1.
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
2.
Smyrna
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Smyrna was an Ancient Greek city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. This place is today as İzmir, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, two sites of the ancient city are today within the boundaries of İzmir. The first site, probably founded by indigenous peoples, rose to prominence during the Archaic Period as one of the principal ancient Greek settlements in western Anatolia, the second, whose foundation is associated with Alexander the Great, reached metropolitan proportions during the period of the Roman Empire. Most of the remains of the ancient city date from the Roman era. In practical terms, a distinction is made between these. Old Smyrna was the settlement founded around the 11th century BC, first as an Aeolian settlement. Smyrna proper was the new city which residents moved to as of the 4th century BC and this Anatolian settlement commanded the gulf. Today, the site, named Bayraklı Höyüğü, is approximately 700 metres inland. New Smyrna developed simultaneously on the slopes of the Mount Pagos and alongside the coastal strait, the core of the late Hellenistic and early Roman Smyrna is preserved in the large area of İzmir Agora Open Air Museum at this site. Research is being pursued at the sites of both the old and the new cities and this has been conducted since 1997 for Old Smyrna and since 2002 for the Classical Period city, in collaboration between the İzmir Archaeology Museum and the Metropolitan Municipality of İzmir. For further information on etymology of the name, see İzmir#Names. Several explanations have been offered for its name, a Greek myth derived the name from an eponymous Amazon named Σμύρνα, which was also the name of a quarter of Ephesus. This is the basis of Myrina, a city of Aeolis, in inscriptions and coins, the name often was written as Ζμύρνα, Ζμυρναῖος, of Smyrna. The name Smyrna may also have taken from the ancient Greek word for myrrh, smyrna. The region was settled at least as of the beginning of the third millennium BC, or perhaps earlier, as the recent finds in Yeşilova Höyük suggests. It could have been a city of the autochthonous Leleges before the Greek colonists started to settle along the coast of Asia Minor as of the beginning of the first millennium BC, throughout antiquity Smyrna was a leading city-state of Ionia, with influence over the Aegean shores and islands. Smyrna was also among the cities that claimed Homer as a resident, the early Aeolian Greek settlers of Lesbos and Cyme, expanding eastwards, occupied the valley of Smyrna
3.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
4.
Greek People's Liberation Army
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The KKE together with minor parties of the Left formed a political structure called National Liberation Front. They were joined by other, center-left or non-politicised Greek resistance militants, on February 16,1942, EAM gave permission to a communist veteran, called Athanasios Klaras to examine the possibilities of a victorious armed resistance movement. It was the birth of the Greek Peoples Liberation Army, ELAS initiated actions against the German and Italian forces of occupation in Greece on 7 June 1942. Initially, Velouchiotis collected also the local mountain living bandits, like Karalivanos. On a night in September 1942, a group of British SOE officers parachuted into Greece near Mt. Giona. After much deliberation, the Gorgopotamos bridge was due to the difficulty of making repairs to the structure. But, for the mission to succeed, it was important to meet the guerrillas, dimos Karalivanos, an ELAS guerrilla, was the first guerrilla the British found. At the end of October a second group of British officers were parachuted into the Greek mountains and their leaders were Themis Marinos and Colonel Christopher Woodhouse. Their mission was to locate the guerrillas of EDES and their leader Napoleon Zervas, who were friendlier to the British Headquarters of the Middle-East than ELAS, the resulting mission was a challenge for the two guerrilla groups, EDES and ELAS. So, in a rare and unique event, ELAS and EDES-EOEA joined forces, on November 14, the 12 British saboteurs, the forces of ELAS and those of EDES met in the village Viniani in Evrytania and the operation started. Ten days later, the forces were at Gorgopotamos, on the night of November 25, at 23,00, the guerrillas started the attack against the Italian garrison. The Italians were startled, and after resistance, they were defeated. After the defeat of the Italians, the set the explosives. ELAS forces also had placed ambushes on the routes towards the bridge, afterwards, the guerrillas forces returned to Viniani, to celebrate the success of the mission. The destruction of the Gorgopotamos bridge was, along with the Norwegian heavy water sabotage in Rjukan, the blowing up of Gorgopotamos bridge favored ELAS. Soon, lots of the inhabitants of the villages of Central Greece became members of ELAS, furthermore, people sympathised with the ELAS guerrillas because they werent helped by the British in contrast with EDES. When 25 guerrillas deserted from ELAS, Aris Velouchiotis went to Epirus to threaten Napoleon Zervas not to come in touch with them, later, the 25 deserters were arrested and executed in the village of Sperhiada. The winter of 1942, ELAS groups were formed in other Greek regions, like Thessaly, in Central Greece, Aris Velouchiotis succeeded to form a powerful semi-conventional army which could attack German and Italian forces
5.
Dekemvriana
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Yet, on December the 1st, the British commander Ronald Scobie ordered the unilateral disarmament of EAM-ELAS. The rally of some 200.000 people was brutally shot upon by the Greek Police and Gendarmerie and these killings ushered a full-blown armed confrontation between EAM and the Government forces at first, and during the 2nd half of December, against the full blown British military forces. The clashes were limited to Athens, while elsewhere in Greece the situation remained tense, the Dekemvriana ended with the defeat of EAM-ELAS, leading to its disarmament in the Varkiza Agreement which marked the end of ELAS. This first defeat broke the power of EAM and was followed by a period of White Terror against the left, by 1944, the two major resistance movements in occupied Greece, EDES and EAM-ELAS, each saw the other to be their great enemy. They both saw the Germans were going to be defeated and were a temporary threat, for the communists, the British represented their major obstacle. The Axis withdrawal, before the government could return to the country. The government-in-exile, now led by the prominent liberal George Papandreou, moved to Italy, under the Caserta Agreement of September 1944, all resistance forces in Greece were to be placed under the command of a British officer, General Ronald Scobie. The British arrived in Greece in October, by then, the Germans were in full retreat, and most of Greeces territory had already been liberated by Greek partisans. On October 13, British troops entered Athens, the area still occupied by the Germans. The king stayed in Cairo because Papandreou had promised that the future of the monarchy would be decided by referendum, there was little to prevent the ELAS from taking full control of the country. With the German withdrawal, ELAS units had control of the countryside. The KKE’s leadership knew so, but not the ELASs fighters and rank-and-file, following Stalins instructions, the KKE’s leadership tried to avoid a confrontation with the Papandreou government. Most ELAS members saw the British as liberators despite some KKE leaders, such as Andreas Tzimas, Tzimas was in touch with Yugoslav Communist leader Josip Broz Tito, and he disagreed with ELASs cooperation with the British forces. The issue of disarming the resistance organizations was a cause of friction between the Papandreou government and its EAM members, the EAM, believing that it would leave the ELAS defenseless against anticommunist militias, submitted an alternative plan of total and simultaneous disarmament. Papandreou rejected this plan, causing the EAM ministers to resign from the government on December 2, on December 1, Scobie issued a proclamation calling for the dissolution of the ELAS. Command of the ELAS was the KKEs greatest source of strength, titos influence may have played some role in the ELASs resistance to disarmament. Tito was outwardly loyal to Stalin but had come to power through his own means and his influence, however, had not prevented the EAM leadership from putting its forces under Scobies command a couple of months earlier, in accordance with to the Caserta Agreement. According to the Caserta Agreement, all Greek forces were under Allied command, on December 1,1944, the Greek government of National Unity under Georgios Papandreou and Gen
6.
Kallithea
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Kallithea is the 8th largest municipality in Greece and the 4th biggest in the Athens urban area. Additionally, it is the most densely populated municipality in Greece, the municipality has an area of 4.749 km2. Actual the community reports a number of close to 200.000 inhabitants, the center of Kallithea lies at a distance of 3 km to the south of the Athens city center and 3 km to the north-east of the Piraeus. Kallithea extends from the Filopappou and Sikelia hills in the north to Phaleron Bay in the south, its two other sides consist of Syngrou Avenue to the east, and the Ilisos River to the west. The site on which the city was developed covers the biggest part of the area to the south of Athens, protected in ancient times by the Long Walls to the west, somewhere within this area the ancient town of Xypete lay. The town and its citizens are mentioned, among other places, the plans for the establishment of the new city of Kallithea were officially approved in December 1884. On the longitudinal axis of the town, the Athens to Phaleron tramway once ran, from the beginning to, between the first modern games and the recent Olympic Games in the city, Kallithea grew significantly. Initially the tramway depot and workshop were built here in 1910, followed by the Harokopios Graduate School, in the 1920s the town was flooded by thousands of refugees following the Greco-Turkish War, the Asia Minor Catastrophe, and the Treaty of Lausanne. Black Sea immigrants of Greek origin also settled in Kallithea in the 1930s, after its evacuation the building bound with the shooting range served as a school, until the Nazi Occupation of 1941, when it was converted to a prison. The prison of Kallithea was demolished in 1966, among others, fighters of the Greek Resistance and victims of the Greek Civil War had been jailed there, south Kallithea, is associated with the development of Greek folk music, particularly rebetiko and later laïkó). An even notable school in Kallithea is Sivitanidios School, one of the oldest technical school in Greece, until 2004, south Kallithea housed the only horse track in Greece, which later moved to Markopoulon, near Eleftherios Venizelos Airport. Kallithea had another important club, Esperides Kallithea with many titles in women basketball and this club merged to Ikaros Kallithea in 2012. The main roads of Kallithea are Andrea Syngrou Avenue towards eastern Athens and Poseidonos Avenue towards Piraeus, harokopio University Panteion University Municipal Gallery, housed in the Laskaridou building, one of the first dwellings in the city. Aghia Eleousa church of the late Byzantine period, Kallithea monument, a 4th-century BC family tomb, one of the most impressive exhibits of the Piraeus Archaeological Museum. Argonauts-Comnenus fraternity of the Pontus Greeks, aiming at the study and preservation of the history, monument in memory of the Pontus Greeks in the center of the city. Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex on Kallithea beach from the Sports Pavilion to the Olympic Beach Volleyball Center, grigoris Lambrakis Stadium, home to Kallithea FC since 1972
7.
Pinus halepensis
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Pinus halepensis, commonly known as the Aleppo pine, is a pine native to the Mediterranean region. In Israel it is called Jerusalem pine, the tree is able to quickly colonize open and disturbed areas. It can grow on all substrates and almost in all bioclimates in the Mediterranean, P. halepensis is a small to medium-sized tree, 15–25 m tall, with a trunk diameter up to 60 cm, exceptionally up to 1 m. The bark is orange-red, thick, and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk, the leaves are very slender, 6–12 cm long, distinctly yellowish green, and produced in pairs. The cones are conic, 5–12 cm long and 2–3 cm broad at the base when closed, green at first. They open slowly over the few years, a process quickened if they are exposed to heat such as in forest fires. The cones open 5–8 cm wide to allow the seeds to disperse, the seeds are 5–6 mm long, with a 20-mm wing, and are wind-dispersed. The Aleppo pine is closely related to the Turkish pine, Canary Island pine, and maritime pine, some authors include the Turkish pine as a subspecies of the Aleppo pine, as Pinus halepensis subsp. Brutia Holmboe, but it is regarded as a distinct species. It is a relatively nonvariable species, in that its morphological characteristics stay constant over the entire range, the resin of the Aleppo pine is used to flavor the Greek wine retsina. From the pine nuts of the Aleppo pine is made a pudding called asidet zgougou in the Tunisian dialect, it is served in bowls, covered with cream, Aleppo pine are used for bonsai. In its native area, P. halepensis is widely planted for its timber, making it one of the most important forestry trees in Algeria. In Israel, the Aleppo pine, along with Pinus brutia, has been planted extensively by the JNF and it proved very successful in Yatir Forest in the northern Negev, where foresters had not expected it to survive. Many Aleppo pine forests exist today in Israel and are used for recreational purposes, in Israel natural patches of Aleppo pine forests can be found in the Carmel and Galilee regions. The species produces timber which is valued for its hardness, density, seasoned timber is inclined to tear out with planing, but this can be avoided by using sharp blades or adjusting the sharpening angle of tools. The Aleppo pine is considered an invasive species though useful in South Africa, in South Australia, P. Paul Cézanne had an Aleppo pine in his garden at Aix-en-Provence, this tree was the inspiration and model for his painting, The Big Trees. As of 2005, the tree is growing in Cézannes garden
8.
Stone pine
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The stone pine, with the botanical name Pinus pinea, is also called the Italian stone pine, umbrella pine and parasol pine. It is a tree from the pine family, the tree is native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in Southern Europe, Israel, Lebanon and Syria. It is also naturalized in North Africa, the Canary Islands, South Africa, the species was introduced into North Africa millennia ago, such a long time that it is essentially indistinguishable from being native. Stone pines have been used and cultivated for their edible pine nuts since prehistoric times and they are widespread in horticultural cultivation as ornamental trees, planted in gardens and parks around the world. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, the prehistoric range of Pinus pinea included North Africa in the Sahara Desert and Maghreb regions during a more humid climate period, in present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. In Greece, although rare, a stone pine forest exists in western Peloponnese at Strofylia on the peninsula separating the Kalogria Lagoon from the Mediterranean Sea. This coastal forest is at least 8 miles long, with dense, currently, Pinus halepensis is outcompeting stone pines in many locations of the forest. Another location in Greece is at Koukounaries on the northern Aegean island of Skiathos at the southwest corner of the island and this is a half a mile long dense stand of stone and Aleppo pines that lies between a lagoon and the Aegean Sea. A fine-textured sand beach lies between the Koukounaries forest and the sea, northern Africa The Mediterranean woodlands and forests ecoregion of North Africa, in Morocco and Algeria. Known in the Afrikaans language as kroonden, the stone pine is a coniferous evergreen tree that can exceed 25 metres in height, but 12–20 metres is more typical. In youth, it is a globe, in mid-age an umbrella canopy on a thick trunk, and, in maturity. The bark is thick, red-brown and deeply fissured into broad vertical plates, foliage The flexible mid-green leaves are needle-like, in bundles of two, and are 10–20 centimetres long. Juvenile leaves are produced in regrowth following injury, such as a broken shoot. Cones The cones are broad, ovoid, 8–15 centimetres long, the seeds are large,2 centimetres long, and pale brown with a powdery black coating that rubs off easily, and have a rudimentary 4–8 millimetres wing that falls off very easily. The wing is ineffective for wind dispersal, and the seeds are animal-dispersed, originally mainly by the Iberian magpie, Pinus pinea has been cultivated extensively for at least 6,000 years for its edible pine nuts, which have been trade items since early historic times. The tree has been cultivated throughout the Mediterranean region for so long that it has naturalized, in Italy, the stone pine has been an aesthetic landscape element since the Italian Renaissance garden period. The tree is among the symbols of Rome, where many historic Roman roads, stone pines were planted on the hills of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul for ornamental purposes during the Ottoman period. It has naturalized beyond cities in South Africa to the extent that it is listed as a species there
9.
Cypress
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Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs, the word cypress is derived from Old French cipres, which was imported from Latin cypressus the latinisation of the Greek κυπάρισσος. Species that are known as cypresses include, The Cupressaceae family also contains 13–16 other genera that do not bear cypress in their common names. Species of cypress with very low potential for causing allergies include, Austrocedrus females and Widdringtonia females
10.
Cranberry
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Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species Vaccinium oxycoccos, while in North America, Vaccinium oxycoccos is cultivated in central and northern Europe, while Vaccinium macrocarpon is cultivated throughout the northern United States, Canada and Chile. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right and they can be found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to 2 metres long and 5 to 20 centimetres in height, they have slender, the flowers are dark pink, with very distinct reflexed petals, leaving the style and stamens fully exposed and pointing forward. The fruit is a berry that is larger than the leaves of the plant, it is light green. It is edible, with a taste that can overwhelm its sweetness. Cranberries are a commercial crop in certain American states and Canadian provinces. Most cranberries are processed into products such as juice, sauce, jam, Cranberry sauce is a traditional accompaniment to turkey at Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom, and at Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners in the United States and Canada. There are three to four species of cranberry, classified in two sections, Subgenus Oxycoccus, sect, Oxycoccus Vaccinium oxycoccos or Oxycoccus palustris is widespread throughout the cool temperate northern hemisphere, including northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America. It has small 5–10 mm leaves, the flowers are dark pink, with a purple central spike, produced on finely hairy stems. The fruit is a pale pink berry, with a refreshing sharp acidic flavour. Some botanists include it within V. oxycoccos, Vaccinium macrocarpon or Oxycoccus macrocarpus native to northern North America across Canada, and eastern United States, south to North Carolina at high altitudes). It differs from V. oxycoccos in the leaves being larger, 10–20 mm long, oxycoccoides Vaccinium erythrocarpum or Oxycoccus erythrocarpus native to southeastern North America at high altitudes in the southern Appalachian Mountains, and also in eastern Asia. Cranberries are related to bilberries, blueberries, and huckleberries, all in Vaccinium subgenus Vaccinium and these differ in having bell-shaped flowers, the petals not being reflexed, and woodier stems, forming taller shrubs. Some plants of the unrelated genus Viburnum are sometimes called highbush cranberries. Cranberries are susceptible to blossom, a harmful but controllable phytoplasma disease common in the eastern production areas of Massachusetts. The name cranberry derives from craneberry, first named by early European settlers in America who felt the expanding flower, stem, calyx, and petals resembled the neck, head, another name used in northeastern Canada is mossberry. The traditional English name for Vaccinium oxycoccos, fenberry, originated from plants growing in fen lands
Nea Smyrni
