Larissa (regional unit)
Larissa is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Thessaly and its capital is the city of Larissa. Larissa is the second largest regional unit in Greece, exceeded only by Aetolia-Acarnania and it covers about one-third of Thessaly. The tallest mountain in Greece, Mount Olympus is situated in the part of the regional unit. Mount Ossa is situated in the east, at the Aegean coast, the lower stretch of the river Pineios flows through the Vale of Tempe, between Olympus and Ossa. The northern part is covered forests, but most of the regional unit is fertile land. Larissa has a mainly Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild winters, winter is harsher in the mountains areas, notably the north and Mount Olympus. Larissa is often the warmest area in Greece in summer and the coldest in winter, the highest temperature ever recorded was 45.4 °C and the coldest was -21.6 °C. Τhe city experiences very often temperatures over 40 °C, the regional unit Larissa is subdivided into 7 municipalities.
These are, Agia Elassona Farsala Kileler Larissa Tempi Tyrnavos Larissa was created as a prefecture in 1882, as a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Larissa was created out of the former prefecture Larissa. The prefecture had the territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below, Province of Larissa Province of Tyrnavos Province of Agia Province of Elassona Province of Farsala Note, Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece, they were abolished in 2006. The area of Larissa was home to the Pelasgians until they merged into the broeader Greek culture, the area was invaded and was ruled by the Kingdom of Macedonia a few centuries later, and was conquered by the Roman Republic after the Third Macedonian War. The Roman imperial period was followed by Byzantine rule, which was in turn succeeded by the Ottoman Empire, parts of Thessaly revolted during the Greek War of Independence, but Thessaly remained under Ottoman Turkish rule.
During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, the area was invaded by the Ottomans. The northern portions of the prefecture, the Tempe Valley and Mount Olympus, were taken by Greece during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913, the economy increased since the annexation in 1881 and after 1913 for the north. After the Greco-Turkish War in Asia Minor of 1920-1922, refugees were relocated to the Prefecture, several villages were created for them across the prefecture. During World War II, the area was a scene of partisan activity
Thetis
Thetis, is encountered in Greek mythology mostly as a sea nymph or known as the goddess of water, one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as a Nereid in Classical myths, Thetis was the daughter of Nereus and Doris, often she seems to lead the Nereids as they attend to her tasks. Sometimes she is identified with Metis, some sources argue that she was one of the earliest of deities worshipped in Archaic Greece, the oral traditions and records of which are lost. Only one written record, a fragment, exists attesting to her worship, worship of Thetis as the goddess is documented to have persisted in some regions by historical writers such as Pausanias. In the Trojan War cycle of myth, the wedding of Thetis, the pre-modern etymology of her name, from tithemi, to set up, suggests a perception among Classical Greeks of an early political role. Walter Burkert considers her name a transformed doublet of Tethys and you, goddess and saved him from that indignity. You quickly summoned to high Olympus the monster of the hundred arms whom the gods call Briareus, but mankind Aegaeon and he squatted by the Son of Cronos with such a show of force that the blessed gods slunk off in terror, leaving Zeus free —E. V. M.
Willcock, have understood the episode as an ad hoc invention of Homers to support Achilles request that his mother intervene with Zeus, she is revealed as a figure of cosmic capacity, quite capable of unsettling the divine order. These accounts associate Thetis with a divine past—uninvolved with human events—with a level of divine invulnerability extraordinary by Olympian standards. In order to ensure a mortal father for her offspring and his brother Poseidon made arrangements for her to marry a human, son of Aeacus. Proteus, an early sea-god, advised Peleus to find the sea nymph when she was asleep and she did shift shapes, becoming flame, water, a raging lioness, and a serpent. Subdued, she consented to marry him. Thetis is the mother of Achilles by Peleus, who became king of the Myrmidons, apollo played the lyre and the Muses sang, Pindar claimed. At the wedding Chiron gave Peleus an ashen spear that had been polished by Athene and had a blade forged by Hephaestus, Poseidon gave him the immortal horses and Xanthus.
Eris, the goddess of discord, had not been invited and she threw, in spite, a golden apple into the midst of the goddesses that was to be awarded only to the fairest. In most interpretations, the award was made during the Judgement of Paris, in the classical myths Thetis worked her magic on the baby Achilles by night, burning away his mortality in the hall fire and anointing the child with ambrosia during the day, Apollonius tells. When Peleus caught her searing the baby, he let out a cry, in a variant of the myth, Thetis tried to make Achilles invulnerable by dipping him in the waters of the Styx. However, the heel by which she held him was not touched by the Styxs waters, in the story of Achilles in the Trojan War in the Iliad, Homer does not mention this weakness of Achilles heel
Karditsa
Karditsa is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa regional unit, inhabitation is attested from 9000 BC. Karditsa ls linked with GR-30, the road to Karpenisi, Karditsa is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in Greece with an extensive network of bicycle paths. Approximately 30% of all the city transportation, according to the National Technical University of Athens, is done by bicycles, during the period of Ottoman rule in Thessaly, the main settlement in the location of modern Karditsa was called Sotira. In 1810, the English traveler William Martin Leake mentioned a village named Kardhítza. Karditsa was incorporated as a new city in 1882, the year after its liberation from the Ottoman Empire, during World War II, the resistance in Thessaly was fought primarily by the ELAS. In March 12,1943 Karditsa was the first city in Europe to be liberated from Nazi occupation in the campaign fought by the ELAS.3878 km2, the municipal unit 110.086 km2.
The municipal unit of Karditsa is divided into six parts, Agiopigi Artesiano Karditsa Karditsomagoula Palioklissi Rousso Karditsa has many clubs in various sport, the most of them are active in football such as Anagennisi Karditsa, AO Karditsa, Asteras Karditsa and Elpides Karditsas. The club SPA Karditsa is active in volleyball, media related to Karditsa at Wikimedia Commons Karditsa Wireless Metropolitan Network, Karditsas Wifi Community Network
Livestock
Livestock are domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food and labor. The term is used to refer solely to those raised for food. In recent years, some organizations have raised livestock to promote the survival of rare breeds, animal husbandry practices have varied widely across cultures and time periods. Originally, livestock were not confined by fences or enclosures, but these practices have largely shifted to intensive animal farming and these practices increase yield of the various commercial outputs, but have led to increased concerns about animal welfare and environmental impact. Livestock production continues to play an economic and cultural role in numerous rural communities. Livestock as a word was first used between 1650 and 1660, as a merger between the live and stock. Older English sources, such as the King James Version of the Bible, the word cattle is derived from Old North French catel, which meant all kinds of movable personal property, including livestock, which was differentiated from immovable real estate.
In English, sometimes smaller livestock such as chickens and pigs were referred to as small cattle, the modern meaning of cattle, without a modifier, usually refers to domesticated bovines, but sometimes livestock refers only to this subgroup. Legal definition United States federal legislation sometimes more narrowly defines the term to make specified agricultural commodities either eligible or ineligible for a program or activity, for example, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 defines livestock only as cattle and sheep. Animal-rearing originated during the transition to settled farming communities from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are domesticated when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans, over time, the collective behaviour and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farm animals are unsuited to life in the wild, dogs were domesticated in East Asia about 15,000 years ago. Goats and sheep were domesticated around 8000 BC in Asia, swine or pigs were domesticated by 7000 BC in the Middle East and China.
The earliest evidence of horse domestication dates to around 4000 BC, the term livestock is nebulous and may be defined narrowly or broadly. Broadly, livestock refers to any breed or population of animal kept by humans for a useful and this can mean domestic animals, semidomestic animals, or captive wild animals. Semidomesticated refers to animals which are only lightly domesticated or of disputed status and these populations may be in the process of domestication. Some people may use the term livestock to refer to only used for red meat. Livestock are used by humans for a variety of purposes, many of which have an economic value, Livestock products include, Meat A useful form of dietary protein and energy, meat is the edible tissue of the animal carcass
Peleus
In Greek mythology, Peleus was a hero whose myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC. Peleus was the son of Aeacus, king of the island of Aegina, and Endeïs and he married the sea-nymph Thetis with whom he fathered Achilles. Peleus and his brother Telamon were friends of Heracles, and served in Heracles expedition against the Amazons, his war against King Laomedon, though there were no further kings in Aegina, the kings of Epirus claimed descent from Peleus in the historic period. Peleus and his brother Telamon killed their half-brother Phocus, perhaps in an accident and certainly in an unthinking moment. In Phthia, Peleus was purified by Eurytion and married Antigone, Eurytions daughter, by whom he had a daughter, Peleus was purified of the murder of Eurytion in Iolcus by Acastus. Astydameia, Acastus wife, fell in love with Peleus but he scorned her, she sent a messenger to Antigone to tell her that Peleus was to marry Acastus daughter. As a result, Antigone hanged herself, Astydameia told Acastus that Peleus had tried to rape her.
Acastus took Peleus on a trip and hid his sword abandoned him right before a group of centaurs attacked. Chiron, the centaur, or, according to another source, returned Peleus sword with magical powers. He pillaged Iolcus and dismembered Astydameia, marched his army between the rended limbs and Astydamia were dead and the kingdom fell to Jasons son, Thessalus. After Antigones death, Peleus married the sea-nymph Thetis and he was able to win her with the aid of Proteus, who told Peleus how to overcome Thetis ability to change her form. Their wedding feast was attended by many of the Olympian gods, as a wedding present, Poseidon gave Peleus two immortal horses and Xanthus. During the feast, Eris, in revenge for not being invited, produced the Apple of Discord, the marriage of Peleus and Thetis produced seven sons, six of whom died in infancy. The only surviving son was Achilles, Thetis attempted to render her son Achilles invulnerable. In the well-known version, she dipped him in the River Styx, holding him by one heel, which remained vulnerable.
In an early and less popular version of the story, Thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia and she was interrupted by Peleus and she abandoned both father and son in a rage, leaving his heel vulnerable. Later on in life, Achilles is killed by Paris when he is shot in his vulnerable spot and this is where the term Achilles heel is derived from. Peleus gave Achilles to the centaur Chiron, to raise on Mt. Pelion, in the Iliad, Achilles uses Peleus immortal horses and wields his fathers spear
Vlachs
Vlachs were initially identified and described during the 11th century by George Kedrenos. According to one theory, the Vlachs originated from Latinized Dacians. Nearly all Central and Southeastern European countries have sizable native Vlach minorities, as it is currently the case in Hungary, in Ukraine, in Serbia, in Croatia, in other countries, the Vlachs have assimilated in the local Slavic population. The term Vlach was used for shepherds, like in mountains of Herzegovina region of Bosnia. Nowadays, Eastern Romance-speaking communities number around 24.19 million people, the word Vlach is of Germanic origin, an early loanword into Proto-Slavic from Germanic *Walhaz and used by ancient Germanic peoples for their Romance-speaking and Celtic neighbours. *Walhaz was evidently borrowed from the name of a Celtic tribe, known to the Romans as Volcae in the writings of Julius Caesar and to the Greeks as Ouólkai in texts by Strabo, Vlach is thus of the same origin as European ethnic names including the Welsh and Walloons.
The word passed to the Slavs and from them to other peoples, such as the Hungarians and Byzantines, the Polish word for Italian has the same origin, as does the Slovenian, vaguely-derogatory lah. The Italian-speaking region south of the South Tyrol, now Trentino in Italy, was known as Welschtirol in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a 586 Byzantine chronicle of an incursion against the Avars in the eastern Balkans may have one of the earliest references to Vlachs. In the account, when carried by a mule slipped the muleteer shouted, torna. Byzantine historians used the Germanic Vlachs for Latin speakers, particularly Romanians, according to 10th century Arab chronicler Mutahhar al-Maqdisi, They say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Slavs, Alans and many other peoples. Byzantine writer Kekaumenos, author of the Strategikon, described a 1066 Roman revolt in northern Greece, traveler Benjamin of Tudela of the Kingdom of Navarre was one of the first writers to use the word Vlachs for a Romance-speaking population.
Between the 12th and 14th centuries they were ruled by the Kingdom of Hungary, the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine historian John Kinnamos described Leon Vatatzes military expedition along the northern Danube, where Vatatzes mentioned the participation of Vlachs in battles with the Magyars in 1166. In the 13th century, the Asen royal family were the founders and rulers of the Vlach-Bulgarian kingdom, in 1213 an army of Romans, Transylvanian Saxons, and Pechenegs, led by Ioachim of Sibiu, attacked the Bulgars and Cumans from Vidin. After this, all Hungarian battles in the Carpathian region were supported by Romance-speaking soldiers from Transylvania, at the end of the 13th century, during the reign of Ladislaus the Cuman, Simon de Kéza wrote about the Blacki people and placed them in Pannonia with the Huns. Archaeological discoveries indicate that Transylvania was gradually settled by the Magyars, shortly after the fall of the Olt region, a church was built at the Cârța Monastery and Catholic German-speaking settlers from Rhineland and Mosel Valley began to settle in the Orthodox region.
In the Diploma Andreanum issued by King Andrew II of Hungary in 1224, the Orthodox Vlachs spread further northward along the Carpathians to Poland and Moravia and were granted autonomy under Ius Vlachonicum. In 1285 Ladislaus the Cuman fought the Tatars and Cumans, arriving with his troops at the Moldova River, a town, was documented in 1300 as settled by the Transylvanian Saxons. The Eastern Romance peoples refers to the Eastern Romance-speaking peoples, primarily the nations of Romanians and Moldovans and these two peoples had before Soviet rule been regarded part of one and the same, Romanian people
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character and greatest warrior of Homers Iliad. His mother was the immortal nymph Thetis, and his father, Achilles’ most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan hero Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, legends state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel. Alluding to these legends, the term Achilles heel has come to mean a point of weakness, Achilles name can be analyzed as a combination of ἄχος grief and λαός a people, nation. In other words, Achilles is an embodiment of the grief of the people, Achilles role as the hero of grief forms an ironic juxtaposition with the conventional view of Achilles as the hero of κλέος kleos. Laos has been construed by Gregory Nagy, following Leonard Palmer, to mean a corps of soldiers, a muster.
With this derivation, the name would have a meaning in the poem, when the hero is functioning rightly, his men bring grief to the enemy. The poem is in part about the misdirection of anger on the part of leadership, R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin of the name. The name Achilleus was a common and attested name among the Greeks soon after the 7th century BC. It was turned into the female form Ἀχιλλεία attested in Attica in the 4th century BC and, in the form Achillia, Achilles was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons. Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals for the hand of Thetis until Prometheus, for this reason, the two gods withdrew their pursuit, and had her wed Peleus. Thetis, although a daughter of the sea-god Nereus, was brought up by Hera. According to the Achilleid, written by Statius in the 1st century AD, and to no surviving previous sources, however, he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him, his heel. It is not clear if this version of events was known earlier, in another version of this story, Thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia and put him on top of a fire, to burn away the mortal parts of his body.
She was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned both father and son in a rage, none of the sources before Statius makes any reference to this general invulnerability. To the contrary, in the Iliad Homer mentions Achilles being wounded, in Book 21 the Paeonian hero Asteropaeus, son of Pelagon and he cast two spears at once, one grazed Achilles elbow, drawing a spurt of blood. Peleus entrusted Achilles to Chiron the Centaur, on Mt. Pelion, Achilles consuming rage is at times wavering, but at other times he cannot be cooled. Thetis foretold that her sons fate was either to gain glory and die young, or to live a long, Achilles chose the former, and decided to take part in the Trojan war
Obverse and reverse
In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it depicts the head of a prominent person. In fields of scholarship outside numismatics, the front is more commonly used than obverse. For prints and drawings with material on both sides the one judged as more significant will be the recto, a convention now exists typically to display the obverse to the left and the reverse to the right in photographs and museum displays, but this is not invariably observed. Following this principle, in the most famous of ancient Greek coins, the tetradrachm of Athens, the obverse is the head of Athena, similar versions of these two images, both symbols of the state, were used on the Athenian coins for more than two centuries. The opposite side may have varied from time to time and this change happened in the coinage of Alexander the Great, which continued to be minted long after his death. The various Hellenistic rulers who were his successors followed his tradition and this script alone style was used on nearly all Islamic coinage until the modern period.
The type of Justinian II was revived after the end of Iconoclasm, without images, therefore, it is not always easy to tell which side will be regarded as the obverse without some knowledge. After 695, Islamic coins avoided all images of persons and usually, the side expressing the Six Kalimas is usually defined as the obverse. The form of currency follows its function, which is to serve as an accepted medium of exchange of value. Traditionally, most states have been monarchies where the person of the monarch, if not provided for on the obverse, the reverse side usually contains information relating to a coins role as medium of exchange. Additional space typically reflects the countrys culture or government, or evokes some aspect of the states territory. Regarding the euro, some regarding the obverse and reverse of the euro coins exists. This rule does not apply to the coins as they dont have a common side. A number of the used for obverse national sides of euro coins were taken from the reverse of the old pre-euro coins of some individual countries.
Several countries continue to use portraits of the monarch and the Republic of Ireland continues to use the State Arms. The Chrysanthemum Crest was no longer used after the war, and so, the side on which the date continues to be regarded as the reverse. Following ancient tradition, the obverse of coins of the United Kingdom almost always feature the head of the monarch
Administrative regions of Greece
The administrative regions of Greece are the countrys thirteen first-level administrative entities, each comprising several second-level units, originally prefectures and, since 2011, regional units. The current regions were established in July 1986, by decision of then-Interior Minister Menios Koutsogiorgas as a second-level administrative entities, as part of a decentralization process inspired by then-Interior Minister Alekos Papadopoulos, they were accorded more powers in the 1997 Kapodistrias reform of local and regional government. They were transformed into separate entities by the 2010 Kallikratis Plan. In the 2011 changes, the general secretary was replaced with a popularly elected regional governor. Many powers of the prefectures, which were abolished or reformed into regional units, were transferred to the region level. The regional organs of the government were in turn replaced by seven decentralized administrations. Bordering the region of Central Macedonia there is one region, Mount Athos.
It is located on the easternmost of the three large peninsulas jutting into the Aegean from the Chalcidice Peninsula, ISO 3166-2, GR Administrative divisions of Greece
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, into the large, humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, colors, breeds and behavior. Horses anatomy enables them to use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait, female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four and they reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.
There are more than 300 breeds of horse in the world today, horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, hide, bone, humans provide domesticated horses with food and shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers. Specific terms and specialized language are used to describe equine anatomy, different life stages, depending on breed and environment, the modern domestic horse has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Uncommonly, a few animals live into their 40s and, the oldest verifiable record was Old Billy, a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had listed in Guinness World Records as the worlds oldest living pony. The exception is in endurance riding, where the age to compete is based on the animals actual calendar age. The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages, Colt, a common terminology error is to call any young horse a colt, when the term actually only refers to young male horses.
Filly, A female horse under the age of four, foal, A horse of either sex less than one year old. A nursing foal is sometimes called a suckling and a foal that has been weaned is called a weanling, most domesticated foals are weaned at five to seven months of age, although foals can be weaned at four months with no adverse physical effects. Gelding, A castrated male horse of any age, mare, A female horse four years old and older
Aromanians
Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern peoples descending from the Latinized population of the Balkans and Central-Eastern Europe. The Aromanians speak the Aromanian language, a Latin-derived language similar to Romanian and it descends from the Vulgar Latin spoken by the Paleo-Balkan peoples subsequent to their Romanization. It is a mix of domestic and Latin language with additional influences from other surrounding languages of the Balkans, such as Bulgarian, Macedonian, the term Aromanian derives directly from the Latin Romanus, meaning Roman citizen. The term was coined by Gustav Weigand in his 1894 work Die Aromunen, the first book to which many scholars have referred to as the most valuable to translate their ethnical name is a grammar printed in 1813 in Austria by Michael Boiagi. The Greek title was Grammatike Romanike Etoi Makedono-Blachike, the terms Aromanian or Vlach are both exonyms, the first one is modern, the second medieval. The Aromanians call themselves Armâńi or Rrămăńi, depending on which of the two dialectal groups they belong, and identify as part of the fara armāneascā or the populu armānescu.
The endonym is rendered in Romanian as Aromâni, in Greek as Armanoi, in Albanian as Arumunët, in Bulgarian as Arumani, in Macedonian as Aromanci, in Serbo-Croatian as Armani and Aromuni. The term is noted in the languages, Greek Vlachoi, Albanian Vllah/Vllehët, Bulgarian and Serbian Vlasi, Turkish Ulahlar. Kahl divides the Aromanians into two groups, the Rrămăńi and Armâńi. Further, the Aromanians are divided into sub-groups, distinguished according to geographic area, Aromanians are grouped into several branches such as, concentrated in and around the Pindus Mountains of Northern and Central Greece. Gramustians, from Gramos Mountains, an area in the western region of Albania. Muzachiars, from Muzachia situated in central Albania, concentrated in Epirus, from Frashër, once Aromanian urban center situated in south-eastern Albania. Moscopolitans, from the city of Moscopole, once an important urban center of the Balkans, the first two groups call themselves Rrãmãn, while the other three groups call themselves Armãn.
The Aromanian communities have several nicknames depending on the country where they are living and Pindians are nicknamed Koutsovlachs. This term is taken as derogatory, as the first element of this term is from the Greek koutso- meaning lame. Following a Turkish etymology where küçük means little they are the group of Vlachs as opposed to the more numerous Vlachs. Farsherots, from Frashër, Moscopole and Muzachia are nicknamed Frashariotes or Arvanitovlachs, most of the Frashariotes are characterized as Greek-Vlach Northern Epirotes because of their frequent historical inhabitance of ethnic Greek territory. In Romania, the demonym macedoni and machedoni is used, in Albania, the terms Vllah and Çoban or Çobenj are used
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Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). 