1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
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
3.
Administrative regions of Greece
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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
4.
Western Greece
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Western Greece Region is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It comprises the part of continental Greece and the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The region of Western Greece was established in the 1987 administrative reform, with the 2010 Kallikratis plan, its powers and authority were redefined and extended. Along with the Peloponnese and the Ionian Islands regions, it is supervised by the Decentralized Administration of the Peloponnese, Western Greece, the governor is Apostolos Katsifaras, who was elected in the 2010 local elections running for PASOK and was narrowly re-elected in 2014 as an independent. The region has hot summers and mild winters, sunny days dominate during the summer months in areas within the beaches and partially cloudy and rainy in the mountains. Snow is very common during the winter in the mountains of Erymanthus, Panachaicus, winter high temperatures are around the 10 °C mark throughout the low-lying areas. Missolonghi Agrinio Aigio Amaliada Patras Pyrgos Nafpaktos Official website
5.
Aetolia-Acarnania
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Aetolia-Acarnania is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the regions of Aetolia and Acarnania, it is the countrys largest regional unit. Its capital is Missolonghi for historical reasons, with its biggest city, the area is now connected with the Peloponnese peninsula via the Rio-Antirio Bridge. The surrounding regional units take in Arta in Epirus, a narrow length bordering Karditsa of Thessaly, Evrytania to the northeast, Mountains dominate the north, northeast, west and southeast, especially the Acarnanian Mountains. The longest and main river is the Acheloos, which ends as a delta in wetlands to the southwest on a fertile valley. The second longest is Evinos, others include the Ermitsa, the Inachos, the regional unit excludes the islands lying to its west, since they belong to the Kefalonia and Ithaca regional units. There is one reservoir and a lake in its central part, lakes include the Amvrakia, the Lysimachia, Ozeros, and Trichonida, and artificial lakes and reservoirs include Kastraki, Kremasta, the largest lake in Greece since its creation in 1970, and Stratos. Two lagoons are found in the part of the regional unit, the Messolongi. Its climate tends toward hot summers and mild winters in the low-lying areas. At the highest elevations, summers are cool, and snow, during the Ottoman period, between the 16th century until the Greek War of Independence, the region was called Karleli and formed a province in the Rumelia Eyalet. Evrytania separated from the prefecture in 1948, in the 20th century, ferry services between Rio and the Peloponnese began. And in the 1950s and the 1960s ferry services began to incorporate vehicles, following World War II and the Greek Civil War a number of buildings needed to be repaired. A drawbridge linking the island of Lefkada began in the 1960s, two more dams were added, the Stratos Hydroelectric Dam in the 1980s and another in the late-1980s. The following years, GR-5 bypassed Messolonghi and Agrinion and GR-38 became connected with paved road with Eurytania, in the late-1980s, the by-pass of Naupaktos began construction but after paving the road, the signs did not appear and until 1998, it was left unopened. In 1999, the road was re-repaired and finally opened to traffic, in 2000, the construction of the Rio-Antirio or the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge connecting the Peloponnese began construction and was opened to traffic in August 2004. A railway formally served the places from Kryoneri and Agrinio and served with the ferry with Rio, in the 1980s, the service came to an end and was the next on the list of prefectures not connected with rail. Greek National Road 5/E55, SE, S, Cen, N Greek National Road 38, Cen
6.
Eastern European Time
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Eastern European Time is one of the names of UTC+02,00 time zone,2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The zone uses daylight saving time, so that it uses UTC+03,00 during the summer, a number of African countries use UTC+02,00 all year long, where it is called Central Africa Time, although Egypt and Libya also use the term Eastern European Time. The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time all year round, Egypt, since 21 April 2015, used EEST from 1988–2010, Kaliningrad Oblast, since 26 October 2014, also used EET in years 1945 and 1991–2011. Libya, since 27 October 2013, switched from Central European Time, used year-round EET from 1980–1981, 1990–1996 and 1998–2012. Belarus, in years 1922–30 and 1990–2011 In Poland this time was used in years 1918–22, in time of World War II, Germany implemented MET in east occupied territories. Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol used EET as part of Ukraine in years 1991-94 and 1996-2014 Turkey, used EET in years 1910-1978, now uses year round DST timezone called Further-eastern European Time or Turkey Time. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus also uses FET, sometimes, due to its use on Microsoft Windows, FLE Standard Time or GTB Standard Time are used to refer to Eastern European Time. Since political, in addition to geographical, criteria are used in the drawing of time zones. The EET time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, the easternmost part of the Republic of Macedonia, including the city of Strumica. The absolutely easternmost part of Serbia, in the Pirot District, the easternmost town in Norway, Vardø, lies at 30°51 E, which is located east of even of the central meridian of UTC+2, i. e. east of Istanbul and Alexandria. The Norwegian-Russian border is the place where CET borders Moscow time. There is a point at the Norway-Finland-Russia tripoint, near the town of Rayakoski. Belarus is located between 23°11′E and 32°47′E and is fully located with the physical UTC+2 area, but it uses UTC+3 year around. This also includes the city of Anapa, at the westernmost tip of the Krasnodar Krai near the entrance to the Sea of Azov, the Norway–Russia–Finland tri-zone point at Muotkavaara is surrounded by three different times in winter, two in summer. It had three time zones year-around before 2014, two of the four tripoints of Belarus and the tripoint of the Kaliningrad Region are surrounded by three different times in winter
7.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
8.
Eastern European Summer Time
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Eastern European Summer Time is one of the names of UTC+3 time zone,3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries. During the winter periods, Eastern European Time is used, since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, previously the rules were not uniform across the European Union. Syria, since 1983 Ukraine, Moscow Summer Time in years 1981–89, regular EEST from 1992 In one year 1991 EEST was used also in Moscow, egypt has previously used EEST from 1957–2010 and 2014–2015. Turkey, has previously used EEST from 1970-1978 EEST, Moscow Summer Time from 1979–1983, and EEST from 1985-2016
9.
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
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Greek vehicle registration plates are composed of three letters and four digits per plate. The letters represent the district that issues the plates while the numbers begin from 1000 to 9999, similar plates with digits beginning from 1 to 999 are issued for motorcycles which exceed 50 cc. With the exception of Athens and Thessaloniki, all districts are represented by the first 2 letters, the final letter in the sequence changes in Greek alphabetical order after 9,000 issued plates. For example, Patras plates are ΑΧΑ-1000, where ΑΧ represents the Achaia prefecture of which Patras is the capital, when ΑΧΑ-9999 is reached the plates turn to ΑΧΒ-1000 and this continues until ΑΧΧ is finished. Only the letters from the intersection between the Latin and Greek alphabets by glyph appearance are used, namely Α, Β, Ε, Ζ, Η, Ι, Κ, Μ, Ν, Ο, Ρ, Τ, Υ, Χ. This is because Greece is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The rule applies in a way in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Combinations used for residents are L-NNNN and are limited. Until 2003, taxis used L-NNNN, the plate was aligned with the prefecture, when number plates were introduced to Greece, they were numbered and in the late 1950s the system was L-NNN and LL-NNN. The letters were Greek letters and Latin letters, respectively, in 1956, the system was NNNNNN. In 1972, they became lettered and the system was LL-NNNN while trucks used L-NNNN, in 1983, the system was LLL-NNNN and the first two letters are prefecture letters. In 2004, the euroband was added, the first 2 of 3 letters of a licence plate usually represent the prefecture where the car was registered. Π. — Disabled in war ΔΟΚ — Test plates ΔΣ — Corps Diplomatique or foreign delegation Ε. Α. or ΕΛ. ΑΣ. — Hellenic Police ΛΣ — Coast Guard ΞΑ — Foreign missions ΕΣ — Hellenic Army ΠΑ — Hellenic Air Force ΠΝ — Hellenic Navy ΠΣ — Fire Guard ΠΚ — President of the Government, i. e
10.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
11.
Third Siege of Missolonghi
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The Third Siege of Missolonghi was fought in the Greek War of Independence, between the Ottoman Empire and the Greek rebels, from 15 April 1825 to 10 April 1826. The Ottomans had already tried and failed to capture the city in 1822 and 1823, but returned in 1825 with a force of infantry. The Greeks held out for almost a year before they attempted a mass breakout, Missolonghi was first besieged by the Ottomans in 1822, then in 1823. In April 1824, Lord Byron died in Missolonghi of an illness, in spring 1825, the Ottomans came to besiege the Greeks again. The Ottoman commander Reşid Mehmed Pasha was informed Either Missolonghi falls or your head as the Sultan would not tolerate a third failed siege and it was a common practice in the Ottoman empire for those generals who failed the Sultan to pay the price of their failure with their lives. The location of Missiolngi on a spit of land surrounded by a lagoon full of islands. Three islands, Marmaris, Klisova and Aitoliko controlled the entrance to the lagoon, much of the ground on the eastern landward side was marshy and on the eastern side was a wide open plain. The defenders were some 3,000 men, most Greek, the Greeks were nominally led by a committee of three, but the dominant personality was a Souliot captain Nótis Bótsaris. Reshid promptly put his Greek slaves to work building a series of trenches around Missolonghi that gradually brought his men closer to the town, reshid was at the end of long and tenuous supply lines and simply did not have enough cannonballs to knock down the walls of Missolonghi. In August 1825, the Ottomans began building a mound, so they could bring down fire on Missolonghi’s defenders. From the mound, the Greeks were forced out of the Franklin battery, but dug a ditch with a rampart behind, the Ottomans began building a second mound, but the Greeks destroyed it via a mine full of explosives at the end of August. During course of night raids, the Greeks dismantled the first mound, the first mound was finally destroyed by a mine in September 1825. The Ottomans also attempted to mine the walls, but the Ottomans proved to be inept at this, in September 1825, the Greeks dug a mine under the Ottoman camp, in which they exploded a mine. Admiral Miaoulis was able to bring in supplies, so the Ottoman attempt to stave the city into surrender came to nothing, georgios Karaiskakis, the leading captain of the Roumeli was an enemy of Botsaris, and provided little support for the besieged. The Turks replied “Long life to them, reinforced with 10,000 new Egyptian troops, Ibrahim Pasha marched through the Peloponnese, destroying everything in his path and joined the siege in January. The High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, Sir Frederick Adam, Ibrahim Pasha had also brought with him many cannons and artillery shells, and on 24 February 1826, the Egyptians began a fierce bombardment of the city. Over the course of three days, the Egyptians fired 5,256 cannon balls and 3,314 mortar shells into the city, destroying much of Missolonghi. In three assaults, the Greeks defeated the Egyptian attempts to storm the city in hand-to-hand fighting where many men and women stood shoulder to shoulder against the Egyptians
12.
Greek War of Independence
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The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution, was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1832 against the Ottoman Empire. Even several decades before the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, during this time, there were several revolt attempts by Greeks to gain independence from Ottoman control. In 1814, an organization called the Filiki Eteria was founded with the aim of liberating Greece. The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolts in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities, the first of these revolts began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities, but it was soon put down by the Ottomans. The events in the north urged the Greeks in the Peloponnese into action and on 17 March 1821 and this declaration was the start of a spring of revolutionary actions from other controlled states against the Ottoman Empire. By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in revolt against the Turks and by October 1821. The Peloponnesian revolt was followed by revolts in Crete, Macedonia, and Central Greece. Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea, tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to two consecutive civil wars. In the meantime, the Ottoman Sultan negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt, although Ibrahim was defeated in Mani, he had succeeded in suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese, and Athens had been retaken. Following years of negotiation, three Great Powers—Russia, Britain and France—decided to intervene in the conflict and each sent a navy to Greece. Following news that combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleets were going to attack the Greek island of Hydra, the battle began after a tense week-long standoff, ending in the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet. As a result of years of negotiation, Greece was finally recognized as an independent nation in the Treaty of Constantinople of May 1832, the Revolution is celebrated by the modern Greek state as a national day on 25 March. The Fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453 and the subsequent fall of the states of the Byzantine Empire marked the end of Byzantine sovereignty. After that, the Ottoman Empire ruled the Balkans and Anatolia, Orthodox Christians were granted some political rights under Ottoman rule, but they were considered inferior subjects. The majority of Greeks were called Rayah by the Turks, a name referred to the large mass of non-Muslim subjects under the Ottoman ruling class. Demetrius Chalcondyles called on Venice and all of the Latins to aid the Greeks against the abominable, monstrous, however, Greece was to remain under Ottoman rule for several more centuries. The Greek Revolution was not an event, numerous failed attempts at regaining independence took place throughout the history of the Ottoman era. Throughout the 17th century there was resistance to the Ottomans in the Morea and elsewhere
13.
Lord Byron
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George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, FRS, commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet, peer, politician, and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among his best-known works are the narrative poems, Don Juan and Childe Harolds Pilgrimage. Byron is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential and he travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years with the struggling poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in his life, Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi, ethel Colburn Mayne states that George Gordon Byron was born on 22 January 1788 in a house on 24 Holles Street in London. However, Robert Charles Dallas in his Recollections states that Byron was born in Dover and he was the son of Captain John Mad Jack Byron and his second wife, the former Catherine Gordon, a descendant of Cardinal Beaton and heiress of the Gight estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Byrons father had seduced the married Marchioness of Carmarthen and, after she divorced her husband. His treatment of her was described as brutal and vicious, in order to claim his second wifes estate in Scotland, Byrons father took the additional surname Gordon, becoming John Byron Gordon, and he was occasionally styled John Byron Gordon of Gight. Byron himself used this surname for a time and was registered at school in Aberdeen as George Byron Gordon, at the age of 10, he inherited the English Barony of Byron of Rochdale, becoming Lord Byron, and eventually dropped the double surname. Byrons paternal grandparents were Vice-Admiral the Hon. John Foulweather Jack Byron, vice Admiral John Byron had circumnavigated the globe, and was the younger brother of the 5th Baron Byron, known as the Wicked Lord. He was christened, at St Marylebone Parish Church, George Gordon Byron after his maternal grandfather George Gordon of Gight, a descendant of James I of Scotland, Mad Jack Byron married his second wife for the same reason that he married his first, her fortune. In a move to avoid his creditors, Catherine accompanied her husband to France in 1786. He was born on 22 January in lodgings at Holles Street in London, Catherine moved back to Aberdeenshire in 1790, where Byron spent his childhood. His father soon joined them in their lodgings in Queen Street, Catherine regularly experienced mood swings and bouts of melancholy, which could be partly explained by her husbands continuing to borrow money from her. As a result, she fell even further into debt to support his demands and it was one of these importunate loans that allowed him to travel to Valenciennes, France, where he died in 1791. When Byrons great-uncle, the wicked Lord Byron, died on 21 May 1798, described as a woman without judgment or self-command, Catherine either spoiled and indulged her son or vexed him with her capricious stubbornness. Her drinking disgusted him, and he often mocked her for being short and corpulent and she once retaliated and, in a fit of temper, referred to him as a lame brat. Langley-Moore questions the Galt claim that she over-indulged in alcohol, upon the death of Byrons mother-in-law Judith Noel, the Hon
14.
Achelous River
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The Achelous, also Acheloos, is a river in western Greece. It formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia of antiquity and it empties into the Ionian Sea. In ancient times its spirit was venerated as the river god Achelous, in particular, there is the Achelous, which flows through Acarnania into the sea and has already turned half the Echinades islands into mainland. It is rarely known as Thestios and Axenos, the river Achelous begins at about 2,000 metres elevation on the eastern slope of Lakmos mountain in the Pindus range, near the village Anthousa in the westernmost part of the Trikala regional unit. One of its first tributaries is the Aspropotamos, meaning the white river, the river flows generally southwards, and forms part of the boundary between the regional units of Arta and Trikala, which is also the boundary between Epirus and Thessaly. Further downstream, it forms the boundary of Arta and Karditsa, the river runs into the Kremasta reservoir, which is also fed by the rivers Agrafiotis and Megdovas. On exiting the Kremasta reservoir, the river flows southwest into Aetolia-Acarnania, feeding the Kastraki reservoir,10 to 15 kilometres downstream from this lake, it flows into the Stratos reservoir. Further downstream, it runs through the lowlands west of Agrinio and it finally empties into the Ionian Sea,29 km west of Missolonghi. From upstream to downstream there is the Mesochora Dam which was completed in 2001 but has not impounded its reservoir, below that is the Sykia Dam which is partly constructed. Further down is the Kremasta, Kastraki and Stratos Dams, in 1359 the Battle of Achelous between Albanian forces under Peter Losha and the Despotate of Epirus under Nikephoros II Orsini took place near the river Achelous. Nikephoros II was defeated and killed during the battle, and two new states were established in the area, the Despotate of Arta and the Despotate of Angelokastron, in the 1960s, the Kremasta Dam in the Aitoloacarnania-Evrytania boundary was under construction. The dam, made of concrete, took years to complete, the dam includes a power station with transformer lines in the east. The dam powers electricity for the part of Greece and the central part. It caused some erosion in some flooded valleys. The Kastraki Dam is downstream and was completed in 1969, downstream of Katsiki, the Stratos Dam was completed in 1989. The arch bridges includes the Karafilio and the Ardanovo, the Acheloos River Diversion project has been the center of debate since the 1980s. It calls for four large dams, the Sykia, Mesochora, Mouzaki and Pyli, along with a 17.4 km-long channel. The goal of the project is to divert 600,000,000 m3 annually from the river west towards the Thessaly plains in order to help irrigate 240, construction on the project has been stalled several times, the latest in 2005, because of environmental and social concerns
15.
Gulf of Patras
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The Gulf of Patras is a branch of the Ionian Sea. On the east, it is closed by the Strait of Rion between capes Rio, Greece and Antirrio, near the Rio-Antirio bridge, that is the entrance of the Gulf of Corinth, on the west, it is bounded by a line from Oxeia island to Cape Araxos. To the north it is bounded by the shore of Aetolia-Acarnania in continental Greece and it is 40–50 km long, 10–20 km wide, and has an area of 350–400 km2. The port city of Patras lies to the southeast and is the major port on the gulf. It serves ferries to Ancona and Brindisi in Italy along with Kefallonia, on the northern shore Missolonghi also has a port. There are beaches in the south, the east and parts of the north, the old ports of Rio and Antirio lie east of the Gulf, and there is a ferry service which complements the traffic over the Rio-Antirio bridge. The gulf is rich in fish, a number of major naval battles took place in the Gulf of Patras, the Battle of Patras in 1772, and the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, one of the largest naval battles ever fought. Lepanto itself lies further east, in the Gulf of Corinth, application of a biomarker suite including evaluation of translation efficiency in Mytilus galloprovincialis cells
16.
Motorway 5 (Greece)
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The Greek Motorway 5 is a motorway in Greece, partially still under construction. Upon completion, the motorway will be the second major road connection in Motorway 1. It will also be part of the trans-balkanic Adriatic–Ionian motorway and the European routes E55, the motorways main section, commonly referred to as Ionia Odos, starts at Ioannina and it follows the western coastline of mainland Greece down to the Gulf of Corinth. At Rio, it crosses the gulf via the Rio–Antirrio bridge, as of 2016, it is yet unknown if the future Patras - Pyrgos motorway will be part of the A5 and its construction is to be auctioned. However, it is not part of the current project, however, several sections might be put into operation earlier, along with the toll stations of the road, as well. As of February 2017, the construction progress stood at 90%, the bridge was inaugurated on 7 August 2004, a week before the opening of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. With a length of 33 km, the Agrinio bypass was the first major segment of the northern A5 section to be completed, while construction had begun in 2002/03, it was fully put into service in May 2009. Starting from Aitoliko, the road bypasses the largest city and economical center of the Aetolia-Acarnania prefecture, Agrinio and it largely replaced the 12 km longer National Road 5. In July 28,2015, a 4,5 km segment before the Aitoliko interchange became operational and this segment features the Ioannina-Antirrio carriageway, with the Antirrio-Ioannina carriageway being under construction where the old road was. The latter was moved eastwards in order to make room for the construction of the motorway, the 17 km Arta bypass begins from Sellades near Arta and ends at Filippiada, near the border with the prefecture of Preveza. As of December 2016, the 25 km Kouvaras interchange - Amfilochia interchange segment has been completed and it should have been opened by July 2016, but because of landslides just before the Amfilochia interchange, it was opened in 27 December 2016 by the minister Christos Spirtzis. It was also rumored that the 33 km long Gavrolimni-Kefalovryso segment would have opened as well but with several works remaining. The latter is one of the most difficult motorway segments under construction in Greece because of the mountainous terrain along its route. The most important tunnel of the motorway, the Klokova Tunnel, has mostly been excavated, the rest of the motorway will be completed by March 2017.15 billion in the project. The rest of the total €1.4 billion funds will be provided by the European Union, construction, undertaken by the Euroionia Joint Venture finally started in 2008 with a completion date of 72 months. The bill was ratified on March 28,2007, in 2010, it was expected that the full length of the motorway would be completed by the end of 2013. However, the economical problems led to the construction being stopped in 2011. Currently, the parts are expected to be finished by March 2017
17.
Agrinio
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Agrinio is the largest city of the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit of Greece and its largest municipality, with 106,053 inhabitants. It is the center of Aetolia-Acarnania, although its capital is the town of Mesolonghi. The settlement dates back to ancient times, ancient Agrinion was 3 kilometres northeast of the present city, some walls and foundations of which have been excavated. In medieval times and until 1836, the city was known as Vrachori, the majority of the local population was occupied for an important period of time in the tobacco industry, from the last decades of 19th till the end of the 20th century. Big tobacco companies were founded in the city, including the famous Papastratos, alongside Panagopoulos, Agrinion is also agriculturally known for its production of Agrinion olives. According to mythology, it was built by king Agrios, son of Portheus, the town, built near the banks of river Achelous, was claimed by both states during ancient times. Agrinio became member of the Aetolian League and it was destroyed by Cassander in 314 BC during the Leagues wars against the Kingdom of Macedonia. The city reappears during the Ottoman period with the name Vrachori, in 1585 it was deserted during the revolt of Theodoros Migas. At the beginning of the 18th century it became the centre of Aetolia-Acarnania. Vrachori participated in the Greek Revolution and was liberated on June 11,1821. In August 1822, while Reşid Mehmed Pashas troops were marching towards Vrachori, its citizens decided to burn and evacuate their city, the deserted city was recaptured by the Turks. The city was included in the borders of the newborn Greek state permanently in 1832 with the treaty of Kalendar Kiosk and was renamed after its ancient name. In the years following the liberation, Agrinio went through an important growth and development, especially at the end of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th. After the Greco-Turkish War and the Asia Minor Catastrophe, many refugees from Asia Minor arrived in the city, at the same period there was an important internal immigration to Agrinio from the whole Aetolia-Acarnania region, along with immigration from the areas of Epirus and Evrytania. At the same time revealed the ancient city of Agrinion. Growth and prosperity returned after World War II and the Greek Civil War and this growth was boosted by the building of two major hydroelectric dam installations at Kremasta and Kastraki, on the north of the city. The tobacco industry and olive tree cultivation became the main sources of the city. The climate of Agrinio is mediterranean with a big amount of rainfall during the winter and high temperatures in the summer
18.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
19.
Aitoliko
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Aitoliko is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Messolonghi, the municipal unit has an area of 129.305 km2. It is located north of the Acheloos delta, the Greek National Road 5/E55 passes through the municipal unit. It is located SW of Agrinion, about 20 km NW of Messolonghi, W of Nafpaktos, until it became a part of Greece, it was known as Anatoliko, meaning east. The geography has rocky bushy hills to the east and farms along with some grasslands, Aitoliko also has an agricultural and commercial enterprise named Amalthia S. A. which is named after Amalthea. The Aitoliko Lagoon is a lagoon located east of Aitoliko surrounding the municipality and is 14 km² in area. Aitoliko was conveniently located with relation to the ancient towns of Pleuron, the name of the town in the middle of the lagoon dates back to ancient times. The island is connected to the mainland on each side by two bridges and this community has some trees and residential houses and the direct road isnt passed. Tidal forces let strong currents develop regularly going back and forth under the arches of the bridges, the taverns of Aitolikon offer specialities such as smoked or salted Avgotaracho which is famous around the world for its unique taste and quality. Avgotaracho is the egg of the fish kefalos and is considered to be a superb speciality, eels slit open and lightly dried, then grilled on charcoal are another superb local speciality. Try them with raw onion and local dark red wine, the Achelous delta to be found west of Mesolonghi is the most extensive delta in Greece. The Mesolonghi lagoon is one of the largest lagoons of the entire Mediterranean sea with its depth of 1.5 m. It is separated from the Gulf of Patras while its sea water is renewed from the Gulf, while the Aitolikon lagoon is a little deeper at 30 m deep. Of economic importance is the saltworks located to the east next to the old GR-5 about 100 m from the sea with an area of about 500 m² and it has been producing salt for years. Farmlands lie to the east with hills and rocky landscape, fishing is common in the lagoon. The lagoons are the richest waters in Greece as far as fish are concerned, in different places, wooden huts on stilts can be seen. Land development and waste management endanger the entire delta area, a large tract of land is under nature protection and hunting is banned. In this area,170 species of birds are founded and it is also home to some parasites including isopods and sand smelts including Atherina boyeri
20.
Evinochori
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Evinochori is a village and a community in the southern part of Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece. Evinochori is in the municipality of Missolonghi, located 10 km east of Missolonghi town centre and it is situated on the right bank of the river Evinos, about 10 km north of its outflow into the Ionian Sea. The population in 2011 was 1,651 for the village and 1,664 for the community, formerly, the village was known as Bochori. Near Evinochori are the ruins of ancient Calydon, one of the most famous ancient cities in Acarnania, the village is bypassed by the Greek National Road 5/E55 Antirrio - Agrinio - Ioannina. Evinochori on GTP Travel Pages List of settlements in Aetolia-Acarnania
21.
Provinces of Greece
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The provinces of Greece were sub-divisions of some the countrys prefectures. From 1887, the provinces were abolished as actual administrative units, before the Second World War, there were 139 provinces, and after the war, with the addition of the Dodecanese Islands, their number grew to 147. According to the Article 7 of the Code of Prefectural Self-Government, Provincial administration consisted of two parts, a collective Provincial Council and an eparch. Members of the Provincial Council were the councillors of the respective province. The eparch or sub-prefect was the councillor who received the most votes in the prefectural elections
22.
Makryneia
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Makryneia is a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Agrinio, the municipal unit has an area of 149.687 km2. The seat of the municipality was in Gavalou, the municipal unit is located south and southeast of Lake Trichonida, and northwest of the mountain Arakynthos. There are farmlands near the shore, and forests on the mountain slopes. Makryneia is southeast of Agrinio, northeast of Missolonghi and northwest of Naupactus. gr http, //makrinia. tripod. com Makryneia on GTP Travel Pages
23.
Venice
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Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and these are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. In 2014,264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is a metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC, the city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the La Dominante, Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century and this made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period, Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, the name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti. The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends. Linguists suggest that the name is based on an Indo-European root *wen, so that *wenetoi would mean beloved, lovable, a connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the color sea-blue, is also possible. The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia, some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae, the traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto — said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421. Beginning as early as AD166 to 168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the center in the area. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, the traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Pauls magister militum. In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II
24.
Battle of Lepanto
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The battle was in essence an infantry battle on floating platforms. It was the largest naval battle in Western history since classical antiquity, over the following decades, the increasing importance of the galleon and the line of battle tactic would displace the galley as the major warship of its era, marking the beginning of the Age of Sail. It has long been compared to the Battle of Salamis both for tactical parallels and for its importance in the defense of Europe against imperial expansion. On 1 August, the Venetians had surrendered after being reassured that they could leave Cyprus freely, however, the Ottoman commander, Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha, who had lost some 50,000 men in the siege, broke his word, imprisoning the Venetians. The members of the Holy League were the Republic of Venice, the Spanish Empire, the Papal States, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchies of Savoy, Urbino and Tuscany, the Knights Hospitaller and others. The banner for the fleet, blessed by the Pope, reached the Kingdom of Naples on 14 August 1571. There, in the Basilica of Santa Chiara, it was consigned to John of Austria. All members of the alliance viewed the Ottoman navy as a significant threat, the combined Christian fleet was placed under the command of John of Austria with Marcantonio Colonna as his principal deputy. The various Christian contingents met the force, that of Venice, in July and August 1571 at Messina. John of Austria arrived on 23 August, see Battle of Lepanto order of battle for a detailed list of ships and commanders involved in the battle. This fleet of the Christian alliance was manned by 40,000 sailors, Ali Pasha, the Ottoman admiral, supported by the corsairs Mehmed Siroco of Alexandria and Uluç Ali, commanded an Ottoman force of 222 war galleys,56 galliots, and some smaller vessels. The Turks had skilled and experienced crews of sailors but were deficient in their elite corps of Janissaries. The number of oarsmen was about 37,000, virtually all of them slaves, the Ottoman galleys were manned by 13,000 experienced sailors—generally drawn from the maritime nations of the Ottoman Empire, namely Berbers, Greeks, Syrians, and Egyptians—and 34,000 soldiers. An advantage for the Christians was their numerical superiority in guns and cannon aboard their ships and it is estimated that the Christians had 1,815 guns, while the Turks had only 750 with insufficient ammunition. The Christians embarked with their much improved arquebusier and musketeer forces, serious conflict had broken out between the Venetian and Spanish soldiers, and Venier enraged Don Juan by hanging a Spanish soldier for impudence. Despite bad weather, the Christian ships sailed south and, on 6 October, they reached the port of Sami, Cephalonia, early on 7 October, they sailed toward the Gulf of Patras, where they encountered the Ottoman fleet. While neither fleet had immediate strategic resources or objectives in the gulf, on the morning of 7 October, after the decision to offer battle was made, the Christian fleet formed up in four divisions in a north-south line. At the northern end, closest to the coast, was the Left Division of 53 galleys, mainly Venetian, led by Agostino Barbarigo, with Marco Querini and Antonio da Canale in support
25.
Nafpaktos
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Nafpaktos is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth,3 km west of the mouth of the river Mornos. It is named for Naupaktos, an important Athenian naval station in the Peloponnesian war, as a strategically crucial possession controlling access to the Gulf of Corinth, Naupactus changed hands many times during the Crusades and the Ottoman–Venetian Wars. It was under Venetian control in the 15th century, and came to be known by the Venetian form of its name, excepting a brief period of Venetian control in 1687–1699, Lepanto remained under Ottoman control until Greek independence in 1829. The modern municipality was incorporated in 1946, but merged into the larger Nafpaktia municipality in the 2010 reform, Nafpaktos is now both the name of a municipal unit within Nafpaktia and of the town proper within the Nafpaktos unit. The municipal district has an area of 159,947 square kilometres, the town is 9 km northeast of Antirrio,18 km northeast of Patras,35 km east of Missolonghi and 45 km southeast of Agrinio. The Greek National Road 48/E65 passes north of the town and it is the second largest town of Aetolia-Acarnania, after Agrinio. The ancient name Naupaktos means boatyard and it was later Latinized as Naupactus. By the late period, the local name had been corrupted to Nepahtos, Epaktos or Epahtos. By the Franks it was called Neopant, Nepant or Lepant, french sources of the 14th century give Nepant or Neopant, Venetian sources have Nepanto or Lepanto. The name was adapted in Ottoman Turkish from Greek Νέπαχτος as Aynabahti or İnebahtı, the ancient name was revived in modern Greece in the 19th century. In Greek legend, Naupactus is the place where the Heraclidae built a fleet to invade the Peloponnese, two major battles were fought here. In 404 it was restored to the Locrians, who subsequently lost it to the Achaeans, Philip II of Macedon gave Naupactus to the Aetolians, who held it till 191 BC, when after an obstinate siege it was surrendered to the Romans. It was still flourishing about 170, the Roman playwright Plautus mentions Naupactus in his comedy Miles Gloriosus as the destination of an Athenian master who is on a diplomatic mission to the city. In 551/2, during the reign of Justinian I, the city was destroyed by an earthquake, the town and its hinterland were hit by an epidemic coming from Italy in 747/8 and almost deserted. From the late 9th century, probably the 880s, it was capital of the Byzantine thema of Nicopolis, at the same time, its bishopric was elevated to a metropolis. During the 9th–10th centuries, the town was an important harbour for the Byzantine navy, a rebellion of the local populace, which led to the death of the local strategos George, is recorded during the early reign of Constantine VIII. In 1040, the town did not take part in the uprising of Peter Delyan, St. Nicholas of Trani is recorded as having departed for Otranto in 1094 from the port. The history of the town over the two centuries is obscure, during the visit of Benjamin of Tudela in 1165, there was a Jewish community of about 100 in the town
26.
Aetolia
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Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. The country has a level and fruitful coastal region, but an unproductive, the mountains contained many wild beasts, and acquired fame in Greek mythology as the scene of the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions that Curetes was the old name of the Aetolians, the Aetolians took part in the Trojan War, under their king Thoas. The mountain tribes of Aetolia were the Ophioneis, the Apodotoi, the Agraeis, the Aperantoi, the primitive lifestyle of those tribes made an impression on ancient historians. Polybius doubted their Greek heritage, while Livy reports that spoke a language similar to the Macedonians. On the other hand, Thucydides claims that Eurytanians spoke a very difficult language and they were semi-barbaric, warlike and predatory. They worshiped Apollo as god of nature and Artemis as goddess of wilderness. They also worshiped Athena, not as goddess of wisdom, and they called Apollo and Artemis “Laphrios gods, ” i. e. patrons of the spoils and loot of war. In addition, they worshiped Hercules, the river Achelous and Bacchus, in Thermos, an area north of Trichonis lake, there was after the 7th century a shrine of Apollo “Thermios, ” which became a significant religious center during the time of the Common Aetolia. The Aetolians refused to participate in the Persian Wars, in 426 BC, led by Aegitios, they defeated the Athenians and their allies, who had turned against Apodotia and Ophioneia under the general command of Demosthenes. However, they failed to regain Naupaktos, which had meanwhile been conquered by the Corinthians with the aid of the Athenians, at the end of the Peloponnesian War, the Aetolians took part as mercenaries of the Athenians in the expedition against Syracuse. Then the Achaeans occupied Calydon, but the Aetolians recovered it in 361 BC, in 338 BC, Naupaktos was again taken by the Aetolians, with the help of Philip II. During the Lamian War, the Aetolians helped the Athenian general Leosthenes defeat Antipater, as a result, they came into conflict with Antipater and Craterus, taking great risks, but were eventually saved by the disagreement between the two Macedonian generals and Perdiccas. The Acarnanians then attempted to invade their land, but the Aetolians were able to force them to flee, the Aetolians set up a united league, the Aetolian League, in early times. It soon became a confederation and by c.340 BC it became one of the leading military powers in ancient Greece. Subsequently, the Sotiria Games were established by the Aetolians, in honour of Zeus the Saviour, the Aetolians’ power increasingly magnified with the occupation of the lands of Ozoloi, Locrians and Phocians, as well as Boeotia. They then united under the power of their League in the areas of Tegea, Mantinea, Orchomenus, Psophida, between 220–217 BC, the Social War broke out between the Achaean and Aetolian Leagues. The war was first started by the Aetolians with the help of the Spartans and Eleans, allies of the Achaeans were the Macedonians, the Boeotians, the Phocians, the Epirotes, the Acarnanians and the Messenians
27.
Homer
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Homer is the name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the semi-legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of Greek literature. The Odyssey focuses on the home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Many accounts of Homers life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a bard from Ionia. The modern scholarly consensus is that these traditions do not have any historical value, the Homeric question - by whom, when, where and under what circumstances were the Iliad and Odyssey composed - continues to be debated. Broadly speaking, modern scholarly opinion on the authorship question falls into two camps, one group holds that most of the Iliad and the Odyssey is the work of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the crystallization of a process of working and re-working by many contributors and it is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century B. C. Most researchers believe that the poems were transmitted orally. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education, to Plato, the chronological period of Homer depends on the meaning to be assigned to the word Homer. Was Homer a single person, an imaginary person representing a group of poets and this information is often called the world of Homer. The Homeric period would in that cover a number of historical periods, especially the Mycenaean Age. Considered word-for-word, the texts as we know them are the product of the scholars of the last three centuries. Each edition of the Iliad or Odyssey is a different, as the editors rely on different manuscripts and fragments. The term accuracy reveals a belief in an original uniform text. The manuscripts of the work currently available date to no earlier than the 10th century. These are at the end of a missing thousand-year chain of copies made as each generation of manuscripts disintegrated or were lost or destroyed and these numerous manuscripts are so similar that a single original can be postulated. The time gap in the chain is bridged by the scholia, or notes, on the existing manuscripts, librarian of the Library of Alexandria, he had noticed a wide divergence in the works attributed to Homer, and was trying to restore a more authentic copy. He had collected several manuscripts, which he named, the Sinopic, the one he selected for correction was the koine, which Murray translates as the Vulgate. Aristarchus was known for his selection of material
28.
Troy
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The present-day location is known as Hisarlik. It was the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle, in particular in the Iliad, a new capital called Ilium was founded on the site in the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. It flourished until the establishment of Constantinople and declined gradually in the Byzantine era and these excavations revealed several cities built in succession. Troy VII has been identified with the city that the Hittites called Wilusa, the origin of the Greek Ἴλιον. Today, the hill at Hisarlık has given its name to a village near the ruins. It lies within the province of Çanakkale, some 30 km south-west of the provincial capital, the map here shows the adapted Scamander estuary with Ilium a little way inland across the Homeric plain. Troy was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998, Ancient Greek historians variously placed the Trojan War in the 12th, 13th, or 14th centuries BC, Eratosthenes to 1184 BC, Herodotus to 1250 BC, Duris of Samos to 1334 BC. Modern archaeologists associate Homeric Troy with archaeological Troy VII, in the Iliad, the Achaeans set up their camp near the mouth of the River Scamander, where they had beached their ships. The city of Troy itself stood on a hill, across the plain of Scamander, recent geological findings have permitted the identification of the ancient Trojan coastline, and the results largely confirm the accuracy of the Homeric geography of Troy. In November 2001, the geologist John C, kraft from the University of Delaware and the classicist John V. Luce from Trinity College, Dublin, presented the results of investigations, begun in 1977, into the geology of the region. Besides the Iliad, there are references to Troy in the major work attributed to Homer. The Homeric legend of Troy was elaborated by the Roman poet Virgil in his Aeneid, the Greeks and Romans took for a fact the historicity of the Trojan War and the identity of Homeric Troy with the site in Anatolia. Alexander the Great, for example, visited the site in 334 BC and there made sacrifices at tombs associated with the Homeric heroes Achilles and Patroclus. After the 1995 find of a Luwian biconvex seal at Troy VII, with the rise of critical history, Troy and the Trojan War were, for a long time, consigned to the realms of legend. However, the location of ancient Troy had from classical times remained the subject of interest. The Troad peninsula was anticipated to be the location, leChavaliers location, published in his Voyage de la Troade, was the most commonly accepted theory for almost a century. In 1822, the Scottish journalist Charles Maclaren was the first to identify with confidence the position of the city as it is now known, the hill, near the city of Çanakkale, was known as Hisarlık. In 1868, Heinrich Schliemann visited Calvert and secured permission to excavate Hisarlık, in 1871–73 and 1878–79, he excavated the hill and discovered the ruins of a series of ancient cities dating from the Bronze Age to the Roman period
29.
First Siege of Missolonghi
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The First Siege of Missolonghi was an attempt by Ottoman forces to capture the strategically located port town of Missolonghi during the early stages of the Greek War of Independence. After Battle of Peta Omer Vryonis initially tried to take the town by negotiations, against the opinion of Reşid Mehmed, the besieged Greeks took advantage of this, dragging the negotiations out until November 8, when they were reinforced by sea with over 1,500 fighters. Then the Ottomans realized their mistake, and resumed the siege in earnest, after a month of bombardment and sorties, the main Ottoman assault was set for the night of December 24, before Christmas, calculating that the Greeks would be caught by surprise. The Greeks however were warned by Vryonis Greek secretary, and the attack failed, the siege was subsequently lifted on December 31. Missolonghi remained under Greek control, and resisted another Ottoman attempt at its capture a year later and its resistance achieved wider fame when Lord Byron arrived there, dying in the town of fever in April 1824. The city was besieged for a third and final time, resisting both Ottoman and Egyptian armies for almost a year, until its fall on April 10,1826. Dimitrios Deligeorgis, a commander during the first siege Second Siege of Missolonghi Third Siege of Missolonghi
30.
Second Siege of Missolonghi
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The Second Siege of Missolonghi was a second attempt by Ottoman forces to capture the strategically located port town of Missolonghi during the third year of the Greek War of Independence. The second siege is usually ignored however, and the name is applied to the greater siege of 1825–1826. After the first unsuccessful attempt to take the town in 1822, Mustai proceeded through the city of Trikala to Karpenisi, where a first Greek attempt to stop his advance resulted in the Battle of Karpenisi. During this battle, the Ottoman casualties were 1,200 troops, the second unsuccessful Greek attempt to stop Mustai at Mount Kaliakouda, on 29 August 1823, resulted in 200 Greek casualties. The Ottoman army arrived before Missolonghi and began the siege on 20 September with a bombardment of Aitoliko, the subsequent attack on Aitoliko failed however. On 17 November, Ottoman food supplies were seized by 250 Souliotes under command of Kitsos Tzavelas, as a result of food shortages and disease, on 20 November Mustai Pasha lifted the siege and withdrew. Its resistance achieved wider fame when Lord Byron arrived there, dying in the town of fever in April 1824. The city was besieged for a third and final time, resisting both Ottoman and Egyptian armies for almost a year, until its fall on April 10,1826. First Siege of Missolonghi Third Siege of Missolonghi Δημήτρη Φωτιάδη, Ιστορία του21, ΜΕΛΙΣΣΑ,1971, σελ. 350-353. Μεταξά Κώστα, Ιστορικά Απομνημονέυματα εκ τής Ελληνικής Επανασταστάσεως, Αθήνα1878, σελ.96,97,107,111 Κουτσονίκα Λ. Γενική Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως, Αθήνα 1863-1864 σελ.186
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Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
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Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, in the final year of his life, he succeeded his still living father as ruler of Egypt and Sudan, due to the latters ill health. His rule also extended over the dominions that his father had brought under Egyptian rule, namely Syria, Hejaz, Morea, Thasos. Ibrahim pre-deceased his father, dying 10 November 1848, only four months after acceding to the throne, upon his fathers death the following year, the Egyptian throne passed to Ibrahims nephew, Abbas. Ibrahim remains one of the most celebrated members of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, particularly for his military victories. Today, a statue of Ibrahim occupies a prominent position in Egypts capital and his Mother Emine of Nusretli was the Cousin to Muhammad Ali Pasha, born at Nusretli in 1770 and died in Cairo 1824. She was the widow of Ottoman Turk Ali Bey Serezli, and it is further known that he was born in the village of Nusratli, near the town of Drama, the Ottoman province of Rumelia, in what is now the western parts of Macedonian region in Greece. In 1805, during his fathers struggle to establish himself as ruler of Egypt, when Muhammad Ali went to Arabia to prosecute the war against the Ibn Saud in 1813, Ibrahim was left in command of Upper Egypt. He continued the war with the power of the Mameluks. In 1816, he succeeded his brother Tusun Pasha in command of the Egyptian forces in Arabia, the campaign lasted two years, and ended in the destruction of the House of Saud as a political power. Muhammad Ali landed at Yanbu, the port of Medina, on 1813, the holy cities had been recovered from the Saudis, and Ibrahims task was to follow them into the desert of Nejd and destroy their fortresses. Such training as the Egyptian troops had received, and their artillery, but the difficulty of crossing the desert to the Saudis stronghold of Diriyah, some 400 miles east of Medina made the conquest a very arduous one. Ibrahim displayed great energy and tenacity, sharing all the hardships of his army, by the end of September 1818, he had forced the Saudi leader to surrender, and had taken Diriyah, which he sacked. On December 11,1819 he made an entry into Cairo. After his return Ibrahim gave effective support to the Frenchman, Colonel Sève, Ibrahim set an example by submitting to be drilled as a recruit. In 1824, Muhammad Ali was appointed governor of the Morea by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II, Ibrahim was sent to the Peloponnese with a squadron and an army of 17,000 men. The expedition sailed on July 4,1824, but was for some months unable to do more than come, the fear of the Greek fire ships stopped his way to the Morea. When the Greek sailors mutinied from want of pay, Ibrahim was able to land at Modon on February 26,1825 and he remained in the Morea until the capitulation of October 1,1828 was forced on him by the intervention of the Western powers
32.
Theodoros Vryzakis
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Theodoros Vryzakis was a Greek painter, known mostly for his historical scenes. He was one of the founders of the Munich School, composed of Greek artists who had studied in that city and he grew up during the years of the Greek War of Independence. His father was, in fact, hanged by the Ottoman Army near the beginning of the war, in 1821. By 1832, he was in an orphanage, where his talent was discovered by Friedrich Thiersch. Thiersch took him to Munich, where he attended the Panhellenion, after completing his studies, he returned to Greece and enrolled at the Athens School of Fine Arts. In 1844, he returned to Munich on a scholarship and was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts and his teachers there included Carl Wilhelm von Heideck and Peter von Hess, both known for their support of Greek independence. After graduation, he spent ten years travelling throughout Europe, including a stay in Greece from 1848 to 1850. At the end of his travels, he exhibited some of his works relating to the Sieges of Messolonghi at the Exposition Universelle, most of these canvases were destroyed by a fire in 1929. From 1861 to 1863, he worked in Manchester, England, painting murals at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, four years later, he took part in a major exhibition at the Galerie Del Vecchio in Leipzig. He painted little during the last decade of his life, due to an eye ailment and his death was due to heart disease. In his will, he left all of the works in his studio to the University of Athens and 760 Marks to repair the roof of the Salvatorkirche in Munich, many of his paintings were widely distributed in the form of lithographs. Arcadja Auctions, More works by Vryzakis Theodoros Vryzakis by the Painters of the Faculty of Munich @ Αρχείο Theodoros Vryzakis @ the Hellenic Foundation for Culture
33.
Orlov revolt
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The revolt, a major precursor to the Greek War of Independence, was eventually suppressed by the Ottomans. The Ottoman Empire had its longest period of peace between 1739 and 1768, when it did not engage any of its European rivals. Europe was caught up in costly and bloody conflicts while the Ottomans stayed out and tended to economy and politics and this peaceful period came to an end on 23 October 1768, when war was declared on Russia. Causes were aggressive Russian foreign policy, interference in Crimea, there were insignificant events in 1768–69, as both sides prepared for a long campaign. In preparation of war, Russian agents promoted Greek rebellion to support actions in the north. Russian artillery captain Grigorios Papadopoulos, a Greek, was dispatched to Mani, the organization of the Greek rebellion was put under brothers Orlov, with Alexei being the Russian fleet commander. Some Greek notables joined the Russian side, and promised them men and supplies, Russia planned to incite Orthodox Christians to revolt, and sent agents to Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Crete and the Morea. Another Orlov brother, Fyodor, was sent to coordinate rebels in Morea, Russia assembled a war fleet for deployment in the Mediterranean, described as one of the most spectacular events of the 18th century, which caught the Ottomans off-guard. The first fleet contingent departed in August 1769 and arrived in the Aegean in December and this expedition of four ships, few hundred soldiers and inadequate arms supplies greatly disappointed the Greeks. Nevertheless, combined Russian-Greek forces attempted at a campaign, among the Greek leaders that were approached were Panagiotis Benakis, a notable from Kalamata, the local metropolitan bishop Anthimos, and Cretan shipping magnate John Vlachos Daskalogiannis. The arrival of the Russian fleet in Mani in February 1770 saw the establishment of armed groups in Mani. However, the small Russian expeditionary force could not convince a part of the local Greeks to take arms, the Russian manpower was much fewer than expected and mutual distrust developed between the Greek and Russian leaders. Initially an army of 1,400 men was formed, the Greek forces were divided into major units with the help of a small number of Russian officers and soldiers. The Greek rebels were successful and managed to defeat Ottoman forces in Laconia. The revolt however failed to spread, thus the fortresses of Navarino, Methone. The rebels did manage to control the fortress of Mystras, where they set up a local government, meanwhile, the Greek revolt in Crete was led by Daskalogiannis. Soon after Sfakians refused to pay taxes and revolted in great numbers, however, the support promised by the Russian emissaries never arrived at Crete and Daskalogiannis was left to his own devices. He managed to organize a band of 2,000 well armed men who descended from the mountains onto the plains of western Crete and they attacked and killed local Turks in an unsuccessful effort to convince other Cretans to join them in their quest to overthrow the Ottomans
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Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Missolonghi". Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 607.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
Messolonghi (municipal unit)
