1.
Geographic coordinate system
–
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
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
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
Greece
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Fresco displaying the Minoan ritual of "bull leaping", found in
Knossos,
Crete.
Greece
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Flag
Greece
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The
Lion Gate,
Mycenae
Greece
–
The
Parthenon on the
Acropolis of Athens is one of the best known symbols of
classical Greece.
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
Administrative regions of Greece
–
Administrative regions of Greece Διοικητικές περιφέρειες της Ελλάδας (
Greek)
4.
Central Greece
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Continental Greece, colloquially known as Roúmeli, is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English the area is usually called Central Greece, but the equivalent Greek term is rarely used. It includes the part of the Greek mainland, as well as the offshore island of Euboea. Since 1987, its territory has been divided among the regions of Central Greece and Attica. Central Greece is the most populous region of Greece, with a population of 4,591,568 people. It is located to the north of the Peloponnese and to the south of Thessaly and Epirus, bordering the Aegean Sea to the east, the Ionian Sea to the west and its climate is temperate along its coastlines, and dry in the interior. The region is one of the most mountainous in Greece, having some of the highest elevations in the country. Central Greece also has some of the largest lakes in Greece, among the most important is Mornos lake in Phocis, which supplies water to Phocis, parts of Phthiotis, Boeotia, the clarinet is the main instrument in this region. The main dances of this region are tsamikos and kleftiko
Central Greece
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Mount Parnassus
Central Greece
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Nafpaktos
Central Greece
–
Achelous river
5.
Boeotia
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Boeotia, sometimes alternatively Latinised as Beotia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece and it was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its largest city is Thebes, Boeotia lies to the north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It also has a coastline on the Gulf of Euboea. It bordered on Megaris in the south, Attica in the southeast, Euboea in the northeast, Opuntian Locris in the north and Phocis in the west. The main mountain ranges of Boeotia are Mount Parnassus in the west, Mount Helicon in the southwest, Cithaeron in the south and its longest river, the Cephissus, flows in the central part, where most of the low-lying areas of Boeotia are found. Lake Copais was a lake in the center of Boeotia. It was drained in the 19th century, lake Yliki is a large lake near Thebes. The earliest inhabitants of Boeotia, associated with the city of Orchomenus, were called Minyans, pausanias mentions that Minyans established the maritime Ionian city of Teos, and occupied the islands of Lemnos and Thera. The Argonauts were sometimes referred to as Minyans, also, according to legend the citizens of Thebes paid an annual tribute to their king Erginus. The early wealth and power of Boeotia is shown by the reputation and visible Mycenean remains of several of its cities, especially Orchomenus, the origin of the name Boeotians may lie in the mountain Boeon in Epirus. Some toponyms and the common Aeolic dialect indicate that the Boeotians were related to the Thessalians and they moved south and settled in another rich plain, while others filtered across the Aegean and settled on Lesbos and in Aeolis in Asia Minor. Others are said to have stayed in Thessaly, withdrawing into the hill country, many ancient Greek legends originated or are set in this region. The older myths took their form during the Mycenean age when the Mycenean Greeks established themselves in Boeotia. Many of them are related to the myths of Argos, and others indicate connections with Phoenicia, Boeotia was also notable for the ancient oracular shrine of Trophonius at Lebadea. Graea, an ancient city in Boeotia, is thought to be the origin of the Latin word Graecus, from which English derives the words Greece. The major poets Hesiod and Pindar were Boeotians, on the other hand, the lack of good harbours hindered its maritime development. The importance of the legendary Minyae has been confirmed by archaeological remains, the Boeotian population entered the land from the north possibly before the Dorian invasion
Boeotia
–
Mount Helicon
Boeotia
–
Municipalities of Boeotia
Boeotia
–
18th century map of ancient Boeotia.
Boeotia
–
Ruins of the Cadmeia, the central fortress of ancient
Thebes.
6.
Eastern European Time
–
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
Eastern European Time
–
light blue
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
Daylight saving time
–
Ancient
water clock that lets hour lengths vary with season.
Daylight saving time
–
G. V. Hudson invented modern DST, proposing it first in 1895.
Daylight saving time
–
Retailers generally favor DST.
United Cigar Stores hailed a 1918 DST bill.
Daylight saving time
–
William Willett independently proposed DST in 1907 and advocated it tirelessly.
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
Eastern European Summer Time
–
light blue
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
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
–
Greek Europlate
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
–
A Greek motorcycle licence plate
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
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
Greek language
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Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
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regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
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Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
11.
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
Athens
–
From upper left: the
Acropolis, the
Hellenic Parliament, the
Zappeion, the
Acropolis Museum,
Monastiraki Square, Athens view towards the sea
Athens
–
Athena, patron goddess of Athens;
National Archaeological Museum
Athens
–
Acropolis of Athens, with
Odeon of Herodes Atticus seen on bottom left
12.
Thebes, Greece
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Thebes is a city in Boeotia, central Greece. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes. Theban forces ended the power of Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC under the command of Epaminondas, the Sacred Band of Thebes famously fell at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC against Philip II and Alexander the Great. Prior to its destruction by Alexander in 335 BC, Thebes was a force in Greek history. During the Byzantine period, the city was famous for its silks, the modern city contains an Archaeological Museum, the remains of the Cadmea, and scattered ancient remains. Modern Thebes is the largest town of the unit of Boeotia. Thebes is situated in a plain, between Lake Yliki to the north, and the Cithaeron mountains, which divide Boeotia from Attica and its elevation is 215 metres above mean sea level. It is about 50 kilometres northwest of Athens, and 100 kilometres southeast of Lamia, motorway 1 and the Athens–Thessaloniki railway connect Thebes with Athens and northern Greece. The municipality of Thebes covers an area of 830.112 square kilometres, the unit of Thebes 321.015 square kilometres. In 2011, as a consequence of the Kallikratis reform, Thebes was merged with Plataies, Thisvi, and Vagia to form a larger municipality, the other three become units of the larger municipality. Five main cycles of story may be distinguished, The foundation of the citadel Cadmea by Cadmus, the building of a seven-gated wall by Amphion, and the cognate stories of Zethus, Antiope and Dirce. See Theban pederasty and Pederasty in ancient Greece for detailed discussion, the immolation of Semele and the advent of Dionysus. The Greeks attributed the foundation of Thebes to Cadmus, a Phoenician king from Tyre, Cadmus was famous for teaching the Phoenician alphabet and building the Acropolis, which was named the Cadmeia in his honor and was an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural center. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves dated to Mycenaean times containing weapons, ivory, *Tʰēgʷai in LHIIIB lost contact with Egypt but gained it with Miletus and Cyprus. In the late LHIIIB, according to Palaima, *Tʰēgʷai was able to pull resources from Lamos near Mount Helicon, and from Karystos and Amarynthos on the Greek side of the isle of Euboia. As a fortified community, it attracted attention from the invading Dorians, and this centralizing policy is as much the cardinal fact of Theban history as the counteracting effort of the smaller towns to resist absorption forms the main chapter of the story of Boeotia
Thebes, Greece
–
Remains of the Cadmea, the central fortress of ancient Thebes
Thebes, Greece
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Theban workshop (Oinochoe type), 7th century BC.
Thebes, Greece
–
Map of the Topography of Ancient Thebes.
Thebes, Greece
–
Silver
stater of Thebes (405-395 BC). Obverse: Boeotian shield, reverse: Head of bearded
Dionysus.
13.
Tanagra figurine
–
The Tanagra figurines were a mold-cast type of Greek terracotta figurines produced from the later fourth century BC, primarily in the Boeotian town of Tanagra. They were coated with a white slip before firing and were sometimes painted afterwards in naturalistic tints with watercolors. Scholars have wondered why a rural place like Tanagra produced such fine, Tanagra figures depict real women — and some men and boys — in everyday costume, with familiar accessories like hats, wreaths or fans. Some character pieces may have represented stock figures from the New Comedy of Menander and other writers, others continued an earlier tradition of molded terracotta figures used as cult images or votive objects. Typically they are about 10 to 20 centimetres high, Tanagra figures had not been much noted before the end of the 1860s, when ploughmen of Vratsi in Boeotia, Greece, began to uncover tombs ranging in date over many centuries. The main finds especially from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC were secured in 1874, inside and outside the tombs of the Hellenistic period — 3rd to 1st centuries BC — were many small terracotta figures. Great quantities that were found in sites at Tanagra identified the city as the source of these figures. In addition, such figures were made in many other Mediterranean sites, including Alexandria, Tarentum in Magna Graecia, Centuripe in Sicily, the figures appealed to 19th century middle-class ideals of realism, and Tanagra figures entered the visual repertory of Europeans. Oscar Wilde, in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, has Dorian liken his love, Sybil, to the grace of the Tanagra figurine that you have in your Studio. Under the pressure of collectors demands in the late 1800s, Tanagra terracottas began to be faked, Tanagra Tanagra - Myth and Archaeology Exhibition, Paris,2003, Montreal,2004
Tanagra figurine
–
"Lady in blue", molded and gilded terracotta figurine, Louvre, Paris
Tanagra figurine
–
This terracotta figurine of a woman demonstrates some thematic elements that are common to these statuettes.
Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore.
Tanagra figurine
–
Molded terracotta nude of a goddess, Alexandrian (Greco-Roman Museum, Alexandria)
14.
Greek terracotta figurines
–
Terracotta figurines are a mode of artistic and religious expression frequently found in ancient Greece. These figurines abound and provide a testimony to the everyday life. Modelling is the most common and simplest technique and it is also used for the realization of bronzes, the prototypes are made out of raw clay. The small sizes are directly worked with the hand, for the larger models, the coroplath presses the clay pellets or wads against a wooden restraint. The mould is obtained by application of a bed of clay or plaster on the prototype, simple moulds, used by the Greeks of the continent until the 4th century BC, are simply dried. When the piece becomes complicated, with important projections, the craftsman can cut out the mould in smaller parts, the second phase consists of applying a layer of raw clay inside the mould, which can be incised beforehand in order to obtain effects of relief. The thinness of the layer varies according to the type of object to be realized, the faces of the mould are joined together, the object is then unmoulded, and the craftsman can proceed to the final improvements, typically smoothing the junction. The craftsman also creates an opening, a vent hole that allows steam to escape during the firing. The vent can also be used for assembly, allowing intervention inside the piece, the limbs are then joined to the body either by pasting them with slip, clay mixed with water, or by mortice and tenon joint. The piece is fired in the kiln, with the temperature ranging from 600 to 800 °C. Once the figurine is fired, slip can be applied, the slip is sometimes itself fired at low temperature. In the beginning, the range of colours available was limited, red, yellow, black. From the Hellenistic era on, orange, pink mauve, the pigments are natural mineral dyes, ochre for yellow and red, coal for black, malachite for green, etc. Due to their low cost, the figurines made ideal religious offerings and that is indeed their primary purpose, the decorative aspect coming only later. This explains why the ancient Greek temples host abundant quantities of votive or funerary figurines and these figurines can present identification issues. These attributes make it possible to recognize a particular god in an unquestionable way, moreover, certain types of statuettes correspond to a precise form of worship related to a specific divinity. Sometimes, however, visiting gods complicate matters, these are dedicated to a god who is not of that sanctuary. In addition, the majority of the figurines simply represent a woman upright
Greek terracotta figurines
–
Hermes criophorus (?), Boeotian terracotta figurine, ca. 450 BC,
Louvre
Greek terracotta figurines
–
Woman with raised arms, typical funerary offering,
Cyprus, 7th century BC, Louvre
Greek terracotta figurines
–
Plaster key mold for the reverse side of a figurine of
Demeter -
Isis, Louvre
Greek terracotta figurines
–
Woman bearing offerings, archaic figurine from Peloponnese, Louvre
15.
Pausanias (geographer)
–
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the time of Roman emperors Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece, a work that describes ancient Greece from his first-hand observations. This work provides crucial information for making links between classical literature and modern archaeology, andrew Stewart assesses him as, A careful, pedestrian writer. interested not only in the grandiose or the exquisite but in unusual sights and obscure ritual. He is occasionally careless, or makes unwarranted inferences, and his guides or even his own notes sometimes mislead him, yet his honesty is unquestionable, before visiting Greece, he had been to Antioch, Joppa and Jerusalem, and to the banks of the River Jordan. In Egypt, he had seen the pyramids, while at the temple of Ammon, in Macedonia, he appears to have seen the alleged tomb of Orpheus in Libethra. Crossing over to Italy, he had something of the cities of Campania. He was one of the first to write of seeing the ruins of Troy, Alexandria Troas, Pausanias Description of Greece is in ten books, each dedicated to some portion of Greece. He begins his tour in Attica, where the city of Athens, subsequent books describe Corinthia, Laconia, Messenia, Elis, Achaea, Arcadia, Boetia, Phocis and Ozolian Locris. He famously leaves out key portions of Greece such as Crete, the project is more than topographical, it is a cultural geography. Pausanias digresses from description of architectural and artistic objects to review the mythological and historical underpinnings of the society that produced them and his work bears the marks of his attempt to navigate that space and establish an identity for Roman Greece. He is not a naturalist by any means, though he does from time to comment on the physical realities of the Greek landscape. He notices the pine trees on the sandy coast of Elis, the deer and the boars in the oak woods of Phelloe. Pausanias is most at home in describing the art and architecture of Olympia. Yet, even in the most secluded regions of Greece, he is fascinated by all kinds of depictions of gods, holy relics, Pausanias has the instincts of an antiquary. Some magnificent and dominating structures, such as the Stoa of King Attalus in the Athenian Agora or the Exedra of Herodes Atticus at Olympia are not even mentioned. While he never doubts the existence of the gods and heroes, he criticizes the myths. His descriptions of monuments of art are plain and unadorned and they bear the impression of reality, and their accuracy is confirmed by the extant remains. He is perfectly frank in his confessions of ignorance, when he quotes a book at second hand he takes pains to say so
Pausanias (geographer)
–
Manuscript (1485), of Pausanias' Description of Greece at the
Laurentian Library
16.
Graea
–
Graea or Graia was a city on the coast of Boeotia in ancient Greece. It is placed under Boeotia in Homers Catalogue of Ships and it seems to have included the city of Oropos, though by the fifth century BC it was probably a kome of that city. According to Pausanias the name was a shortcut of the original name Tanagraia, Graia was a greater area including Avlida, Mycalissos, Arma etc. It is also described by sources as a city, Fossey argues for its identification with the hill of Dhrámesi 8 km from Tanagra. Graea was sometimes said to be the oldest city of Greece, aristotle said that this city was created before the deluge. The same assertion about the origins of Graia city is found in an ancient marble, the Parian Chronicle, discovered in 1687 and dated to 267–263 BC, reports about this ancient city can be also found in Homer, in Pausanias, in Thucydides, etc. The name Graïke was used of the Oropus area, which was dependent on Athens during the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides, the word Γραικός is interpreted as inhabitant of Graia by some authors. Such people told their first contacts in the Latin region that they were Graikoi and they were thus called Graeci by the people whom they met. Graikos may be interpreted inhabitant of Graia, aristotle uses Graikos as equivalent to Hellenes, and believes that it was the name originally used by Illyrians for the Dorians in Epirus. Boeotia Graïke Names of the Greeks Ogyges Minyans
Graea
–
Map of ancient Boeotia,indicating the city
Tanagra,which could be the place of Graia
17.
Graikoi
–
The Greeks have been identified by many ethnonyms. The most common native ethnonym is Hellen, pl. Hellenes, among his descendants are also mentioned the Graeci and the Makedones. The first Greek-speaking people, called Myceneans or Mycenean-Achaeans by historians, Homer refers to Achaeans as the dominant tribe during the Trojan war period usually dated to the 12th-11th centuries BC, using Hellenes to describe a relatively small tribe in Thessaly. The Dorians, an important Greek-speaking group appeared roughly at that time, according to the Greek tradition, the Graeci were renamed Hellenes probably with the establishment of the Great Amphictyonic League after the Trojan war. The Persians used the name Yaunas after the Ionians, a Greek tribe who occupied areas on the coasts of western Asia Minor and the term was used later in Hebrew, Arabic. The word entered the languages of the Indian subcontinent as the Yona, a unique form is used in Georgian, where the Greeks are called Berdzeni. By Late Antiquity, the Greeks referred to themselves as Graikoi and Rhomaioi/Romioi the latter of which was used virtually all Greeks were Roman citizens after 212 CE. The term Hellene became applied to the followers of the religion after the establishment of Christianity by Theodosius I. Although Homer refers to a union of the Greek kingdoms under the leadership of the king of Mycenea during the Trojan War, most of the Mycenean palaces were destroyed at the end of the 13th century BC. It seems that the myth of Hellen, the patriarch of Hellenes was invented when the Greek tribes started to separate from each other, the name Hellenes was probably used by the Greeks with the establishment of the Great Amphictyonic League, an ancient association of Greek tribes. According to legend it was founded after the Trojan War, by the eponymous Amphictyon and it had twelve founders and was organized to protect the great temples of Apollo in Delphi and of Demeter near Thermopylae. Among the descendants of Hellen are mentioned Aeolus, Ion, Achaeus, Dorus, Graecos and it seems that the Macedonians were a Dorian tribe which stayed behind in Macedonia when the main Dorian tribes moved to the south. The Greek cultural tradition has been continuous for centuries, it has always centered on those who were wealthy. They have defined the Greeks as those being in some similar to themselves, by descent, speech, culture. The evidence from before this period, such as it is, in Homers Iliad, the Greek allied forces are described under three different names, often used interchangeably, Argives, Danaans and Achaeans. Argives is an annotation drawn from the most prominent city of the Achaeans, danaos is the name attributed to a Greek mythological character, twin brother of Aegyptus and son of Achiroe and Belus. There is currently no satisfactory etymology for the name Hellenes, some scholars assert that the name of the priests of Zeus in Dodona, Selloi, changed to Sellanes and then to Hellanes and Hellenes. The land was inhabited by Selloi and Graeci, who came to be known as Hellenes
Graikoi
–
Soleto is one of the nine
Greek -speaking towns in the province of
Apulia, Italy. Their inhabitants are descendants of the first wave of Greek settlers in Italy and
Sicily in the 8th century BC. The dialect they speak evolved separately from
Hellenistic Greek. The people of these towns call themselves Grekos, from the
Latin Graecus.
Graikoi
–
Hieronymus Wolf was a 16th-century German historian. After coming into contact with the works of
Laonicus Chalcondyles, he also went ahead with identifying
Byzantine historiography for the purpose of distinguishing medieval Greek from ancient
Roman history.
Graikoi
–
The Entry of the
Crusaders into
Constantinople, by
Eugène Delacroix, 1840. The sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the Crusaders acerbated
Greek nationalism and created disdain for the
Latins which is well illustrated in the documents of the era.
Nicetas Choniates portrays an especially lively account of the sack and its aftermath.
18.
Homer
–
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
Homer
–
Idealized portrayal of Homer dating to the
Hellenistic period.
British Museum.
Homer
–
Part of an 11th-century manuscript, "the Townley Homer". The writing on the top and right side are
scholia.
Homer
–
Homer and His Guide, by
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905), portraying Homer on
Mount Ida, beset by dogs and guided by the goatherder Glaucus (as told in
Pseudo-Herodotus)
Homer
–
Raphael 's inspired Homer on
Mount Parnassus.
19.
Catalogue of Ships
–
The Catalogue of Ships is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homers Iliad, which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. A similar, though shorter, Catalogue of the Trojans and their allies follows, if taken to be an accurate account, the Catalogue provides a rare summary of the geopolitical situation in early Greece at some time between the Late Bronze Age and the eighth century BCE. Following Milman Parrys theory of Homeric oral poetry, some scholars, such as Denys Page, argue that it represents a pre-Homeric recitation incorporated into the epic by Homer. A few argue that parts of the recitation, such as the formulae describing places, date as early as the time of the Trojan War in the mid-13th century BCE, visser argues that this knowledge was transmitted by the heroic myth, elements of which introduce each geographical section. W. W. Minton places the catalogue within similar enumerations in Homer and Hesiod, the most striking feature of the catalogues geography is that it does not portray Greece in the Iron Age, the time of Homer. The whole northwestern part of Greece is not mentioned and it is these peoples thought to be of Dorian descent, instead the catalogue portrays a loose union of city-states, mostly in mainland Greece, ruled by hereditary families under the overlordship of the High King of Mycenae. Hardly any of them are Dorian, the Ionian Greeks are mainly missing. This political snapshot is undeniably one intended to be of Late Bronze Age Greece, in the Iliad, the Greek Catalogue lists twenty-nine contingents under 46 captains, accounting for a total of 1,186 ships. Using the Boeotian figure of 120 men per ship results in a total of 142,320 men transported to the Troad and they are named by various ethnonyms and had lived in 164 places described by toponyms. The majority of places have been identified and were occupied in the Late Bronze Age. The terms Danaans, Argives and Achaeans or the sons of the Achaeans are used for the army as a whole. In his Library, Apollodorus lists thirty contingents under 43 leaders with a total of 1013 ships, Hyginus lists 1154 ships, tabular Catalog Trojan Battle Order The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women J. K. The Geometric Catalogue of Ships, pp. 181–191 in Carter and Morris, catalogues and the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad. Detailed map of Achaeans and Trojans
Catalogue of Ships
–
Achilles tending the wounded
Patroclus (
Attic red-figure kylix, c. 500 BCE)
20.
Obol (coin)
–
The obol was a form of ancient Greek currency and weight. Obols were used from early times, according to Plutarch they were originally spits of copper or bronze traded by weight, while six obols make a drachma or a handful, since that was as many as the hand could grasp. Heraklides of Pontus in his work on Etymologies mentions the obols of Heraion and this is confirmed by the historian Ephorus on his work On Inventions. Excavations at Argos discovered several dozen of these early obols, dated well before 800 BC, Plutarch states the Spartans had an iron obol of four coppers. They retained the cumbersome and impractical bars rather than proper coins to discourage the pursuit of wealth, in Classical Athens, obols were traded as silver coins. Six obols made up the drachma, there were also coins worth two obols and three obols. Each obol was divisible into eight coppers, during this era, an obol purchased a kantharos and chous of wine. Three obols was a rate for prostitutes. Legend had it that those without wealth or whose friends refused to follow proper burial rites were forced to wander the banks of the river for one hundred years. The obol or obolus was also a measurement of Greek, Roman, in ancient Greece, it was generally reckoned as 1⁄6 drachma. Under Roman rule, it was defined as 1⁄48 of a Roman ounce or about 0.57 grams, the apothecaries system also reckoned the obol or obolus as 1⁄48 ounce or 1⁄2 scruple. The obolus, along with the mirror, was a symbol of new schismatic heretics in the short story The Theologians by Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges. The currency of the United States of the Ionian Islands was called the Obol The British halfpenny, also known as the obol Obelisks. I of the Loeb Classical Library edition,1914 Plutarch, Lycurgus,9 A History of Measures The Use of Obeliskoi How we came to know about the iron obols, the antecedents of the drachma
Obol (coin)
–
Six rod-shaped obols discovered at the Heraion of
Argos (above). Six obols forming one
drachma.
Obol (coin)
–
Silver Obol of Athens, dated 515-510 BC. Obv. Gorgoneion Rev. Incuse square.
Obol (coin)
–
Charon's obol. 5th-1st century BC.
Obol (coin)
–
LUCANIA, Metapontion. c. 425 -350 BC. Æ 21 mm.
21.
Shield
–
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand or mounted on the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of active blocks. Shields vary greatly in size, ranging from large panels that protect the whole body to small models that were intended for hand-to-hand-combat use. In prehistory and during the era of the earliest civilisations, shields were made of wood, animal hide and they were carried by foot soldiers, knights and cavalry. Depending on time and place, shields could be round, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, sometimes they took on the form of kites or flatirons, or had rounded tops on a rectangular base with perhaps an eye-hole, to look through when used with combat. The shield was held by a grip or by straps that went over or around the users arm. Often shields were decorated with a pattern or an animal representation to show their army or clan. These designs developed into systematized heraldic devices during the High Middle Ages for purposes of battlefield identification, even after the introduction of gunpowder and firearms to the battlefield, shields continued to be used by certain groups. In the 20th and 21st century, shields have been used by military and police units that specialize in anti-terrorist actions, hostage rescue, riot control and siege-breaking. The modern term usually refers to a device that is held in the hand or attached to the arm, Shields are also sometimes mounted on vehicle-mounted weapons to protect the operator. The oldest form of shield was a device designed to block attacks by hand weapons, such as swords, axes and maces, or ranged weapons like sling-stones. Shields have varied greatly in construction time and place. Sometimes shields were made of metal, but wood or animal hide construction was more common, wicker. Many surviving examples of metal shields are generally felt to be rather than practical, for example the Yetholm-type shields of the Bronze Age. Lightly armored warriors relying on speed and surprise would generally carry light shields that were small or thin. Heavy troops might be equipped with robust shields that could cover most of the body, many had a strap called a guige that allowed them to be slung over the users back when not in use or on horseback. During the 14th–13th century BC, the Sards or Shardana, working as mercenaries for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, the Mycenaean Greeks used two types of shields, the figure-of-eight shield and a rectangular tower shield. These shields were made primarily from a frame and then reinforced with leather
Shield
–
Zulu warriors with shields, a detail from an 1847 drawing
Shield
–
Wall painting depicting a
Mycenaean Greek "figure eight" shield with a suspension strap at the middle, 15th century BC,
National Archaeological Museum, Athens -The faces of figure eight shields were quite convex. The cited "strap" may be the ridge on the front (so denoted by the visible pattern of the ox hide) of the shield.
Shield
–
Two wooden round shields survived at
Thorsberg moor (3rd century A.D.)
Shield
–
A portrait probably made by a Mughal artist. The courtier dressed in floral robes facing left and carrying weapons and a black shield.
22.
Boeotian League
–
Boeotia, sometimes alternatively Latinised as Beotia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece and it was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its largest city is Thebes, Boeotia lies to the north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It also has a coastline on the Gulf of Euboea. It bordered on Megaris in the south, Attica in the southeast, Euboea in the northeast, Opuntian Locris in the north and Phocis in the west. The main mountain ranges of Boeotia are Mount Parnassus in the west, Mount Helicon in the southwest, Cithaeron in the south and its longest river, the Cephissus, flows in the central part, where most of the low-lying areas of Boeotia are found. Lake Copais was a lake in the center of Boeotia. It was drained in the 19th century, lake Yliki is a large lake near Thebes. The earliest inhabitants of Boeotia, associated with the city of Orchomenus, were called Minyans, pausanias mentions that Minyans established the maritime Ionian city of Teos, and occupied the islands of Lemnos and Thera. The Argonauts were sometimes referred to as Minyans, also, according to legend the citizens of Thebes paid an annual tribute to their king Erginus. The early wealth and power of Boeotia is shown by the reputation and visible Mycenean remains of several of its cities, especially Orchomenus, the origin of the name Boeotians may lie in the mountain Boeon in Epirus. Some toponyms and the common Aeolic dialect indicate that the Boeotians were related to the Thessalians and they moved south and settled in another rich plain, while others filtered across the Aegean and settled on Lesbos and in Aeolis in Asia Minor. Others are said to have stayed in Thessaly, withdrawing into the hill country, many ancient Greek legends originated or are set in this region. The older myths took their form during the Mycenean age when the Mycenean Greeks established themselves in Boeotia. Many of them are related to the myths of Argos, and others indicate connections with Phoenicia, Boeotia was also notable for the ancient oracular shrine of Trophonius at Lebadea. Graea, an ancient city in Boeotia, is thought to be the origin of the Latin word Graecus, from which English derives the words Greece. The major poets Hesiod and Pindar were Boeotians, on the other hand, the lack of good harbours hindered its maritime development. The importance of the legendary Minyae has been confirmed by archaeological remains, the Boeotian population entered the land from the north possibly before the Dorian invasion
Boeotian League
–
Mount Helicon
Boeotian League
–
Municipalities of Boeotia
Boeotian League
–
18th century map of ancient Boeotia.
Boeotian League
–
Ruins of the Cadmeia, the central fortress of ancient
Thebes.
23.
Air show
–
An air show, is a public event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators, usually by means of aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called static air shows, in the United States, some of the larger airshows are headlined by military jet demonstration teams including the U. S. Navy Blue Angels and USAF Thunderbirds. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will headline many airshows in Canada and the United States, some air shows are held as a business venture or as a trade event where aircraft, avionics and other services are promoted to potential customers. Many air shows are held in support of local, national or military charities, military air firms often organise air shows at military airfields as a public relations exercise to thank the local community, promote military careers and raise the profile of the military. Air show seasons vary around the world, the United States enjoys a long season that generally runs from March to November, covering the spring, summer, and fall seasons. Other countries often have much shorter seasons, in Japan air shows are generally events held at Japan Self-Defense Forces bases regularly throughout the year. The European season usually starts in late April or Early May and is usually over by mid October, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand hold their events between January and March. However, for acts, the off-season does not mean a period of inactivity, pilots. The type of displays seen at an event are constrained by a number of factors, including the weather, most aviation authorities now publish rules and guidance on minimum display heights and criteria for differing conditions. In addition to the weather, pilots and organizers must also consider local airspace restrictions, most exhibitors will plan full, rolling and flat display for varying weather and airspace conditions. The types of shows vary greatly, Air Displays can be held during day or night with the latter becoming increasingly popular. Shows dont always take place over airfields, some have held over the grounds of stately homes or castles. Before the Second World War, air shows were associated with long distance air races, often lasting many days, while the Reno Air Races keep this tradition alive, most air shows today primarily feature a series of aerial demos of short duration. Specialist aerobatic aircraft have piston engines, light weight and big control surfaces, making them capable of very high roll rates. A skilled pilot will be able to climb vertically, perform very tight turns, tumble his aircraft end-over-end, solo military jet demos, also known as tactical demo, feature one aircraft, usually a strike fighter or an advanced trainer. The demonstration focuses on the capabilities of aircraft used in combat operations. Manoeuvres include aileron rolls, barrel rolls, hesitation rolls, Cuban-8s, tight turns, high-alpha flight, a pass, double Immelmans. Tactical demos may include simulated bomb drops, sometimes with pyrotechnics on the ground for effect
Air show
–
The UK Utterly Butterly display team flying Boeing
Stearman PT-17
biplanes at an English air show
Air show
–
A month after Blériot's crossing of the English Channel the aviation week in Reims, France, August 1909, caught special worldwide attention.
Air show
–
Aviation Nation 2006 at
Nellis Air Force Base,
United States
Air show
–
The
Patrouille Suisse performing at the
ILA Berlin Air Show
24.
Agios Thomas, Boeotia
–
Agios Thomas is a village in Boeotia, Greece. It is a community of Tanagra municipality, near Athens, the community has an area of 39.262 km2. Liatani was the name before 1929, several theories exist for its etymology, Without being documented, it is said that the first resident of the district was a wealth land owner, named Liatis. A 2nd approach is that the name came from the expression, leaita nie. The period that Hellas was under Ottoman occupation, arbanitic liapedes went out the district, Mavromati is another name, that George Syrmas in 1967 insist on, due to plethora of olive trees, around the village. Source, Folklore Collection of Athens University, the name, Mavromati is mentioned in the book of Colonel William Martin Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, during his visit to the region in 1806. Also the prefect of Thebes, N. Source, Unpublished Documents relating to the deliberation of the land in eastern Greece. These continue to flourish into the period of Crusader feudal conquest of our region. Eastern Boeotia with the plains and plateaus around Tanagra is especially empty. This is the origin of our modern villages at Tanagra and at Kleidi, after some 100 years of Ottoman rule, the peaceful conditions of the Pax Ottomanic saw population rise for both Greek and Albanian villages, as well as new village foundations. The Ottoman village tax record for 1570 shows this well, before Thomas though a village existed at its own site, called Kelmendi or Liatani, and further south a small linked pair of hamlets called Kinos or Ginosati, now deserted. As all Greek villages, Liatani fought against occupiers on the side of Captain Athanasios Skourtaniotis and he was born in 1793 at Skourta village. Dervenohoria enjoyed little autonomy and retained a small body of men led by Skourtaniotis. He managed many defeats against the Ottomans of the area and his real name was Gatsis, but known as Captain Thanases. Officer Ioannis Kiokes from Liatani fought on the side of Skourtnaniotis and he honored by medal of cross and generosity from our country. He participated also, at the battle of Arachova, under chief Georgios Karaiskakis and he was granted the rank of 2nd lieutenant by Royal Decree of 20 May 1838, as a reward for the struggle of independence and his offer during the plague in Poros island. Ioannis Koubitsas is another officer of Skourtaniotis from Liatani and he was renowned for wisdom and courage. He served under the command of Gardikiotis at Jamalas Papakostass insurgency in 1848, at Palaiokastro of Phthiotis, pasha Omer Vryonis from Eboea came in Liatani with 3000 men to help the Turks in Athens, where they had run out of food
Agios Thomas, Boeotia
–
Cave with the wreath
Agios Thomas, Boeotia
–
Ayios Thomas chapel
Agios Thomas, Boeotia
–
Prophet Helias chapel
25.
Hellenic Air Force
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The Hellenic Air Force is the air force of Greece. The Hellenic Air Force includes approximately 33,000 active troops, during the period of monarchy between 1935–1973 the force was known as the Royal Hellenic Air Force. The motto of the Hellenic Air Force is the ancient Greek phrase Αἰὲν Ὑψικρατεῖν, Always Dominate the Heights), the Hellenic Air Force is one of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces. In 1911, the Greek Government appointed French specialists to form the Hellenic Aviation Service, the first civilian Greek aviator who was given military rank was Emmanuel Argyropoulos, who flew in a Nieuport IV. G. Alkyon aircraft, on February 8,1912, the first military flight was made on May 13,1912 by Lieutenant Dimitrios Kamberos. During September of the year, the Greek Army fielded its first squadron. January 24,1913 saw the first naval co-operation war mission worldwide and this was not the first air-to-surface bombing in military history as there was a precedent in the Turkish Italian war of 1911, but the first recorded attack against ships from the air. Initially, the Hellenic Army and the Royal Hellenic Navy operated separate Army Aviation, during the Balkan Wars, various French Henry and Maurice Farman aircraft types were in use. Naval Aviation was officially founded in 1914 by the then CinC of the Hellenic Navy, Greek aviation units participated in World War I and the Asia Minor Campaign, equipped by the Allies with a variety of French and British designs. In 1930, the Aviation Ministry was founded, establishing the Air Force as the branch of the Armed Forces. The Hellenic Army Air Service and Hellenic Naval Air Service were amalgamated into a single service, in 1931 the Hellenic Air Force Academy, the Scholi Ikaron, was founded. In 1939, an order for 24 Marcel Bloch MB.151 fighter aircraft was placed, the aircraft served in the 24th Pursuit Squadron of the then Hellenic Royal Air Force. On November 2,1940, a Breguet 19 intercepted the 3 Alpine Division Julia while it was penetrating Pindos mountain range, however, after 65 days of war, the RHAF had lost 31 officers killed and seven wounded, plus four NCOs killed and five wounded. Meanwhile, the number of aircraft had dropped to 28 fighters. Still, in March 1941 the Italian invasion was confronted successfully, during the Greco-Italian War the Hellenic Air Force shot down 64 enemy aircraft and claimed another 24. Actually, according to sources, Italians lost 65 aircraft during the whole campaign, against Greeks and British. In April 1941 the German Wehrmacht invaded Greece to assist her Italian allies, the Luftwaffe destroyed almost the entire Hellenic Air Force, some aircraft managed to escape in the Middle East. The top ace of Hellenic Air Force was Andreas Antoniou with 5.5 victories, five Avro Anson, one Dornier Do 22 and three Avro 626 escaped
Hellenic Air Force
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Airco De Havilland D.H.9 bomber in Izmir/Smyrna (1919)
Hellenic Air Force
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Hellenic Air Force Seal
Hellenic Air Force
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Drawing of a
PZL P.24, the main Greek fighter in the
Greco-Italian War. The Δ120 means that the plane belonged at Marinos Mitralexis
Hellenic Air Force
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Greek pilots of the
335th Fighter Squadron in Egypt (1942).
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Greek National Road 1
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Greek National Road 1 is the old single carriageway road connecting Athens with Thessaloniki and Evzonoi, the border crossing between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia. For most of its length, it has replaced by the new A1 motorway. Today, the A1 motorway has absorbed most of EO1s original alignment, however, there is a motorway-only gap west of Lake Yliki, requiring non-motorway traffic to detour via Thebes and Aliartos on the EO3. Additionally, the crossing itself, north of Evzoni, is only open to motorway traffic
Greek National Road 1
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National Road 1
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Greek National Road 44
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Greek National Road 44 is a single carriageway road in central Greece. It connects Thebes with Karystos on southern Euboea, via Chalcis, the total length of the GR-44 is nearly 160 km. The highway lies in the units of Boeotia and Euboea. The west end of the GR-44 is in downtown Thebes, where it connects with the GR-3 and it crosses Motorway 1 east of Thebes, and runs north to Chalcis. At Chalcis it crosses the Euripus Strait, and enters the island of Euboea, the GR-77 towards northern Euboea branches off. The GR-44 continues to the part of the island, passing along the south coast through the towns Eretria, Amarynthos. Beyond Aliveri it leaves the coast, and it runs south through Styra, the Greek National Road 44 passes through the following places, Thebes Eleonas Ritsona Chalcis Vasiliko Eretria Amarynthos Aliveri Zarakes Styra Karystos
Greek National Road 44
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National Road 44
Media related to Tanagra at Wikimedia Commons
