1.
Blue
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Blue is the colour between violet and green on the optical spectrum of visible light. Human eyes perceive blue when observing light with a wavelength between 450 and 495 nanometres, which is between 4500 and 4950 ångströms. Blues with a frequency and thus a shorter wavelength gradually look more violet, while those with a lower frequency. Pure blue, in the middle, has a wavelength of 470 nanometers, in painting and traditional colour theory, blue is one of the three primary colours of pigments, along with red and yellow, which can be mixed to form a wide gamut of colours. Red and blue mixed together form violet, blue and yellow together form green, Blue is also a primary colour in the RGB colour model, used to create all the colours on the screen of a television or computer monitor. The clear sky and the sea appear blue because of an optical effect known as Rayleigh scattering. When sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the wavelengths are scattered more widely by the oxygen and nitrogen molecules. An optical effect called Tyndall scattering, similar to Rayleigh scattering, explains blue eyes, distant objects appear more blue because of another optical effect called atmospheric perspective. Blue has been used for art and decoration since ancient times and it is the most important color in Judaism. In the Middle Ages, cobalt blue was used to colour the stained glass windows of cathedrals, beginning in the 9th century, Chinese artists used cobalt to make fine blue and white porcelain. Blue dyes for clothing were made from woad in Europe and indigo in Asia, in 1828 a synthetic ultramarine pigment was developed, and synthetic blue dyes and pigments gradually replaced mineral pigments and vegetable dyes. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh and other late 19th century painters used ultramarine and cobalt blue not just to depict nature, in the late 18th century and 19th century, blue became a popular colour for military uniforms and police uniforms. In the 20th century, because blue was associated with harmony, it was chosen as the colour of the flags of the United Nations. Surveys in the US and Europe show that blue is the colour most commonly associated with harmony, faithfulness, confidence, distance, infinity, the imagination, cold, and sometimes with sadness. In US and European public opinion polls it is the most popular colour, Blue is the colour of light between violet and green on the visible spectrum. Blues also vary in shade or tint, darker shades of blue contain black or grey, darker shades of blue include ultramarine, cobalt blue, navy blue, and Prussian blue, while lighter tints include sky blue, azure, and Egyptian blue. Today most blue pigments and dyes are made by a chemical process, the modern English word blue comes from Middle English bleu or blewe, from the Old French bleu, a word of Germanic origin, related to the Old High German word blao. In heraldry, the azure is used for blue
2.
White
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White is an achromatic color, a color without hue. An incoming light to the eye that stimulates all its three types of color sensitive cone cells in nearly equal amounts results in white. White is one of the most common colors in nature, the color of sunlight, snow, milk, chalk, limestone, in many cultures white represents or signifies purity, innocence, and light, and is the symbolic opposite of black, or darkness. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, white is the color most often associated with perfection, the good, honesty, cleanliness, the beginning, the new, neutrality, and exactitude. In ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, priestesses wore white as a symbol of purity, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance a white unicorn symbolized chastity, and a white lamb sacrifice and purity, the widows of kings dressed in white rather than black as the color of mourning. It was also used in 20th century modern architecture as a symbol of modernity, simplicity. White is an important color for almost all world religions, the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, has worn white since 1566, as a symbol of purity and sacrifice. In Islam, and in the Shinto religion of Japan, it is worn by pilgrims, in Western cultures and in Japan, white is the most common color for wedding dresses, symbolizing purity and virginity. In many Asian cultures, white is also the color of mourning, the white color on television screens and computer monitors is created with the RGB color model by mixing red, green and blue light at equal intensities. The word white continues Old English hwīt, ultimately from a Common Germanic *χwītaz also reflected in OHG wîz, ON hvítr, the root is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language *kwid-, surviving also in Sanskrit śveta to be white or bright and Slavonic světŭ light. The Icelandic word for white, hvítur, is derived from the Old Norse form of the word hvítr. Common Germanic also had the word *blankaz, borrowed into Late Latin as *blancus, the antonym of white is black. Some non-European languages have a variety of terms for white. The Inuit language has seven different words for seven different nuances of white, Japanese has six different words, depending upon brilliance or dullness, or if the color is inert or dynamic. White was one of the first colors used in art, the Lascaux Cave in France contains drawings of bulls and other animals drawn by paleolithic artists between 18,000 and 17,000 years ago. Paleolithic artists used calcite or chalk, they sometimes as a background, sometimes as a highlight, along with charcoal and red, in ancient Egypt, white was connected with the goddess Isis. The priests and priestesses of Isis dressed only in white linen, in Greece and other ancient civilizations, white was often associated with mothers milk. In Greek mythology, the chief god Zeus was nourished at the breast of the nymph Amalthea, in the Talmud, milk was one of four sacred substances, along with wine, honey, and the rose
3.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
4.
Piraeus
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Piraeus is a port city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens urban area,12 kilometres southwest from its city center, the municipality of Piraeus and several other suburban municipalities within the regional unit of Piraeus form the greater Piraeus area, with a total population of 448,997. Piraeus has a recorded history, dating to ancient Greece. During the Golden Age of Athens the Long Walls were constructed to connect Athens with Piraeus, the port of Piraeus is the chief port in Greece, the largest passenger port in Europe and the second largest in the world, servicing about 20 million passengers annually. With a throughput of 1.4 million TEUs, Piraeus is placed among the top ten ports in container traffic in Europe, the city hosted events in both the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens. The University of Piraeus is one of the largest universities in Greece, Piraeus, which roughly means the place over the passage, has been inhabited since the 26th century BC. Consequently, it was called the Halipedon, meaning the salt field, through the centuries, the area was increasingly silted and flooding ceased, and thus by early classical times the land passage was made safe. In the late 6th century BC, the area caught attention due to its advantages, in 511 BC, the hill of Munichia was fortified by Hippias and four years later Piraeus became a deme of Attica by Cleisthenes. The Athenian fleet played a role in the battle of Salamis against the Persians in 480 BC. From then on Piraeus was permanently used as the navy base, the citys fortification was farther reinforced later by the construction of the Long Walls under Cimon and Pericles, with which Piraeus was connected to Athens. Meanwhile, Piraeus was rebuilt to the grid plan of architect Hippodamus of Miletus, known as the Hippodamian plan. As a result, Piraeus flourished and became a port of high security and great commercial activity, during the Peloponnesian War, Piraeus suffered its first setback. In the second year of the war, the first cases of the Athens plague were recorded in Piraeus, in 404 BC, the Spartan fleet under Lysander blockaded Piraeus and subsequently Athens surrendered to the Spartans, putting an end to the Delian League and the war itself. As a result, the tattered and unfortified port city was not able to compete with prosperous Rhodes, the destruction was completed in 395 AD by the Goths under Alaric I. Piraeus was led to a period of decline which lasted for fifteen centuries. During the Byzantine period the harbour of Piraeus was occasionally used for the Byzantine fleet and it was also called Porto Drako by Greeks, drako meaning not just dragon, but any monster. When Piraeus was taken by the Ottoman Empire in 1456, it known as Aslan Liman. The Piraeus Lion itself was looted in 1687 by Francesco Morosini during his expedition against Athens and was carried to the Venetian Arsenal, a copy of the lion statue is on display at the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus
5.
Field hockey
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Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. The earliest origins of the date back to the Middle Ages in England, Scotland, France. The game can be played on a field or a turf field as well as an indoor board surface. Each team plays with eleven players, including the goalie, players use sticks made out of wood, carbon fibre, fibre glass or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities to hit a round, hard, plastic ball. The length of the stick depends on the players individual height, only one end of the stick is allowed to be used. Goalies often have a different kind of stick, however they can use an ordinary field hockey stick. The specific goal-keeping sticks have another curve at the end of the stick, the uniform consists of shin guards, shoes, shorts, a mouth guard and a jersey. Today, the game is played globally, with particular popularity throughout Western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Field Hockey is the national game of India and Pakistan. The term field hockey is used primarily in Canada and the United States where ice hockey is more popular, in Sweden the term landhockey is used. To some degree also in Norway and it is a section of Norways Bandy Association. Until recently they called it hockey, when it was changed to landhockey, during play, goal keepers are the only players who are allowed to touch the ball with any part of their body, while field players play the ball with the flat side of their stick. Goal keepers also cannot play the ball with the back of their stick, whoever scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout, there are many variations to overtime play that depend on the league and tournament play. In college play, an overtime period consists of a 10-minute golden goal period with seven players for each team. If a tie remains, the game enters a one-on-one competition where each team chooses 5 players to dribble from the 25 yard line down to the circle against the opposing goalie. The player has 8 seconds to score on the goalie keeping it in bounds, the play ends after a goal is scored, the ball goes out of bounds, a foul is committed or time expires. If the tie still persists extra rounds thereafter until one team has scored, the FIH is also responsible for organising the Hockey Rules Board and developing the rules for the game. A popular variant of field hockey is indoor field hockey, which differs in a number of respects while embodying the principles of hockey
6.
Ethnikos Piraeus F.C.
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Ethnikos Piraeus 1923 F. C. is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus. They have had a turbulent recent history, and are competing in the third division Football League 2. Colloquially referred to as Ethnikos Piraeus, is a club with teams competing in football, water polo. The clubs most significant teams, in terms of history and success, are their football and water polo teams, prior to 1959–60 Greek football was played in regional championships and then the top teams from each region would advance to play for the National Championship. In some pre-War years a traditional Final match was played between 2 regional champions, but generally the Panhellenic Championship was played as a final round-robin between at least 3 teams, Ethnikos was Piraeus Champion in 1927–28, but lost the National Championship to Aris. The following year Ethnikos was Piraeus Champion once again, but the National Championship was not played, in 1932–33 Ethnikos won the Greek Cup, the club’s only major title. Ethnikos eliminated Apollon in the Quarterfinals and Olympiacos in the Semifinals before meeting Aris in the Final, Ethnikos and Aris played to a 2–2 draw in Thessaloniki, but Ethnikos won the replay 2–1 and took the Cup. Ethnikos won another Piraeus Championship in 1938–39, but lost the South Division by 2 points, Ethnikos reached the Semifinals of the Greek Cup in 1938–39 and 1939–40, but lost to PAOK and Panathinaikos, respectively. The Ethnikos teams of the mid- to late-1950s are considered by many to be Ethnikos’ greatest teams, in 1955–56 Ethnikos finished 2nd in Greece, just 1 point behind champions Olympiakos. In 1956–57 a scandal robbed Ethnikos of the National Championship, with 4 matches left in the National Championship, Ethnikos was favorite for the title, and next on the schedule was Olympiakos, who Ethnikos had already defeated earlier in the season. Ethnikos was docked 4 points and not allowed to play the final 4 matches of the season, from 1959–60 the Greek championship changed to its modern form and the first division became known as Alpha Ethniki. Since 1959–60 Ethnikos is tied for the 8th-most first division participations with 36, along with OFI, ahead of Ethnikos are traditional powers Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, AEK and PAOK as well as Iraklis, Aris and Panionios. During the 1960s Ethnikos’ best league finishes were 5th in 1962–63 and 6th in 1960–61, from 1960–61 to 1968–69 Ethnikos never finished outside the top 10. Ethnikos reached the Semifinals of the Greek Cup twice during the 1960s, in 1967–68 Ethnikos lost in the Semifinals to Panathinaikos. The following year Ethnikos came desperately close to another Cup Final – after defeating PAOK 5–4 in the Quarterfinals, in 1974–75 Ethnikos made its best challenge for the league championship in the modern era. Though never making another challenge for the league championship, Ethnikos remained consistently competitive during the 1970s. Ethnikos’ two best runs in the Greek Cup in the 1970s were halted by PAOK, in 1972-72 Ethnikos lost to PAOK 3–2 in the Semifinals and in 1976–77 Ethnikos was defeated by PAOK in the Quarterfinals. Ethnikos made decent 7th-place finishes in 1979–80 and 1980–81, but the team would struggle through the rest of the 1980s
7.
Greek Football Cup
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The Greek Football Cup, commonly known as the Greek Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Football Cup OPAP, is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The holders of the Greek Cup are AEK Athens, who beat Olympiacos 2–1 in the 2016 final held on May 17,2016, the Greek Cup under EPO began in 1931. In its early years, entry was optional, Teams were paired against each other by the football associations, without a draw taking place. Later on, for years, a proper draw took place. In the 90s, the matches were played in groups. The winners of the played against each other up to the final in two-leg matches. Until 1964, if the score was a draw, the two teams played another match, while penalties didnt exist. The next year a new rule was applied, to determine that, if the game was undecided even after extra time and that rule was abolished in 1969, when the penalty shootout was applied. Until 1971, teams all over the country, professional. Each team first played against clubs from its own association and the winners continued in a nationwide competition, since 1971, only teams from the three professional divisions are allowed entry, while amateur clubs take part in the Amateur Cup. Over the years, the competition has played under various formats. In the initial format, one-legged ties were played at the ground of the team as determined by the draw, if the final result between two teams was a draw, the match was replayed at the opponents ground. There was extra time but no penalty shootout, if teams were still level after extra time, the winner was nominated by drawing lots or toss of coin. From 1969, the penalty shootout was established and the matches were concluded without the need for replays, for some years of the decades of 1980 and 1990, the First Round was played in preliminary groups, from which 16 teams qualified. These teams continued in knockout format with two-leg ties until the final match. For two seasons, the Final was also held as a tie, but then this rule was discarded. The current format is in effect from 2005, excluding 2009–10 season, for 2011–12, only to Semi-finals will be double matches. This is because the start of the tournament will delay because of court decisions pending for several teams, First Round, The teams of two groups of Football League 2 participate
8.
Karaiskakis Stadium
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The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium is a football stadium in the Neo Faliro area of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece. It is the ground of the Greek club Olympiacos F. C. and is named after Georgios Karaiskakis, a hero of the Greek War of Independence. It was used during the 1896 Summer Olympics as the Neo Phaliron Velodrome and it was renovated during the 1960s and was completely rebuilt in 2004 into a 32,115 capacity, all seater stadium, ready for the football competition of the 2004 Summer Olympics. The stadium was demolished and built again from the beginning, facing a different direction. This complete reconstruction took a time of only 14 months. After the last deal ended in 1998, Olympiacos is using the stadium once again, as of the 2010/11 season though, Ethnikos has not yet opted to do so. The ticket sales average higher than any teams in recent decades for the Super League Greece history and are not expected to drop in the foreseeable future. Sales for national team matches had also been higher, but this was for the most part due to Greeces success in the Euro 2004. As of 2008 and after Greeces disappointing Euro 2008 performance, the attendance of national team matches dropped drastically, leading the Ministry of Sport to change the venue to Heraklion, Crete. In June 2005, Karaiskakis stadium hosted a theatre with a cinema screen that is 20 m long and 10 m wide. The movie screen featured movies including Batman Begins and others, the stadium operated as a movie theatre for the last time on Saturday 13 August 2005. In memory of this event, at the tribune where Gate 7 is now, twenty-one seats are colored instead of red. A monument on the side of the stadium bears the names of the twenty-one supporters killed on that day in the stadium. Karaiskakis Stadium is classified among 28 other ones around Europe as a 5-star football stadium by the UEFA organisation, there are 10 automated ticket selling machines around the stadium enabling reservations through the internet or by phone. There is no charge for the parking area, which takes up to 2,500 cars. Due to its design, the stadiums tribunes have the ability to empty within 7 minutes, the stadium also has restaurants and stores opened during concerts and games and sometimes open with the daily general timetable of most Greek stores and shops. Rihanna, Aerosmith, Evanescence,50 Cent, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Imiskoumbria, Def Leppard and Sex Pistols have performed at the stadium
9.
Phalerum
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Phalerum was a port of Ancient Athens. It was situated 5 km southwest of the Acropolis of Athens and this bay is also referred to as Bay of Phalerum. The area of Phalerum is now occupied by the towns Palaio Faliro, Kallithea, Moschato and Neo Faliro, Phalerum was the major port of Athens before Themistocles had the three rocky natural harbours by the promontory of Piraeus developed as alternative, starting from 491 BC. It was said that Menestheus set sail with his fleet to Troy from Phalerum, recently, archaeologists have uncovered what appear to be traces of ancient Athens’s first port before the city’s naval and shipping center was moved to Piraeus. The Park of Maritime Tradition, a collection of preserved historic ships, is located at the site, at the southern tip is the permanent anchorage of the armored cruiser HS Averof, which was the admiralty ship of the Hellenic Navy during the Balkan Wars and World War I. Other museum ships include the Hellenic Navy destroyer HS Velos, the old cable ship Thalis o Milisios and Olympias, a modern reconstruction of an ancient trireme naval ship. Demetrius of Phalerum, orator Diogenes Laertius said that Musaeus died in Phalerum This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
10.
Superleague Greece
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The Superleague Greece is the highest professional football league in Greece. It was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced Alpha Ethniki at the top of the Greek football league system, the league consists of 16 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each. As of May 2013, Superleague Greece is ranked 12th in the UEFA ranking of leagues, the current champions are Olympiacos, who have won a total of 43 titles. Between 1905 and 1912, a Panhellenic Championship was organised by the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics and this championship was actually a local tournament among clubs from Athens and Piraeus. After the Balkan Wars and World War I, two associations were formed, one organising a football league in Athens and Piraeus. These were the Athens-Piraeus FCA and the Macedonia FCA, in 1923, a Panhellenic Champion was determined by a play-off game between the Athens-Piraeus and the Thessaloniki champions. Peiraikos Syndesmos won 3-1 against Aris Thessaloniki and this panhellenic final was not repeated the following year as the EPSAP was split into the Athens FCA and Piraeus FCA following a dispute. In 1927, a championship was organised in the form of a round-robin tournament between the champions of the three governing bodies. This time, Aris Thessaloniki won, finishing ahead of Ethnikos Piraeus and this national championship was set up again in 1929, and over the next years evolved into a tournament in which multiple teams took part. Still, these teams had to qualify for the championship through their local football competitions. In 1959 the Alpha Ethniki - the precursor of the current Superleague - was set up as a national round-robin tournament, at present,16 clubs compete in the Superleague, playing each other in a home and away series. At the end of the season, the three clubs are relegated to Football League. In their place, the top three teams from Football League are promoted, the number of teams to be relegated may change, depending on a licensing procedure that takes place at the end of the regular season. The league was reduced from 18 teams to 16 following the 2014–15 season, the Superleague is currently entitled to two entrants into the UEFA Champions League. The Superleague champion directly enters the stage of the UEFA Champions League. The second through fifth place teams in the Superleague enter a play-off for the second Greek entry, the play-off winner enters the UEFA Champions Leagues third qualifying round, a two-legged tie from which the winner advances to the play offs of the UEFA Champions League. The winner of the Greek Cup automatically qualifies for the UEFA Europa League, in the play-off for the UEFA Champions League, the teams play each other in a home and away round robin. However, they do not all start with 0 points, instead, a weighting system applies to the teams standing at the start of the play-off mini-league
11.
Ethnikos Piraeus Water Polo Club
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Ethnikos Piraeus Water Polo Club is the water polo team of Ethnikos Piraeus or Ethnikos OFPF. Ethnikos is one of the most successful water polo clubs in Greece and they have won a record 38 Greek water polo championships and 12 Greek water polo cups with 9 Doubles. They hold the record of winning 18 championships in a row and 14 in a row as well. Ethnikos dominated in Greek Water Polo championship for many years, so far, it has won the most Greek championships in this sport. It has won 38 championships and 12 cups, during last years his power has been limited, and it has relegated to second division twice. In current season, they play again in A1 Ethniki, the competition took place from the 27th-30 December 2008, with gold going to The Barbarians. In current season, it plays in first division championship, womens LEN Trophy Winner,2010 Greek Championships Winner,1988,1990,1992 Maria Tsouri Markella Ploumi Aikaterini Oikonomopoulou Stella Aroni Iefke van Belkum Koen Plasmeijer Official Website
12.
Gamma Ethniki Cup
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The Gamma Ethniki Cup is a football competition cup introduced the 2013–14 season. In this participate only the clubs of the new Football League 2, the Gamma Ethniki Cup winner will compete at the end of the season with the winner of the Amateurs Cup for Amateurs Super Cup. The participation of all teams of Gamma Ethniki is obligatory, the pairs are a result of random drawing. In the Second Round, the four Group winners compete after drawing in single matches. The Final is played on ground, which is decided by the Hellenic Football Federation. In case of a tie, overtime and penalties apply
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