1.
Athens Olympic Sports Complex
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The Athens Olympic Park, is a sport facilities complex located at Marousi, northeast Athens, Greece. The complex consists of five major venues as well as other sport facilities. The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens has hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1991, the most significant event the Athens Olympic Sports Complex has hosted, was the Olympic Games. OACA was the venue for the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. The complex was revamped for the games under a design produced by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and it is currently used as the home ground of AEK Athens F. C. one of the biggest football clubs in Greece. The Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and it is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, in the suburb of Maroussi. The arena was used for gymnastics and trampolining and also hosted the finals of the basketball matches at the games. On May 18 and 20,2006, the Olympic Indoor Hall hosted the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, the Athens Olympic Sports Complex can be reached by Metro, by suburban train, or by direct bus lines [A7,602,550. The table below illustrates how the Athens Olympic Sports Complex facilities are used today,2004 Summer Olympics official report, pp.201,207,227,231,242,273,303,324,329,346,409. Media related to Athens Olympic Sports Complex at Wikimedia Commons Official site Olympic Indoor hall info and pictures at stadia. gr
2.
Marousi
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Marousi or Maroussi is a suburban city in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Amarousio dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic, its ancient name was Athmonon, Marousi is situated 13 km northeast of Athens city centre. The municipality has an area of 12.938 km2, the built-up area of Marousi is continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Pefki, Kifisia, Vrilissia and Halandri. Within Marousi lies the biggest forest in urban Athens, Dasos Syngrou, the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, the largest sports complex in Greece, built for the 2004 Summer Olympics, is located in the southwestern part of the municipality. The main thoroughfare is Kifisias Avenue, which connects Marousi with central Athens, Marousi has 4 stations on Athens Metro Line 1, and two suburban commuter railway stations, Nerantziotissa station and Kifisias railway station. Marousi is also home to a number of public and private educational institutions. Marousis favourable infrastructure has led to economic growth. The managing office of Consolidated Contractors Company, a large Middle Eastern, the Mall Athens, one of the largest shopping centres in southeastern Europe, is situated in the southwestern part of Marousi. Vivartia has its office in Marousi. Google Athens is headquartered in Marousi, the new building of Greek Ministry of Education is located in Marousi, in the district Neratziotissa. In the same district is located the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education, the German School of Athens is also located in Marousi. Maroussi is the place of Greek Olympic Sport Center and it is located in the southwest of the suburb, in an area that is named Kalogreza. Maroussi has also some sport such as Dais Indoor Hall. Local teams are Maroussi B. C. with long-time presence in A1 Ethniki Basketball and A. C. Doukas with many titles in Handball and Futsal. The Olympic Stadium is used as home stadium by famous clubs of Greek football, currently by AEK, prince Michael lived in Marousi from his marriage to Marina Karella in 1965, since late 1970s
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Athens Metro
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The Athens Metro is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens conurbation and parts of East Attica. It incorporates the former Athens-Piraeus Electric Railways, which opened as a steam railway in 1869. Beginning in 1991, Attiko Metro constructed and extended Lines 2 and 3, the metro network merged in 2011 when the Greek government created the Urban Rail Transport Company, a subsidiary of the Athens Urban Transport Organisation. First Chairman and CEO of the company became Kostas Vassiliadis. The system is noted for being modern and efficient, in its own right and it has drastically changed Athens by providing a much-needed solution to the citys traffic and air pollution problem, as well as revitalising many of the areas it serves. An extension of Line 3 is under construction towards Piraeus and also extensions of existing lines. The Athens Metro is actively connected with the means of public transport, such as buses, trolleys, the Athens Tram. The Athens Metro is hailed for its modernity and many of its stations feature works of art, exhibitions, until 28 January 2000, Line 1 was the only rapid-transit line in Athens and Piraeus. The Athens and Piraeus Railway Company opened the line on 27 February 1869 as a railway between Piraeus and Thiseio. It was electrified in 1904, and extended in stages to Kifisia in 1957, from 1976 to 16 June 2011, the Athens-Piraeus Electric Railway Company operated Line 1 independently from the rest of the metro and tram networks. Unlike Lines 2 and 3, it runs almost entirely above ground, since the current Line 1 opened the government has proposed many expansions to the subway network, including a 1963 plan for a fourteen-line subway network. Construction of Lines 2 and 3 began in November 1992 to decrease traffic congestion, Lines 2 and 3, built by Attiko Metro and operated until 2011 by Attiko Metro Operations Company, are known respectively as the red and blue lines and were inaugurated in January 2000. Line 3 was extended to the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in summer 2004, the Greek government attempted to absorb ISAP into Attiko Metro under Law 2669/1998 so the latter would be responsible for the whole network, but this initiative failed. Athens Metro operations were consolidated when the Greek government enacted Law 3920/2011, replacing AMEL, ISAP and Athens Tram with Urban Rail Transport, the modern incarnation of Line 1 is 25. 6-kilometre long, and serves 24 stations. Together, Lines 2 and 3 are 58. 9-kilometre long, the three-line Athens Metro network serves 61 stations. It owns and operates 57 of them, and OSE owns the remainder on the airport section, the network has four metro interchanges, enabling the lines to interchange with each other at least once. Line 2 and the Attiko Metro portion of Line 3 is entirely underground, Line 1 is primarily in the open, with a tunnel section in central Athens. The airport section of Line 3, east of the tunnel portal near Doukissis Plakentias, is open, in the tunnel sections up and down lines share a common tunnel, except for approaches to stations with an island platform
4.
Gymnastics
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Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, endurance and control. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, chest, alertness, precision, daring, self-confidence and self-discipline are mental traits that can also be developed through gymnastics. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, most forms of competitive gymnastics events are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. Each country has its own governing body affiliated to FIG. Competitive artistic gymnastics is the best known of the gymnastic events and it typically involves the womens events of vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Mens events are floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, other FIG disciplines include rhythmic gymnastics, trampolining and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and aerobic gymnastics. Disciplines not currently recognized by FIG include wheel gymnastics, aesthetic group gymnastics, mens rhythmic gymnastics and TeamGym. The word gymnastics derives from the common Greek adjective Greek, by way of the related verb γυμνάζω, whose meaning is to train naked, train in gymnastic exercise, generally to train, the verb had this meaning, because athletes in ancient times exercised and competed without clothing. It came into use in the 1570s, from Latin gymnasticus, from Greek gymnastikos fond of or skilled in bodily exercise, Gymnastics originated in ancient Spain and was originally intended for military training, where it was used by soldiers to prepare for warfare. Don Francisco Amorós y Ondeano, was born on February 19,1770 in Valencia and he was a Spanish colonel, and the first person to introduce educative gymnastic in France. Jahn promoted the use of bars, rings and high bars in international competition. The Federation of International Gymnastics was founded in Liege in 1881, by the end of the nineteenth century, mens gymnastics competition was popular enough to be included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. During the 1920s, women organized and participated in gymnastics events, the first womens Olympic competition was primitive, only involving synchronized calisthenics and track and field. These games were held in 1928, in Amsterdam, by 1954, Olympic Games apparatus and events for both men and women had been standardized in modern format, and uniform grading structures had been agreed upon. At this time, Soviet gymnasts astounded the world with highly disciplined and difficult performances, television has helped publicize and initiate a modern age of gymnastics. Both mens and womens gymnastics now attract considerable international interest, in 2006, a new points system for Artistic gymnastics was put into play. With an A Score being the difficulty score, which as of 2009 is based on the top 8 high scoring elements in a routine, the B Score, is the score for execution, and is given for how well the skills are performed. The following disciplines are governed by FIG, Artistic Gymnastics is usually divided into Mens and Womens Gymnastics
5.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
6.
Panathinaikos B.C.
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Panathinaikos B. C. known for sponsorship reasons as Panathinaikos B. C. Superfoods, and also simply as Panathinaikos, or by its full name. It is owned by the billionaire Giannakopoulos family, the parent athletic club was founded in 1908, while the basketball team was founded in 1919, being one of the oldest in the country of Greece. Alongside Aris, they are the only un-relegated teams with participation in every Greek First Division Championship until today, Panathinaikos has developed into the most successful basketball club in Greek basketballs history, and among the best in Europe, creating its own dynasty. They have won thirty-five Greek Basket League Championships, eighteen Greek Cups, nine Doubles, six EuroLeague Championships, one Intercontinental Cup, the team plays in the Olympic Indoor Hall, which has a capacity of 18,989 for basketball games. Panathinaikos is the team on the European continent to win as many as six EuroLeague titles. They hold a rivalry with Olympiacos, and matches between the two teams are referred to as the Derby of the eternal enemies. Panathinaikos started as a club in 1908. In 1919, basketball was still unknown in Greece, during that period Giorgos Kalafatis with other athletes participated in the Inter-Allied Games in Paris and attended basketball games between the Allies of World War I. When he later returned to Greece with the equipment, he set up the Panathinaikos basketball club. In 1919, PAO played their first match against X. A. N, Thessaloniki, another club also pioneer of basketball in Greece, a match which took place at the Panathenaic Stadium. During the German occupation that followed, Dimitris Giannatos was executed by the Nazis for his resistance action, in 1946 and 1947, Panathinaikos emerged champions, with the help of players like Giannis Lambrou, Missas Pantazopoulos, Stelios Arvanitis and Jack Nicolaidis. In 1950 and 1951, Panathinaikos emerged champions once again with the help of great athletes Faidon Matthaiou, in 1954 the club would repeat the success, however the next five years would prove fruitless and the club, despite its strength, would have to be renewed. In 1961 Panathinaikos won the Greek championship with new leaders Giorgos Vassilakopoulos, Stelios Tavoularis, in 1962 Panathinaikos made the repeat and was again the Greek champion. That was also the year that PAO took part for the first time in a European competition facing Hapoel Tel Aviv for the European Championship. In the 23rd of November 1963, Panathinaikos beat Olympiacos 90-48 for the Mantellos Cup, a tournament that was replaced by the Greek Cup. In 1967, Panathinaikos were crowned champions, with Giorgos Kolokithas in their ranks. In 1969, the conquest of the Championship was followed by the first European success of the club, the entrance in the semi-finals of the Cup Winners Cup, where they were eliminated by Dinamo Tbilisi
7.
Parquetry
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Parquet is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect. The two main uses of parquetry are as wood veneer patterns on furniture and block patterns for flooring, parquet patterns are entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges. The most popular parquet flooring pattern is herringbone, the word derives from the Old French parchet, literally meaning a small enclosed space. Such parquets en losange were noted by the Swedish architect Daniel Cronström at Versailles, while not technically a wood, bamboo is also a popular material for modern floors. Parquet floors were formerly usually adhered with hot bitumen, today modern cold adhesives are usually used. Wood floors may be brushed clean, and mopped when necessary, upright vacuum cleaners can scratch and wear the surface, as grit particles become embedded in the spinning brushes. Parquet floors are long lasting and require little or no maintenance. Bitumen-glued blocks require use of hot bitumen or a cold bitumen emulsion. Parquet floors are found in bedrooms and hallways. They are considered better than regular floor tiles since they feel warmer underfoot, however they do little to absorb sounds such as walking, vacuum cleaning and television, which can cause problems in multi-occupancy dwellings. One of the most famous parquet floors is the one used by the Boston Celtics of the NBA, the floor remained intact and in use until it was cut up and sold as souvenirs in 1999, after the 1998 demolition of Boston Garden. The Celtics today play on a parquet floor inside TD Garden that combines old, similar square-paneled parquet floors were made for the Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, and New Jersey Nets. Of the four, only the Magic continue to use a square-paneled parquet floor, the Nets debuted their parquet at the Meadowlands Arena in 1988, and continued to use the floor until 1997. The said floor remained in use with the Seton Hall basketball team until 2007, the Nuggets used a parquet floor from 1990 to 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena, while the Timberwolves played on the parquet from 1996 to 2008 at the Target Center. In 1995, the Toronto Raptors debuted with a herringbone parquet, the Nets revived the use of the herringbone upon moving to the Barclays Center in 2012. While the Charlotte Hornets unveiled a parquet-like floor at the Time Warner Cable Arena for the 2014–15 season, it is not considered a true parquet floor. Instead, it simulated the pattern of the parquet by alternately painting light and dark trapezoid sections through the use of varnish, forming a beehive pattern that is synonymous with the franchise
8.
Santiago Calatrava
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His best-known works include the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Turning Torso tower in Malmö, Sweden, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas, and the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His architectural firm has offices in New York City, Doha, Calatrava was born on July 28,1951, in Benimàmet, an old municipality now part of Valencia, Spain. His mothers family were of Jewish heritage, but had converted during the Spanish Inquisition of the fifteenth century. His Calatrava surname was an old one from medieval times. He had his primary and secondary schooling in Valencia, and, beginning in 1957, in 1964, as the regime of General Francisco Franco ended and Spain became more open to rest of Europe, he went to France as an exchange student. In 1968, after completing school, he went to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, but he arrived in the midst of student uprisings and turmoil in Paris. He received his diploma as an architect and then did higher studies in urbanism, at the University he completed independent projects with fellow students, publishing two books on the vernacular architecture of Valencia and Ibiza. In 1975 he enrolled in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, in 1981 he was awarded a doctorate in the department of architecture, after completing his thesis on The Pliability of three-dimensional structures. Speaking of this period, Calatrava told biographer Philip Jodidio, The desire to start all over at zero was very strong in me. I was determined to put to one side all that I had learned in architecture school, I was fascinated by the concept of gravity and convinced that it was necessary to begin work with simple forms. As soon as Calatrava completed his doctorate in 1981, he opened his own office in Zurich, the train station has several of the features that became signatures of his work, straight lines and right angles are rare. In 1984–87, he built his first bridge, the Bac de Roda Bridge in Barcelona, Spain, the bridge, designed for cyclists and pedestrians, connects two parts of the city by crossing a wasteland of railway tracks. It is 128 meters long, with arches which lean at an angle of thirty degrees. The upper portion of the bridge, composed of arches and cables, is light and airy, like a network of lace, anchored to the massive concrete supports. His next bridge, the Puente del Alamillo, in Seville, Spain, was more spectacular. Built as part of the 1992 Expo 92, it is 200 meters long, crossing the Meandro San Jeronimo River and its main feature is a single pylon 142 meters high, leaning to 58 degrees, the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The weight of the concrete of the pylon is sufficient to hold up the bridge with just thirteen pairs of cables, and his first building in the United States, the new structure of the Milwaukee Art Museum. The concrete pylon leans backwards, and seems to grasp the vertical broadcast antennas and its form suggests an athlete about to throw a javelin
9.
Greece national basketball team
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The National Basketball Team of Greece is the representative for Greece in international mens basketball competitions, organized and run by the Hellenic Basketball Federation. They were runners-up in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, after beating the United States 101–95 in the tournaments semifinal. They have won the FIBA EuroBasket twice, in 1987, after beating the Soviet Union 103–101 in the final in Athens and in 2005, Greece is currently placed thirteenth in the FIBA World Rankings. Basketball has a tradition in Greece, as the country was one of the eight founding members of the International Basketball Federation, more commonly known by its French acronym FIBA. However, the national team was considered as a second-class power in international basketball for several decades. It was the first ever international title won by a Greek national team in any sports. As a result, basketball became extremely popular in the country, Greece was to take part in EuroBasket 1935, the inaugural FIBA European Championship held in Geneva, but were not able to travel to Switzerland due to financial problems. Thus, Greece made their international debut fourteen years later in the EuroBasket 1949 in Cairo and that tournament has been marked as the weakest in the history of the competition, as most of the leading European basketball nations at the time refused to travel by plane to Egypt. They also made their first appearance at the Olympic Games, taking part at the tournament in 1952. They didnt manage to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games and the FIBA World Cup but in 1979 they managed to win the medal at the Mediterranean Games. The beginning was their qualification for the 1986 FIBA World Championship, for the first time in their history, in the next year, Greece faced up their biggest challenge, as the country was the host of the EuroBasket 1987 and the team enjoyed a formidable line-up. Qualified from the round, they eliminated Italy and Yugoslavia. In the final, Greece faced the champions and heavily favoured Soviet Union. In front of 17,000 Greek fans at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, the European champions failed to qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games for a first time in 36 years, despite a decent performance in the pre-Olympic tournament. In the EuroBasket 1989, the champions were under pressure to prove that they could stand at the top level of international basketball. After they had qualified from the stage, the Soviet Union stood in their way in the semi-finals but Greece defeated them once again. Contrary to what happened two years ago, this time Greece had to overcome Yugoslavia and the home court advantage. Eventually, the Greek team bowed to the side taking the silver medal, their third medal in total
10.
AEK B.C.
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The club was established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War. AEK was the first-ever Greek basketball team, not only to reach a European Cup Final, on April 4,1968, AEK defeated Slavia VŠ Praha by a score of 89-82, in Athens in front of 80,000 fans. They have won the Greek Basket League 8 times, and the Greek Basketball Cup 3 times, the large Greek population of Constantinople, not unlike those of the other Ottoman urban centres, continued its athletic traditions in the form of numerous athletic clubs. These were amongst a dozen Greek-backed clubs that dominated the landscape of the city in the years preceding World War I. After the war, with the influx of mainly French and English soldiers to Constantinople, many of the city participated in regular competition. Taxim, Pera, and Tatavla became the scene of weekly competitions in not only football, but of athletics, cycling, boxing, of the clubs in the city though, football was dominated by Enosis Tataoulon and Hermes. Hermes, one of the popular clubs, was formed in 1875. Forced by the Kemalist regime to change its name to Pera Club in 1923, many of its athletes fled to Greece and settled in Athens, the basketball team of AEK is actually the most successful among A. E. Ks athletic departments. The obvious reason is the successes in general of the Greek basketball, under Konstantinos Karamanlis guidance, AEK won the clubs first Greek championship in 1958. Kostas Dimopoulos, one of the creators of AEK club and footballer of the years, had the idea of creation also a basketball team. His efforts quickly were matched by others who loved with passion this nice sport and he took over, then, the leadership of the department and together with the brothers Simeonidi, Eumenis Athanasiadis and others made the first team. In the beginning they took part in matches with a good impression. After, AEK won the first championship played in Athens, that was organized by the YMCA in 1924, in 1929 the Greek basketball Championship was not conducted and AEK did not played anywhere. In 1930 basketball section was not declared in no organization with the efforts of Kostas Dimopoulos. The section remained in obscurity for years, however in 1949 reappeared. In 1953 AEK took part for the time in the Greek basketball Championship after 1928. In the Championship of 1955 AEK did a run, however missed the final by Panellinios. In 1958 AEK B. C. with player-coach Konstantinos Karamanlis conquered the first Greek Championship defeating Panellinios in final 67-54, postwar, was also founded and worked for a short time and a section of womens basketball
11.
EuroLeague
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Introduced in 2000, the competition replaced the FIBA EuroLeague, which had been run by FIBA since 1958. For Euroleague Basketball records purposes, the FIBA European Champions Cup and EuroLeague are considered to be the same competition, with the change of name being simply a re-branding. EuroLeague is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the world, with an average attendance of 8,184. The EuroLeague title has been won by 20 different clubs,13 of which have won the more than once. The FIBA European Champions Cup was originally established by FIBA and it operated under its umbrella from 1958 until the summer of 2000 and that was when Euroleague Basketball was created. FIBA had never trademarked the EuroLeague name, even though it had used that name for the competition since 1996. Euroleague Basketball simply appropriated the name, and since FIBA had no recourse to do anything about it, it was forced to find a new name for its championship series. Thus, the following 2000–2001 season started with 2 separate top European professional club competitions, the FIBA SuproLeague. The rift in European professional club basketball initially showed no signs of letting up, in May 2001, Europe had two continental champions, Maccabi of the FIBA SuproLeague and Kinder Bologna of the Euroleague. The leaders of both organizations realized the need to come up with a unified competition, although only a year old, Euroleague Basketball negotiated from a position of strength and dictated proceedings. FIBA essentially had no choice but to agree to Euroleague Basketballs terms, as a result, European club competition was fully integrated under Euroleague Basketballs umbrella and teams that competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000–01 season joined it as well. In essence, the authority in European professional basketball was divided over club-country lines, FIBA stayed in charge of national team competitions, while Euroleague Basketball took over the European professional club competitions. From that point on, FIBAs Korać Cup and Saporta Cup competitions lasted only one season before folding. In November 2015, Euroleague Basketball and IMG agreed on 10-year joint venture, both Euroleague Basketball and IMG will manage the commercial operation, and the management of all global rights covering both media and marketing. The deal was worth €630 million euros guaranteed, with projected revenues reaching €900 million euros, FIBA era, FIBA European Champions Cup, FIBA European League, FIBA EuroLeague, FIBA SuproLeague, Euroleague Basketball era, Euroleague. *There were two separate competitions during the 2000–01 season, the SuproLeague, which was organized by FIBA, and the Euroleague, which was organized by Euroleague Basketball. On 26 July 2010, Turkish Airlines and Euroleague Basketball announced a €15 million strategic agreement to sponsor the top European basketball competition across the globe, according to the agreement, starting with the 2010–11 season, the top European competition would be named Turkish Airlines Euroleague Basketball. Similarly, the EuroLeague Final Four would be named the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four and this title partnership was set to run for five seasons, with the option of extending it to an additional five
12.
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
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