible landscapes. It is rather for all of those who love the unique and challenging landscape leaving the rest to be squeezed in the islands.
Mani, the southernmost and middle peninsula of the Peloponnese or Morea, straddling the districts of Lakonia and Messenia in southern Greece, is a treasure trove of Byzantine and post Byzantine churches, Frankish castles and stunning scenery. The isolated aspect of this beautiful -yet mysterious- area, combined with the independent nature of its inhabitants meant that some traditions developed separately from the rest of the Peloponnese and Greece so that a distinct society made its mark on the landscape. To this day the architecture of the area is famed for the tower houses and fortified family dwellings from the period of the Ottoman occupation of Greece.
This region's coastal villages are adorned with cafes and souvenir shops and some popular beaches during the summer include Kalogria and the Stoupa harbor, while Kardamyli and Agios Nikolaos have nice pebble and sand beaches too. The ancient tower houses of Mani (pyrgospita) are significant tourist attractions, and some even offer accommodation for visitors.
But certainly the star attraction , aside from Mystras (which is close by) is the beautiful and mysterious Diros Caves. The Diros Caves are located approximately 12 miles south of Areopolis and they are part of an underground river. Archaeological research has shown that the caves have served as places of worship in Paleolithic and Neolithic times and their inhabitant believed that the caves were the entrance to the Underworld
The cave is essentially divided into three caves and stretches 14 km, the tourist route, however, has a total length of 1,500 meters. The temperature of the caves, continually ranges between 17-19° (at all times), and boat tours usually last for about half an hour.
About 5,000 meters have been exposed and are accessible by small boats and through narrow passageways.
Snow-white columns rising from the water, stalactites and stalagmites playing in tones of pink and elsewhere red, have given the names to the separate rooms: the Pillars of Hercules, the Lake Okeanidon, Palm Trees, the Chapel, the Stone Flower, the Pink Salons, Velvet Stalactites, the Lighthouse, Golden Rain, the Sea of Wreckage, the Chocolate Room, the Spider’s Net, the Cave of Bethlehem, the Flying Saucer, the Hall of Lovers, the Lake with Fairies are some of those encountered in the path.
Reproduction of the paleo-environment of western Mani after the Pleistocene period and its interaction with man, the realization of a systematic surface study of the environs of the Bay of Diros and the study and publication of the archaeological material unearthed were the three targets of the research programme "Diros excavation and research project" that was completed over the summer.
The Alepotrypa (Foxhole) Cave, the exploration of which began in 1970, was inhabited during the Neolithic Period (6000-3000B C) and has produced thousands of finds of clay, stone and bone tools, jewelry and human and animal bones. The 2012 studies began with a geoscopic study in the area of Xagounaki (Neolithic acropolis of Diros) at the northern entrance of the Alepotrypa Cave. This area gave up a heavy concentration of stone tools, shells and human bones from the Late Neolithic Period.
Excavations also turned up an undisturbed double child burial in an urn, sections of another burial from the Final Neolithic Period and three adult burials, also undisturbed. The concentration of the more than 160 burials found to date, combined with the large quantity of pottery and tool finds, lead to the conclusion that the area was heavily occupied during the Final Neolithic Period.
Noteworthy is the full absence of finds after the Neolithic Period, which indicates that the Cave and its surrounding area were not used after that period for systematic habitation.
Overlooking the Bay of Diros, Alepotrypa is a stalactitic cave that contains the remains of a Neolithic (Stone Age) village, burials, a lake and an amphitheater-sized final chamber that hosted burial rituals more than 5,000 years ago.
The Cave was sealed off from the outside world during a heavy earthquake at the end of the Late Neolithic Period, until it was accidentally discovered by locals in 1958. (Combined Reports, gogreece, AMNA, YouTube)
The 15th Annual World Music Expo (Womex) is scheduled to begin in Thessaloniki today and run until October 21. Following three successive years in Copenhagen (2009-2011), the Greek northern city is planning to take the lead in what is considered one of the most important international professional market of world music of its kind (UNESCO). Womex brings together professionals from the worlds of folk, roots, ethnic and traditional music.
Moreover, the international fair also contributes to networking as an effective means of promoting music and culture of all kinds across frontiers, and features some 300 artists. More than 2,500 participants are expected to turn up for the event.
Thessaloniki Womex 2012 is supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Womex will also mark its first participation in Southeastern Europe, and this will give international audience the opportunity to discover Greece and the broader Balkan area through its distinctive musical heritage.
Visitors walk among ruins at the site of ancient Olympia on July 26, 2012 in Olympia, Greece. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Excavations are to begin immediately to uncover the remainder of a building of the ancient Gymnasium in Ancient Olympia, venue of the first Olympic Games in antiquity, the state news agency said on Thursday.
The Gymnasium is a monument of exceptional archaeological and cultural value, and its full excavation will complete the archaeological landscape of the Sacred Altis sanctuary. To date, the East Stoa has been partially investigated, at a length of 120 meters.
The ancient gymnasium of Olympia lies north-west of the Altis enclosure on a flat stretch of land by the Kladeos river bank. It is adjacent to the palaestra, which extends the gymnasium complex towards the south.
Here athletes practiced track and field and the pentathlon. Before the construction of the gymnasium in the Hellenistic period, these events took place outdoors. The surviving structure dates to the second century BC. amna
The first ever Athens Plaython Festival is being held this weekend in Greece, bringing a marathon of games to the city’s streets. Athens Plaython is an international street games festival that includes big games, as well as design and technology workshops, and aspires to bring city-wide fun to the streets of Athens.
The festival will host a series of innovative group games for all age-groups designed by local and international artists.
The program also features workshops that invite participants to become game creators themselves, including the PlayOlympics at Technopolis, a massive games workshop that will transform the city’s iconic cultural centre into a games stadium.
Thomas Moschopoulos, a Greek stage director already familiar to the local audience, created a sensation at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. His production of Sophocles’ Elektra, starring some of Canada’s greatest stage actors, and featuring Kornilios Selamsis’ music and Ellie Papageorgakopoulou’s scenery, has received raving reviews from some of the country’s most prestigious media, such as the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.
Moschopoulos’ direction was based on what he called, in his own note, "the three essential elements of Greek tragedy: song, rhythmical recitation and rhetorical debate." All critics were particularly impressed with his functional use of music "connecting viewer with character by using the rhythm of a beating heart".
The show has been described as the "cream of the crop" of the festival, and Moschopoulos as a gifted director. The play continues through September 29 at the Tom Patterson Theatre. The director, who had also excited Italian audience with his collaboration with the Teatro Lirico, is currently in Greece preparing three new productions, while already discussing a new production at the Stratford Festival and another opera in Italy for next year. (Greek news agenda)
Modern picture of the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, where many of Aeschylus's plays were performed (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
For the first time after 2,500 years, the words of ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus and music will be heard at the ancient open-air Theater of Dionysus, on the southern slope of the Athens Acropolis, in a single performance on Saturday, September 22.
Dedicated to Greece's archaeologists and all those working on the preservation and restoration of the country's ancient theaters, the concert will feature the world premiere of noted composer George Kouroupos' work "Monologue", which is based on two monologues from Aeschylus' tragedy Prometheus Bound.
The Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus is a major open-air theater on the southern slope of the Athens Acropolis and one of the earliest preserved in Athens. It was dedicated to Dionysus, the god of wine and the patron of drama and hosted the city's Dionysia festival in honor Dionysus.
These dramatic festivals were competitive among playwrights and involved the production of four plays, three tragedies and one satyr play featuring lighter themes. It was the venue of the first performances of the plays of the classical era tragedians (who competed there and whose works survive today) Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Menander, and the comedies of Aristophanes. Aeschylus, in fact, won the competition of 480 BC in the Theater of Dionysus with his famous Oresteia trilogy (Agamemnon, Choephori and Eumenidis).
Aptly, the Aeschylean monologues that will be heard in this unique performance come from another trilogy, as Prometheus Bound is the first play in a trilogy referred to as the Prometheia and survives in full, whereas the second and third plays, Prometheus the Fire-Bringer and Prometheus Unbound, survive only in fragments.
It is of immense historic significance as it is here that the masterpieces of ancient drama were first performed.
The Greek authorities announced in late 2009 a 6-year, 6 million euro program for the partial restoration of the ruined marble theater, slated for completion by 2015, which includes extensive modern additions to the surviving stone seats.
A small section of the theater's stone seating, which could hold up to 15,000 spectators, still survives, to which restorers will gradually add several tiers using both recovered ancient fragments and new stone. Retaining walls and other parts of the building will also be strengthened. (AMNA)
In Greece the advertisement in exterior billboards has been recently forbidden. As a result there are hundreds of empty frames that don’t carry any messages. But the empty frames are now the message. And we are out of frame.
A short film by Yorgos Zois, titled Titloi Telous (Out of Frame) was included in the Orizzonti section of the 69th Venice International Film Festival, which began on August 29 and is scheduled to run until September 8. An insider's peek says the film was shot entirely in the urban scenery of Attica and is made up entirely of real life scenes, with no use of script or actors! In fact the small crew filmed sequences at the same spots on different times of the year. Zois had gained international recognition with his first short film, Casus Belli, at the 67th Venice Film Festival, two years ago.
The sinking of the Ottoman (Turkish) flagship in the Spetses Naval Battle in 1822 will be re-enacted in the Spetsian harbor on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 8, in the annual "Armata" anniversary celebration, combined with the celebration of the feast of the island's Panaghia Armata (the Virgin Mary of the Armata).
Spetses is one of eight European cities participating in the European Network of Historical Reconstructions (re-enactments). In each of the participating cities -- Brussels (Belgium), Dublin and Cork (Ireland), Bailen (Spain), Slavkov (the Czech Republic), Tewkesbury (Britain), and Hydra and Spetses (Greece) -- the reproductions are considered historic events.
The Battle of Spetses was fought on the night of September 8, 1822, during the Greek War of Independence, and is re-enacted on the same day each year on Spetses.
On 8 September, 1822 the Ottoman navy set sail from Monemvasia to bring supplies to the Ottoman fortress of Palamidi in Nafplion, which at the time was under siege by the ground forces of Alexander Ypsilantis and the naval forces of Laskarina Bouboulina. The plan also included attacks on the rebelling Greek islands of Spetses and Hydra en route to Nafplion.
As it neared the islets of Trikeri and Spetsopoula, the Ottoman navy faced the naval forces of the islands of Spetses, Hydra and Psara under the command of Andreas Miaoulis, who ordered the Greek navy to sails towards the Argolic Gulf and lure the Ottoman navy away from the islands. However, in fear of putting Spetses' security at risk, most of the ships' captains ignored Miaoulis' command and instead opened a direct attack against the Ottoman navy.
The battle between the small Greek naval force and the huge Ottoman navy was fierce. Spetsiote captain Kosmas Barbatsis heroically manoeuvred his ship next to the Ottoman flagship and burned it down. Most of the Ottoman fleet was burnt or sunk in the battle, and the remaining Ottoman ships retreated. As a result, the Ottoman navy never reached Nafplion, which was liberated by the Greek freedom fighters two-and-a-half months later, on November 30.
The re-enactment of the sinking of the Ottoman flagship is the climax in a week of cultural and other events commemorating the Battle of Spetses and celebrating the Panaghia Armata.
The events, which open on Monday, September 3 and conclude on Sunday, September 9, include an exhibition of traditional folk costumes from the Aegean, an exhibition of photographs by D. Papadimos titled "From Egypt to Spetses", an exhibition of paintings by Al. Tsironis and D. Tassoulis, a children' s choir concert, shadow theatre, Latin dances by a local dance troupe, a rock concert by the group Soul-less, and other musical performances. (AMNA)
The Bavarian Radio-Television foundation BR has found another way for its viewers to be acquainted with Greek nature, the sites and the archaeological treasures. This year the cruiseship "BERLIN" will dock at the port of Nafplio on September 4 and a team of cyclists will visit the historic city of Nafplio and the archaeological site of Mycenae. The Municipality of Nafplio will organise in the honour of the German cyclists a Greek evening in the city's central square. On September 5, a team of 220 German cyclists, accompanied by local cyclists, will leave Nafplio port for Mycenae where they will be given a tour of the archaeological site. Live highlights of the bicycle tour and the visit to Mycenae will be broadcast by BR and a 45-minute documentary will be taped to be shown on Bavarian TV.
An exhibition titled "Mythos Olympia - Kult und Spiele" is scheduled to open on Aug. 30 at the Martin-Gropius-Bau exhibition hall in Berlin, Germany. The event focusing on ancient Olympia, will be held in the presence of Alternate Education Minister Costas Tzavaras.
Regarded as one of the largest exhibitions on ancient Olympia ever held internationally, the exhibit is set to feature roughly 1,000 exhibits from major museums in Greece and other European countries, including exhibits unearthed during recent excavations, which have never been on display before.
Within the framework of his visit, Tzavaras will meet with Deputy Ministerial Director to the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Ingeborg Berggreen-Merkel.
The threat to Greece's ancient monuments comes because the state budget for cultural heritage has been slashed and there are fears that unprotected sites could be looted or ancient treasures left to crumble. Greek finance officials on Monday held new talks on finalising $14.19bn in spending cuts necessary for the country to continue receiving the international rescue loans that are protecting it from bankruptcy. Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from Athens.
The silver cup awarded to Greek runner Spyros Louis when he won the first-ever Olympic marathon at the 1896 Games in Athens will be displayed at the new Acropolis Museum for a year, starting on August 28. The news was announced by the 'Stavros Niarchos' Foundation, which bought the cup in an auction held by Louis's descendants in April with a promise to make it accessible to the public and put it permanently on display at the 'Stavros Niarchos' Foundation Arts Centre when this is completed in 2015.
In the meantime, the Foundation has selected the new Acropolis Museum as a venue that combined maximum security with ease of access for the public and has prepared supporting audiovisual and printed material surrounding the cup and its history.
During the year-long exhibition at the Acropolis Museum, the foundation will continue efforts to find other potentially suitable venues that could temporarily display the cup until 2015, when its own arts centre is due to be completed.
The silver cup, which stands just six inches tall, was inspired by the French philologist and philhellene Michel Breal, who proposed the men's marathon race as part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
The Foundation bought the cup during a heated bidding session at Christie's involving six bidders. It sold for 514,250 pounds (860,000 dollars), breaking the auction record for Olympic memorabilia. (AMNA)
We are still pinching ourselves with excitement over the news. Athens Acropolis Museum Director Demetrios Pantermalis was quoted by the Greek media as saying on Thursday that Greece is getting set to begin talks with officials of the British Museum on the return of some of the Parthenon marbles that were stolen by a British diplomat, Lord Elgin, between 1801-12. Agence-France-Presse said in one report that the pieces expected to be returned include hands, heads and legs of sculptures.
The British Museum has long refused to discuss the return of the marbles. At first they said Greece did not have a proper museum to store them in, and then after the Acropolis Museum opened in 2009 the UK Museum even had the audacity to argue that they no longer belonged to Greece!
Only an idiot would believe that...
Everyone knows that Lord Elgin removed about half the marble friezes from the GREEK Parthenon while Greece was under Ottoman rule. This basically means that Britian never received the consent of Greece to remove them, but rather the consent of Turkey!
But let us not get our hopes up folks, the proposal has only been accepted in principle and discussions are set to begin in autumn. Pantermalis, on the other hand is very optimistic and says that the return of at least some parts of the marbles is the key which could eventually lead to the return of all our marbles. Let us hope he is right!
Here is one campaign that can unite all Hellenes, worldwide.
Our hope here at hellasfrappe is that the Greek community in England will rally hard and LOUD for their return.
The month of August is coming to a close, as is the end of the summer moon cycle. In such a context, the New Acropolis Museum is planning to celebrate the full moon on August 31 with a concert of romantic melodies in its courtyard performed by the Volos musical school. According to an announcement, the Museum will be open to the public from 8:00 in the morning to midnight on that day, (with free entrance to the public from 9:00 pm on). This will allow all the romantic at heart, and dreamy-eyed star gazers to walk around the exhibits and enjoy a view of the Acropolis monument in the light of the full of the brightest moon of the summer while listening to sweet melodic sounds. The concert will begin at 9:30 pm.
A Minoan-era building dating from 1,600 to 1,400 BC was unearthed at an altitude of 900 metres at the Gaidourofas site, near Ierapetra, in eastern Crete. According to initial assessments, the building served as a late Bronze Age (Neopalatial period) "mansion".
The structure retains all of its walls and has not been pillaged. It is believed that its residents abandoned the building after a catastrophe without taking with them personal and household objects. The nature of the catastrophe has not been clarified and will be the subject of further excavation and research.
The excavation was part of a five-year research programme implemented and funded by the University of Athens, with the financial backing of several institutions in Greece and abroad. The programme is headed by Yannis Papadatos, a professor of prehistoric archaeology at the University of Athens, and Costas Halikias, a lecturer at the Heidelberg University. (AMNA)
Archaeologists have found and documented six well-preserved ancient shipwrecks in the sea region between the isle of Makronissos and the extreme southeast coast of Attica prefecture. The discovery was made during an underwater reconnaissance research mission in the southern Evoikos Gulf, which took place in June and July.
Four shipwrecks were spotted in depths ranging from 37 metres to 47 metres around Makronissos, and two were found off the coasts of the harbour town of Lavrio.
The findings in the Makronissos shipwrecks are all ancient amphorae from North Africa, Sicily and Rhodes, dated between 2nd century BC and 4th century AD. Findings in one of the shipwrecks off the coasts of Lavrio showed that the vessel's cargo was construction materials dated between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, while the second vessel carried Hellenistic era amphorae.
The latest discoveries are added to the 18 already documented south Evoikos shipwrecks, indicating that the region was a major sea lane in antiquity, linking north and south Aegean. The study and specific locations are expected to shed new light on maritime routes and trafficking of goods during antiquity. (AMNA)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are apparently coming to Athens on September 4 in what some describe as being the concert of the summer! The group announced the extension of their world tour and have included ATHENS in the list of cities they will perform in.
Red Hot Chili Peppers are THE BAND that the Greek audience has been dreaming to see live for years!
The multi-platinum and multi-Grammy award winners RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS are one of the most successful rock bands of history. With over 70 million albums in sales, they have won 7 Grammy awards in almost every category, as are “Best Album Rock” for “Stadium Arcadium”, “Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group” for “Dani California”, “Best Rock Song” for “Scar Tissue” and “Best Hard Rock Performance With Vocal” for “Give It Away”. The band members of Red Hot Chili Peppers are lead singer Anthony Kiedis, bass player Flea, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
I scream, you scream, all fans scream: AT LAST! RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS are coming to Greece for the biggest concert of the year!
The Ethnological Museum of Thrace was founded with the purpose of preserving historical memory in the wider region of Thrace and is a self-funded organization. Since 1899 it has been operating in Alexandroupolis in a leased, stone-built neoclassical building that dates from 1899.
The Museum has been open to the public since October 2002. It is self financed project and at times it is also sponsored by the Stauros Niarhos Foundation and the Ministry of Culture.
Τhe Ethnological Museum of Thrace is a great place where people can learn about the folk culture and the customs of Thrace, and an area that allows all visitors to connect tradition and the memory contained within it with the concerns of modern society.
The purpose of the museum is to study, project, and promote the Thracian culture. All the exhibits are organized in such a way so that visitors can get a full picture of the traditional way of life in Thrace, especially in the North Evros prefecture from the late 17th century to the early 20th century." (Source - hellenicgenealogygeek)
The International Aegean Sailing Rally is back for the 49th year, for ten days of true maritime adventure. This year’s course will take sailors on three off-shore races across the Aegean, from Attica to Chania, Crete and then back via Milos Island. The race begins today (July 14, 2012) at the bow of the legendary Averoff battleship/naval museum moored at Faliro Bay, south of Athens, and the finish will take place at Cape Sounio on July 22. The prize ceremony will take place at the Aegean Naval Command in Piraeus on July 24. The yearly event is organized by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC) since 1964 and is Greece’s oldest and most prestigious regatta. The International Aegean Sailing Rally is a traditional yearly event
organized by the HORC (Hellenic Offshore Racing Club). It is the oldest
and most prestigious sailing regatta in Greece. Since 1964, it gathers
contestants from around the world as well as all of Greece's top sailing
teams. Every year the top boats show up on the starting line for a
race. Among them there are some of the finest yachts and best trained
crews of the Eastern Mediterranean.
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