1.
Ancient Thessaly
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Thessaly or Thessalia was one of the traditional regions of Ancient Greece. During the Mycenaean period, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, a name that continued to be used for one of the tribes of Greece, the Aeolians. At its greatest extent, ancient Thessaly was an area stretching from Mount Olympos to the north to the Spercheios Valley to the south. Thessaly is a diverse region consisting of broad central plains surrounded by mountains. The plains are bounded by the Pindos Mountains to the west, Mount Othrys to the south, the Pelion and Ossa ranges to the east, and Mount Olympos to the North. The central plains consist of two basins, the Larisa basin and the Karditsa basin, drained by the Pineios River into the Vale of Tempe, the Pagasetic Gulf in southeastern Thessaly was and is the only body of water suitable for harbours in region. Strictly speaking, Thessaly refers primarily to the central plains inhabited by the Thessalians in antiquity, the plains were divided in antiquity into four administrative regions called tetrads, Pelasgiotis, Phthiotis, Thessaliotis, and Histiaeotis. The perioikoi were composed of Perrhaibia, Magnesia, Achaea Phthiotis, Dolopia, Ainis, Malis, the three largest cities in Thessaly were Larisa, Pherai, and Pharsalos. The Thessalian plains were ideally suited for cultivating grains and cereals, Alexander the Greats horse, Bucephalus, was originally from Pharsalos. The surrounding mountainous regions, however, were suitable for agriculture. Thessaly was home to extensive Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures around 6000 BC–2500 BC, Mycenaean settlements have also been discovered in Thessaly unearthing, at the Kastron of Palaia Hill, in Volos, tablets bearing Mycenaean Greek inscriptions, written in Linear B. In mythology, Thessaly was homeland of the heroes Achilles and Jason, as well of mythological creatures and peoples, Centaurs, Lapiths, Ancient tribes in Thessaly mentioned by Homer or other poets were, Aeolians, Magnetes, Perrhaebi and Pelasgians. The Thessalians were a Thesprotian tribe, and originally came from the Thesprotian Ephyra, like Laconica, the population of Thessaly therefore consisted of three distinct classes, The Penestae, whose condition was nearly the same as that of the Helots. The subject people, who inhabited the districts not occupied by the Thessalian invaders and they paid tribute, as stated above, but were personally free, though they had no share in the government. They corresponded to the Perioeci of Laconica, by which name they are called by Xenophon, the Thessalian conquerors, who alone had any share in the public administration, and whose lands were cultivated by the Penestae. Each district may have regulated its affairs by some kind of provincial council, when occasion required, a chief magistrate was elected under the name of tagus, whose commands were obeyed by all four districts. He is sometimes called king, and sometimes archon He levied soldiers from the states in each district, when Thessaly was not united under the government of a tagus, the subject towns possessed more independence. In later times, some states called their ordinary magistrates tagoi, however, Thessaly was hardly ever united under one government
2.
Aeolic Greek
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In linguistics, Aeolic Greek is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia, Thessaly, in the Aegean island of Lesbos, and the Greek colonies of Asia Minor. The Aeolic dialect shows many archaisms in comparison to the other Ancient Greek dialects, Aeolic Greek is widely known as the language of Sappho and of Alcaeus of Mytilene. Aeolic poetry, which is exemplified in the works of Sappho, mostly uses four classical meters known as the Aeolics, Glyconic, hendecasyllabic verse, Sapphic stanza, by contrast, PIE *kʷ changed to Attic/Ionic, Arcadocypriot, and Doric t before e and i. PIE *kʷetwores → Lesbian písures, Boeotian péttares ~ Attic téttares, Ionic tésseres, Doric tétores four Similarly PIE/PGk *gʷ always became b, labiovelars were treated the same way in the P-Celtic languages and the Sabellic languages. A Proto-Greek consonant cluster with h and a sonorant changed to a sonorant in Aeolic by assimilation. In Attic/Ionic and Doric, the h assimilated to the vowel before the consonant cluster, PIE VsR or VRs → Attic/Ionic-Doric VVR. PIE *h₁ésmi → Proto-Greek *ehmi → Aeolic emmi ~ Attic/Ionic ēmi I am Lesbian Aeolic lost in initial h- from Proto-Indo-European s- or y-, by contrast, Ionic sometimes retains it, and Attic always retains it. PIE wekʷ-es- → Boeotian, Doric wépos ~ Attic-Ionic épos word, epic In Aeolic and Doric, by contrast, in Attic, long ā changes to long ē in most cases, in Ionic, it changes everywhere. PIE *meh₂ter- → Aeolic, Doric mātēr ~ Attic/Ionic mētēr mother In Boeotian, Attic/Ionic potamós ~ Lesbian pótamos river Contracted or vowel-stem verbs that are thematic in Attic/Ionic are often athematic in Aeolic. Ionic philéō, Attic philô ~ Aeolic phílēmi I love The same is found in Irish. Aeolic athematic infinitive active ends in -men or -menai, Lesbian émmen, émmenai, Thessalian, Boeotian eîmen ~ Attic/Ionic eînai to be In the Lesbian dialect this ending also extends to the thematic conjugation, where Attic/Ionic has -ein. All three of these Aeolic endings occur in Homer, homeric agémen Proto-Greek -ans and -ons → -ais and -ois. The participle has ois and ais for Attic ōs, ās. bastraches βλεερεῖ bleerei Cf. eleairei γάδου gadou Δεύς Deus instead of Zeus, attested also in Laconian and Rhodian. ἐμπυρία empyria divination ζεκελτίδες zekeltides gourds Amerias zakeltides ἴδηφιν idephin sweet-voiced, ἰστάκη istake scythe ἰυγοδρομεῖν iugodromein ἰώ iō and hiōn Καραιός Karaios Boeotian epithet for Zeus meaning tall, head. κῦῤῥος kyrrhos or kyrros sir, master Μακετοὺν Maketoun Macedonian man (Thessalian -ουν-oun suffix for Attic ων ōn in both nominative and genitive of participles, pronouns and nouns
3.
Administrative regions of Greece
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The administrative regions of Greece are the countrys thirteen first-level administrative entities, each comprising several second-level units, originally prefectures and, since 2011, regional units. The current regions were established in July 1986, by decision of then-Interior Minister Menios Koutsogiorgas as a second-level administrative entities, as part of a decentralization process inspired by then-Interior Minister Alekos Papadopoulos, they were accorded more powers in the 1997 Kapodistrias reform of local and regional government. They were transformed into separate entities by the 2010 Kallikratis Plan. In the 2011 changes, the general secretary was replaced with a popularly elected regional governor. Many powers of the prefectures, which were abolished or reformed into regional units, were transferred to the region level. The regional organs of the government were in turn replaced by seven decentralized administrations. Bordering the region of Central Macedonia there is one region, Mount Athos. It is located on the easternmost of the three large peninsulas jutting into the Aegean from the Chalcidice Peninsula, ISO 3166-2, GR Administrative divisions of Greece
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
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
6.
Larissa
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Larissa is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region, the fifth most populous in Greece and capital of the Larissa regional unit. It is an agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos. Larissa, within its municipality, has 162,591 inhabitants, legend has it that Achilles was born here, and that Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, died here. Today, Larissa is a commercial and industrial centre in Greece. The region is linked to the rest of Europe through the International Airport of Central Greece located in Nea Anchialos a short distance from Larissa. Larissa lies on the river Pineios, the municipality Larissa has an area of 335.98 km2, the municipal unit Larissa has an area of 122.586 km2, and the community Larissa has an area of 88.167 km2. The Larissa Chasma, a gash in the surface of Dione. The climate of Larissa is transitional, the winter is cold and wet, and some snowstorms may occur. The summer is hot, and temperatures of 40 °C may occur, thunderstorms or heavy rain may cause agricultural damage. Larissa receives 450 mm of rain per year, according to Greek mythology it is said that the city was founded by Acrisius, who was killed accidentally by his grandson, Perseus. There lived Peleus, the hero beloved by the gods, in mythology, the nymph Larissa was a daughter of the primordial man Pelasgus. In this paragraph, Homer shows that the Pelasgians, Trojan allies and it is likely that this city of Larissa was different to the city that was the birthplace of Achilles. The Larissa that features as a Trojan ally in the Iliad was likely to be located in the Troad, traces of Paleolithic human settlement have been recovered from the area, but it was peripheral to areas of advanced culture. The area around Larissa was extremely fruitful, it was agriculturally important, the name Larissa is in origin a Pelasgian word for fortress. There were many ancient Greek cities with this name, the name of Thessalian Larissa is first recorded in connection with the aristocratic Aleuadai family. Larissa is thought to be where the famous Greek physician Hippocrates, when Larissa ceased minting the federal coins it shared with other Thessalian towns and adopted its own coinage in the late 5th century BC, it chose local types for its coins. The obverse depicted the nymph of the spring, Larissa, for whom the town was named. The reverse depicted a horse in various poses, the horse was an appropriate symbol of Thessaly, a land of plains, which was well known for its horses
7.
Karditsa (regional unit)
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Karditsa is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Thessaly and its name is derived from its capital Karditsa, a small city of approximately 40,000 people. Karditsa borders the regional units of Trikala to the north, Larissa to the east, Phthiotis to the southeast, Evrytania to the south, Aetolia-Acarnania to the southwest and Arta to the west. The main rivers are Megdovas in the south, the Pineios in the north, the Plastiras Dam and Lake Plastiras, located to the west of the city of Karditsa, supply water to the plains and the central part of Greece. Located in south-western Thessaly, it is primarily an agricultural area, farmlands dominate the central and the eastern part, which belongs to the Thessalian Plain. The western and southern part of the unit is mountainous. The Agrafa region, straddling the border with Evrytania, is known for its resistance against Ottoman rule. The regional unit Karditsa is subdivided into 6 municipalities and these are, Argithea Karditsa Lake Plastiras Mouzaki Palamas Sofades Karditsa was created as a prefecture in 1899, and again in 1947. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Karditsa was created out of the former prefecture Karditsa, the prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below and its economy and agriculture boomed during that period, Karditsa was administered as the Trikala–Karditsa prefecture until 1947. It was affected by World War II and the Greek Civil War which saw many buildings destroyed and inhabitants left homeless, the prefecture was later rebuilt and received electricity, appliances and motorised transport, while emigration also began in the 1950s, when construction of Lake Plastiras was added. Television arrived in the 1970s and the 1980s for its villages, the population was 121,775 in 2001. The Public Market of Karditsa is one of UNESCOs protected cultural monuments, There is also a Police Academy. Anagennisi Karditsa - Karditsa - second division A. O, Karditsa - Karditsa - fourth division Iraklis Sofades - Sofades Tavropos - Karditsa - fourth division There are a number of highways E75 and the main railway from Volos to Meteora crosses Thessaly. The region is linked to the rest of Europe through International Airport of Central Greece located in Nea Anchialos in a small distance from Karditsa. Greek National Road 30, NW, Cen
8.
Larissa (regional unit)
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Larissa is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Thessaly and its capital is the city of Larissa. Larissa is the second largest regional unit in Greece, exceeded only by Aetolia-Acarnania and it covers about one-third of Thessaly. The tallest mountain in Greece, Mount Olympus is situated in the part of the regional unit. Mount Ossa is situated in the east, at the Aegean coast, the lower stretch of the river Pineios flows through the Vale of Tempe, between Olympus and Ossa. The northern part is covered forests, but most of the regional unit is fertile land. Larissa has a mainly Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild winters, winter is harsher in the mountains areas, notably the north and Mount Olympus. Larissa is often the warmest area in Greece in summer and the coldest in winter, the highest temperature ever recorded was 45.4 °C and the coldest was -21.6 °C. Τhe city experiences very often temperatures over 40 °C, the regional unit Larissa is subdivided into 7 municipalities. These are, Agia Elassona Farsala Kileler Larissa Tempi Tyrnavos Larissa was created as a prefecture in 1882, as a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Larissa was created out of the former prefecture Larissa. The prefecture had the territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below, Province of Larissa Province of Tyrnavos Province of Agia Province of Elassona Province of Farsala Note, Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece, they were abolished in 2006. The area of Larissa was home to the Pelasgians until they merged into the broeader Greek culture, the area was invaded and was ruled by the Kingdom of Macedonia a few centuries later, and was conquered by the Roman Republic after the Third Macedonian War. The Roman imperial period was followed by Byzantine rule, which was in turn succeeded by the Ottoman Empire, parts of Thessaly revolted during the Greek War of Independence, but Thessaly remained under Ottoman Turkish rule. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, the area was invaded by the Ottomans. The northern portions of the prefecture, the Tempe Valley and Mount Olympus, were taken by Greece during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913, the economy increased since the annexation in 1881 and later after 1913 for the north. After the Greco-Turkish War in Asia Minor of 1920-1922, refugees were relocated to the Prefecture, several villages were created for them across the prefecture. During World War II, the area was a scene of partisan activity
9.
Magnesia (regional unit)
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Magnesia, deriving from the tribe name Magnetes, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Thessaly and its capital is the city of Volos. About 70% of the population of Magnesia live in the Greater Volos area, which is the second-largest city in Thessaly, according to the most recent census, the population stands at 190,010. The regional unit hosts 2,000,000 tourists annually, Magnesia is represented in the Greek Parliament by five seats. Its main agricultural products are wheat, cotton, tomatoes, grapes, olives, apples, a prominent geographic feature of Magnesia is the Pagasetic Gulf, a bay of the Aegean Sea. The Pelion mountain range closes off the Gulf on the east and south side, the highest peak of the wooded Pelion is Pourianos Stavros or Xeforti. On the south edge of Magnesia peninsula Tisaio mountain is found, mt. Maurovouni is the northeasternmost mountain of the regional unit and extends to the neighboring regional unit of Larissa. The southwest border of Magnesia is formed by the Othrys, with its highest peak Gerakovouni, the interior of Magnesia has two plains. The plains southwest of the Pagasetic Gulf arecalled Almyros plains, while the plains northwest of the Gulf are called the Volos-Velestino plain, the hydrological network of Magnesia is not particularly rich and is characterized by the absence of big rivers. The waters coming from Pelion shape the rivers Anavros, Platanorema, in the North section of Magnesia, Lake Karla was formerly found. Lake Karla was drained in 1962, but attempts have been made for its partial restoration, on the bight of Sourpi, next to Amaliapolis a coastal wetland is located, with various species of migratory birds. This wetland together with the forest of Kouri - an infrequent lowland of Oak tree forest close to Almyros - is included in the list of the regions of the European Network Natura 2000. The average temperature is 17 degrees Celsius and the rainfall about 540 millimetres per year. Heat waves and intense cold periods are rare, during the summer the temperature rises up to about 37 to 38 °C in August. The climate varies in different parts of the prefecture, close to the Pagasetic Gulf conditions are humid, in Nea Ionia it is dry and in Velestino. In winter there is significant snowfall in the mountains and often freezing temperatures, the regional unit Magnesia is subdivided into 5 municipalities. These are, Almyros Rigas Feraios South Pelion Volos Zagora-Mouresi Magnesia was created as a prefecture, in addition to the territory of the present regional unit of Magnesia, the Magnesia Prefecture included the Northern Sporades group of islands. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the prefecture was split into the Magnesia, at the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below
10.
Trikala (regional unit)
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Trikala is one of the regional units of Greece, forming the northwestern part of the region of Thessaly. Its capital is the town of Trikala, the regional unit includes the town of Kalampaka and the Meteora monastery complex. Trikala borders the regional units of Karditsa to the south, Arta to the southwest, Ioannina to the west, Grevena to the north, the southeastern part belongs to the Thessalian Plain. The forested Pindus mountain range dominates the western part, the northern part of Trikala is also mountainous and made up of forests and barren lands, the ranges here are Chasia and Antichasia. Its major river is the Pineios, flowing to the south and its climate is mainly of Mediterranean character, with hot summers and cold winters, along with temperate climate conditions by the mountains. The regional unit Trikala is subdivided into 4 municipalities and these are, Farkadona Kalampaka Pyli Trikala Trikala was created as a prefecture in 1882. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Trikala was created out of the former prefecture Trikala, the prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below, Trikala prefecture had two provinces, named Trikala and Kalampaka, after the two largest towns. Province of Trikala Province of Kalampaka Note, Provinces no longer any legal status in Greece. The area of Trikala was relatively obscure in ancient Thessaly, as well as during the periods of Macedonian, Romans, under the Ottomans, Trikala was known as Tırhala and became the seat of the Sanjak of Tirhala, encompassing most of Thessaly, until the late 18th century. Despite a number of rebellions against Ottoman rule, the area remained under Ottoman control until joined with the independent Kingdom of Greece in 1881, upon annexation by Greece, Trikala became the seat of one of the two prefectures in which Thessaly was divided. The area was occupied by the Ottomans again during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. In 1947, the part was split off as Karditsa Prefecture. The agriculture of the area is famous, and produces a part of the production also in export. Its well-known production includes fruit and vegetables, cotton, olives, cattle, the region is directly linked to the rest of Europe through International Airport of Central Greece located in Nea Anchialos in a small distance from Trikala. Greek National Road 6, NW, N, Cen
11.
Sporades
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The Sporades are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea, in the Aegean Sea. They consists of 24 islands, four of which are permanently inhabited and they may also be referred to as the Thessalian Sporades. Sporades means those scattered, and was used from Classical Antiquity to refer to the Aegean island groups outside the archipelago of the Cyclades. In modern geographical parlance, there are five different Sporades groups, as a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Sporades was created out of part of the former Magnesia Prefecture, region of Thessaly. The regional unit is subdivided into 3 municipalities and these are, Skiathos Skopelos Alonnisos The island of Skyros with a few uninhabited islets of its area is part of the regional unit of Euboea and the administrative region of Central Greece. Skyros – Britannica Concise, Britannica Concise,2006, webpage, Skiathos Villas Sporades The Official website of the Greek National Tourism Organisation Skopelosweb. gr Since 1999 Alonnisos. net VivaSporades. com Love skiathos
12.
New Democracy (Greece)
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The New Democracy, also referred to as ND by its initials, is a liberal-conservative political party in Greece. In modern Greek politics, New Democracy has been the main political party. The party was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and in the year it formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic. New Democracy is a member of the European Peoples Party, the Centrist Democrat International, New Democracy was founded on 4 October 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis, in the beginning of the metapolitefsi era following the fall of the Greek military junta. He intended New Democracy to be a modern and progressive political party than the right-wing parties that ruled Greece before the 1967 Greek coup détat. The next major issue for the New Democracy cabinet was the creation of the Constitution of Greece, in the 1977 election, New Democracy won again a large parliamentary majority of 171 seats, albeit with a reduced percentage of popular vote. Under Karamanlis, Greece redefined its relations with NATO and tried to resolve the Cyprus dispute following the Turkish invasion of the island and it was the first conference of any Greek political party whose delegates were elected by the members. Meanwhile, Karamanlis relinquished the premiership in 1980 and was elected as President of Greece by the parliament, georgios Rallis was elected as the new leader of New Democracy and succeeded Karamanlis in premiership. 87% share of the vote and 115 seats. In the same day, on 18 October 1981, New Democracy was also defeated in the first Greek election to the European Parliament, in the subsequent elections of November 1989, New Democracy took one more comfortable win, increasing its share to 46. Eventually, in the 1990 election Mitsotakis New Democracy defeated once again Papandreous PASOK with a lead of 8. 28%, in foreign policy, the priorities were the restoration of confidence among Greeces economic and political partners, NATO and the United States. In the 1993 elections, New Democracy suffered a defeat with 39. 30% of the vote, something that led to Mitsotakis resignation. In the early 1996 legislative election, New Democracy was defeated again by Costas Simitis PASOK registering 38. 12%, however, in the spring of 1997 a new conference took place, in order to elect a new president among others. Kostas Karamanlis, nephew of the founder, was elected the sixth president of New Democracy. The regions that consistently support New Democracy include the Peloponnese, Central Macedonia, on the other hand, the party is weak in Crete, the Aegean Islands, Attica and West Greece. On 16 September 2007, Kostas Karamanlis won re-election with a majority in Parliament. You have spoken loud and clear and chosen the course the country will take in the few years. On 2 September 2009 Karamanlis announced his intention to call an election, the parliament was dissolved on 9 September, and the 2009 legislative election was held on 4 October. New Democracys share of the vote dropped to 33. 47% and they won only 91 of 300 seats
13.
Eastern European Time
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Eastern European Time is one of the names of UTC+02,00 time zone,2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The zone uses daylight saving time, so that it uses UTC+03,00 during the summer, a number of African countries use UTC+02,00 all year long, where it is called Central Africa Time, although Egypt and Libya also use the term Eastern European Time. The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time all year round, Egypt, since 21 April 2015, used EEST from 1988–2010, Kaliningrad Oblast, since 26 October 2014, also used EET in years 1945 and 1991–2011. Libya, since 27 October 2013, switched from Central European Time, used year-round EET from 1980–1981, 1990–1996 and 1998–2012. Belarus, in years 1922–30 and 1990–2011 In Poland this time was used in years 1918–22, in time of World War II, Germany implemented MET in east occupied territories. Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol used EET as part of Ukraine in years 1991-94 and 1996-2014 Turkey, used EET in years 1910-1978, now uses year round DST timezone called Further-eastern European Time or Turkey Time. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus also uses FET, sometimes, due to its use on Microsoft Windows, FLE Standard Time or GTB Standard Time are used to refer to Eastern European Time. Since political, in addition to geographical, criteria are used in the drawing of time zones. The EET time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, the easternmost part of the Republic of Macedonia, including the city of Strumica. The absolutely easternmost part of Serbia, in the Pirot District, the easternmost town in Norway, Vardø, lies at 30°51 E, which is located east of even of the central meridian of UTC+2, i. e. east of Istanbul and Alexandria. The Norwegian-Russian border is the place where CET borders Moscow time. There is a point at the Norway-Finland-Russia tripoint, near the town of Rayakoski. Belarus is located between 23°11′E and 32°47′E and is fully located with the physical UTC+2 area, but it uses UTC+3 year around. This also includes the city of Anapa, at the westernmost tip of the Krasnodar Krai near the entrance to the Sea of Azov, the Norway–Russia–Finland tri-zone point at Muotkavaara is surrounded by three different times in winter, two in summer. It had three time zones year-around before 2014, two of the four tripoints of Belarus and the tripoint of the Kaliningrad Region are surrounded by three different times in winter
14.
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
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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
16.
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
17.
Greek Dark Ages
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Around then, the Hittite civilization suffered serious disruption and cities from Troy to Gaza were destroyed. Following the collapse, fewer and smaller settlements suggest famine and depopulation, in Greece, the Linear B writing of the Greek language used by Mycenaean bureaucrats ceased. The decoration on Greek pottery after about 1100 BC lacks the figurative decoration of Mycenaean ware and is restricted to simpler,900 BC onwards, and evidence has emerged of the new presence of Hellenes in sub-Mycenaean Cyprus and on the Syrian coast at Al Mina. The Mycenaean civilization started to collapse from 1200 BC, made a conspiracy in their islands. All at once the lands were on the move, scattered in war, no country could stand before their arms…. Their league was Peleset, Tjeker, Shekelesh, Denyen and Weshesh, a similar assemblage of peoples may have attempted to invade Egypt twice, once during the reign of Merneptah, about 1208 BC, and again during the reign of Ramesses III, about 1178 BC. Writing in the Linear B script ceased particularly because the economy had crashed. The population of Greece was reduced, and the world of organized state armies, kings, officials, most of the information about the period comes from burial sites and the grave goods contained within them. The fragmented, localized and autonomous cultures of reduced complexity are noted for such diversity of their cultures in pottery styles, burial practices. The pottery style, Proto- Geometric signaled the loss of previous designs that were more complex and these newer designs were simpler, including only lines and curves, signaling a simplified society. Generalizations about the Dark Age Society are generally considered false, because the various cultures throughout Greece cannot be grouped into a large Dark Age Society category. Tholos tombs are found in early Iron Age Thessaly and in Crete but not in general elsewhere, there was still farming, weaving, metalworking and pottery but at a lower level of output and for local use in local styles. Better glazes were achieved by higher temperature firing of clay, however, the overall trend was toward simpler, less intricate pieces and fewer resources being devoted to the creation of beautiful art. From 1050, many local iron industries appeared, and by 900. Cyprus was inhabited by a mix of Pelasgians and Phoenicians, joined during this period by the first Greek settlements. Together with distinctively Greek Euboean ceramic wares, it was exported and is found in Levantine sites, including Tyre. Cypriot metalwork was exchanged in Crete and it is likely that Greece during this period was divided into independent regions organized by kinship groups and the oikoi or households, the origins of the later poleis. Excavations of Dark Age communities such as Nichoria in the Peloponnese have shown how a Bronze Age town was abandoned in 1150 BC, at this time there were only around forty families living there with plenty of good farming land and grazing for cattle
18.
Homer
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Homer is the name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the semi-legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of Greek literature. The Odyssey focuses on the home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Many accounts of Homers life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a bard from Ionia. The modern scholarly consensus is that these traditions do not have any historical value, the Homeric question - by whom, when, where and under what circumstances were the Iliad and Odyssey composed - continues to be debated. Broadly speaking, modern scholarly opinion on the authorship question falls into two camps, one group holds that most of the Iliad and the Odyssey is the work of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the crystallization of a process of working and re-working by many contributors and it is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century B. C. Most researchers believe that the poems were transmitted orally. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education, to Plato, the chronological period of Homer depends on the meaning to be assigned to the word Homer. Was Homer a single person, an imaginary person representing a group of poets and this information is often called the world of Homer. The Homeric period would in that cover a number of historical periods, especially the Mycenaean Age. Considered word-for-word, the texts as we know them are the product of the scholars of the last three centuries. Each edition of the Iliad or Odyssey is a different, as the editors rely on different manuscripts and fragments. The term accuracy reveals a belief in an original uniform text. The manuscripts of the work currently available date to no earlier than the 10th century. These are at the end of a missing thousand-year chain of copies made as each generation of manuscripts disintegrated or were lost or destroyed and these numerous manuscripts are so similar that a single original can be postulated. The time gap in the chain is bridged by the scholia, or notes, on the existing manuscripts, librarian of the Library of Alexandria, he had noticed a wide divergence in the works attributed to Homer, and was trying to restore a more authentic copy. He had collected several manuscripts, which he named, the Sinopic, the one he selected for correction was the koine, which Murray translates as the Vulgate. Aristarchus was known for his selection of material
19.
Odyssey
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The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the Odyssey is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad is the oldest. Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of suitors, the Mnesteres or Proci. The Odyssey continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into languages around the world. Many scholars believe the poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos, perhaps a rhapsode. The details of the ancient oral performance and the conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odyssey was written in a dialect of Greek—a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek. Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, in the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage. The Odyssey has a lost sequel, the Telegony, which was not written by Homer and it was usually attributed in antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta. In one source, the Telegony was said to have stolen from Musaeus by either Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene. The Odyssey begins ten years after the end of the ten-year Trojan War, and Odysseus has still not returned home from the war. Odysseus protectress, the goddess Athena, requests to Zeus, king of the gods, to finally allow Odysseus to return home when Odysseus enemy, then, disguised as a Taphian chieftain named Mentes, she visits Telemachus to urge him to search for news of his father. He offers her hospitality, they observe the suitors dining rowdily while the bard Phemius performs a poem for them. Penelope objects to Phemius theme, the Return from Troy, because it reminds her of her missing husband and that night Athena, disguised as Telemachus, finds a ship and crew for the true prince. The next morning, Telemachus calls an assembly of citizens of Ithaca to discuss what should be done with the suitors. Accompanied by Athena, he departs for the Greek mainland and the household of Nestor, most venerable of the Greek warriors at Troy, now at home in Pylos
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History of modern Greece
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The establishment of Catholic Latin states on Greek soil, and the struggles of the Orthodox Byzantine Greeks against them, led to the emergence of a distinct Greek national identity. Ottoman control was largely absent in the interior of Greece. Rhodes fell in 1522, Cyprus in 1571, and the Venetians retained Crete until 1670, the Ionian Islands were only briefly ruled by the Ottomans, and remained primarily under the rule of Venice. The first large-scale insurrection against Ottoman rule was the Orlov Revolt of the early 1770s, as a result, especially in the aftermath of the French Revolution, liberal and nationalist ideas began to spread across the Greek lands. In 1821, the Greeks rose up against the Ottoman Empire, Greece was initially to be an autonomous state under Ottoman suzerainty, but by 1832, in the Treaty of Constantinople, it was recognized as a fully independent kingdom. In the meantime, the 3rd National Assembly of the Greek insurgents called upon Ioannis Kapodistrias, on his arrival, Kapodistrias launched a major reform and modernisation programme that covered all areas. Furthermore, he tried to undermine the authority of the clans that he considered the useless legacy of a bygone. The customs dues of the inhabitants of Hydra were the source of revenue for these municipalities. It appears that Kapodistrias had refused to convene the National Assembly and was ruling as a despot, the municipality of Hydra instructed Admiral Miaoulis and Alexandros Mavrokordatos to go to Poros and seize the Hellenic Navys fleet there. This Miaoulis did so with the intention of preventing a blockade of the islands, Kapodistrias called on the British and French residents to support him in putting down the rebellion, but this they refused to do. Nonetheless, an Admiral Rikord took his ships north to Poros, Colonel Kallergis took a half-trained force of Greek Army regulars and a force of irregulars in support. With less than 200 men, Miaoulis was unable to make much of a fight, Fort Heidek on Bourtzi Island was overrun by the regulars, encircled by the Russians in the harbor and Kallergis force on land, Poros surrendered. Miaoulis was forced to set charges in the flagship Hellas and the corvette Hydra to blow them up when he, Kallergis men were enraged by the loss of the ships and sacked Poros, carrying off plunder to Nauplion. The loss of the best ships in the fleet crippled the Hellenic Navy for many years and he did finally call the National Assembly, but his other actions triggered more opposition and that led to his downfall. In 1831, Kapodistrias ordered the imprisonment of Petrobey Mavromichalis, the Bey of the Mani Peninsula, Ioannis Kapodistrias was succeeded as Governor by his younger brother, Augustinos Kapodistrias. Augustinos ruled only for six months, during which the country was very much plunged into chaos, the protocol also dealt with the way in which a Regency was to be managed until Otto of Bavaria reached his majority to assume the throne of Greece. The Ottoman Empire was indemnified in the sum of 40,000,000 piastres for the loss of territory in the new kingdom. Ottos reign would prove troubled, but he managed to hang on for 30 years before he and his wife, Queen Amalia, left the way they came
21.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
22.
Kallikratis Plan
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The Kallikratis Programme is the common name of Greek law 3852/2010, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought upon the major reform of the countrys administrative divisions after the 1997 Kapodistrias reform. Named after ancient Greek architect Callicrates, the programme was presented by the socialist Papandreou cabinet and was adopted by the Hellenic Parliament in May 2010, the programmes implementation started with the November 2010 local elections and was completed by January 2011. With a median of just 4,661.5 inhabitants and this included 88 communities with a population of less than 1000, down to Gramos with just 28 inhabitants. Though strengthened by the 1990s reforms, the prefectural second-tier level however did not meet expectations, largely subverted by an uncoordinated but convergent anti-reform opposition, the reformed prefectures lost a number of important competences following court decisions. The numerous controversies largely undermined public trust in the prefectural level, in a late implementation of a provision that was already part of the Kapodistrias plan, the 147 provinces as subunits of the 51 prefectures, were however abolished in 2007. The thirteen regions were planned to be combined to just six major programmatic supra-regions that were expected to more successfully compete for European structural funding, putting administrative efficiency first, the top-down reform plan was criticized as subordinating questions of legitimacy and participation. Rather than being opposed by the opposition, the plan faced obstruction by the more conservative camp within the governing party. Following the landslide victory of the socialist PASOK in the early 2009 legislative election, the Kallikratis plan was presented to the public in January 2010, inmidst the beginnings of the Greek financial crisis. While in terms of figures rather similar to the failed New Democracy plans, it wasnt confined to reducing the number of administrative entities. At the same time, the programme aimed at reducing local government employees by 50%, amalgamation of communities led to a number of pre-2007 provinces being reinstated as municipalities. Altogether, Greek municipalities now reached a size of 31.000 inhabitants. To improve public transparency, local authorities are now obliged to make public all their decisions via the internet. Furthermore, a Local Ombudsman was established to both citizens and enterprises in coping with local administrations. New Financial Committees and Executive Committees were established to help professionalize financial accounting, in communities with more than 10.000 residents, a Committee for the quality of life and a Consultation Committee is established. Aimed at improving local allocation of resources, the Consultation Committee consists of representatives of local stakeholders such as businesses, trade unions, chambers. At the same time the programme abolished the 51 self-governing prefectures, the former prefectures competences were transferred to the 13 NUTS 2-level administrative regions. Originally introduced in 1987, the regions had been strengthened in 1993 as intermediate administrative units for regional planning, under the Kallikratis Programme, these regions became self-governing, separate entities with a regional council and a regional governor, both popularly elected
23.
Municipalities of Greece
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The municipalities of Greece are the lowest level of government within the organizational structure of that country. Since the 2011 Kallikratis reform, there are 325 municipalities, thirteen regions form the largest unit of government beneath the State. Within these regions are 74 second-level areas called regional units, regional units are then divided into municipalities. The new municipalities can be subdivided into units, which are subdivided into municipal communities or local communities. Leadership of municipalities and communities is elected by universal and secret ballot, municipalities may voluntarily or be mandated by law to work together to provide certain services, but elected representatives from the participating groups govern these partnerships. The national Greek government supervises local government agencies, but is not to interfere in any local initiatives or actions, the State is required to provide funds necessary to fulfill the mandate of local government agencies. Communities are governed by a community made up of 7 to 11 members. A deputy chairperson from a communal quarter may also take part in meetings when specific issues of a communal interest are being discussed. A municipal council and town hall committee led by a mayor governs municipalities, depending on the size of the municipality, municipal councils are made up of anywhere from 11 to 41 council members representing municipal departments. In addition, the council elects 2 to 6 town hall committee members, in the case of mergers, local village or town councils may still exist to provide feedback and ideas to the larger governing body. Council members are elected via public election every four years on the basis of a party system. Three-fifths of all seats go to the party winning a plurality of the vote, the municipal council elects the town hall committee for a term of two years. Citizens have very few opportunities for direct participation in decision-making outside the elections held four years. Beyond national referendums that may be called for issues, citizens cannot request local referendums. The only other possibility for direct input by citizens is if the local municipality establishes district councils or if the community president calls an assembly to discuss issues of concern. The organization of these opportunities, however, is solely at the discretion of the community or municipal leadership. Ordinary revenue is derived from the State budget, property revenues, by law, the State funds first level governments on the basis of a fixed formula, 20% of legal persons’ income tax, 50% of traffic duties and 3% of property transfer duties. For smaller populated communities and municipalities, the State has also allocated additional revenue based on other expenses, local governments are required to direct any property or resource fees to related expenses
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Macedonia (Greece)
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Macedonia is a geographic and historical region of Greece in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region, dominated by mountains in the interior, Macedonia is part of Northern Greece, together with Thrace and sometimes Thessaly and Epirus. It incorporates most of the territories of ancient Macedon, a kingdom ruled by the Argeads whose most celebrated members were Alexander the Great, the name Macedonia was later applied to identify various administrative areas in the Roman/Byzantine Empire with widely differing borders. Even before the establishment of the modern Greek state in 1830, it was identified as a Greek province, by the mid 19th century, the name was becoming consolidated informally, defining more of a distinct geographical, rather than political, region in the southern Balkans. At the end of the Ottoman Empire most of the known as Rumelia was divided by the Treaty of Bucharest of 1913. Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria each took control of portions of the Macedonian region, with Greece obtaining the largest portion, Central Macedonia is the most popular tourist destination in Greece with more than 3.6 million tourists in 2009. Macedonia lies at the crossroads of human development between the Aegean and the Balkans, the earliest signs of human habitation date back to the palaeolithic period, notably with the Petralona cave in which was found the oldest European humanoid, Archanthropus europaeus petraloniensis. In the Late Neolithic period, trade took place from quite distant regions, one of the most important changes was the start of copper working. According to Herodotus, the history of Macedonia began with the Makednoi tribe, among the first to use the name, there they lived near Thracian tribes such as the Bryges who would later leave Macedonia for Asia Minor and become known as Phrygians. Macedonia was named after the Makednoi, accounts of other toponyms such as Emathia are attested to have been in use before that. Herodotus claims that a branch of the Macedonians invaded Southern Greece towards the end of the second millennium B. C, upon reaching the Peloponnese the invaders were renamed Dorians, triggering the accounts of the Dorian invasion. For centuries the Macedonian tribes were organized in independent kingdoms, in what is now Central Macedonia, the Macedonians claimed to be Dorian Greeks and there were many Ionians in the coastal regions. During the late 6th and early 5th century BC, the region came under Persian rule until the destruction of Xerxes at Plataea, many Macedonian cities were allied to the Spartans, but Athens maintained the colony of Amphipolis under her control for many years. The kingdom of Macedon, was reorganised by Philip II and achieved the union of Greek states by forming the League of Corinth. After his assassination, his son Alexander succeeded to the throne of Macedon, for a brief period a Macedonian republic called the Koinon of the Macedonians was established. It was divided into four administrative districts and that period ended in 148 BC, when Macedonia was fully annexed by the Romans. The northern boundary at that time ended at Lake Ohrid and Bylazora, strabo, writing in the first century AD places the border of Macedonia on that part at Lychnidos, Byzantine Achris and presently Ochrid. Therefore ancient Macedonia did not significantly extend beyond its current borders, the Acts of the Apostles records a vision in which the apostle Paul is said to have seen a man of Macedonia pleading with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us
25.
Epirus (region)
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Epirus, formally the Epirus Region, is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region in northwestern Greece. It borders the regions of West Macedonia and Thessaly to the east, West Greece to the south, the region has an area of about 9,200 km2. It is part of the historical region of Epirus, which overlaps modern Albania and Greece. Greek Epirus, like the region as a whole, is rugged and it comprises the land of the ancient Molossians and Thesprotians and a small part of the land of the Chaonians the greater part being in Southern Albania. It is largely made up of ridges, part of the Dinaric Alps. The regions highest spot is on Mount Smolikas, at an altitude of 2.637 metres above sea level, in the east, the Pindus Mountains that form the spine of mainland Greece separate Epirus from Macedonia and Thessaly. Most of Epirus lies on the side of the Pindus. The winds from the Ionian Sea offer the more rainfall than any other part of Greece. The Vikos-Aoos and Pindus National Parks are situated in the Ioannina Prefecture of the region, both areas have imposing landscapes of dazzling beauty as well as a wide range of fauna and flora. The climate of Epirus is mainly alpine, the vegetation is made up mainly of coniferous species. The animal life is rich in this area and includes, among other species, bears, wolves, foxes, deer. Epirus is divided into four units, which are further subdivided into municipalities. The regional units are, Thesprotia, Ioannina, Arta and Preveza, in January 2011, according to the reform introduced by the Kallikratis Programme the prefectures were abolished and replaced by regional units. The former municipalities and communities were re-structured to form only 18 new municipalities, the regions governor is, since 1 January 2011, Alexandros Kachrimanis, who was elected in the November 2010 local administration elections for the New Democracy and Popular Orthodox Rally parties. Arta Igoumenitsa Ioannina Konitsa Metsovo Paramythia Parga Preveza Syvota Epirus has few resources, sheep and goat pastoralism have always been an important activity in the region but there seems to be a decline in recent years. Tobacco is grown around Ioannina, and there is some farming and fishing. Epirus is home to a number of the countrys most famous dairy products brands, another important area of the local economy is tourism, especially eco-tourism. The outstanding natural beauty of the area, as well as its picturesque villages, around 350,000 people live in Epirus
26.
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
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Aegean Sea
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The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the Greek and Anatolian peninsulas, i. e. between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles, the Aegean Islands are within the sea and some bound it on its southern periphery, including Crete and Rhodes. The sea was known as Archipelago, but in English this words meaning has changed to refer to the Aegean Islands and, generally. In ancient times, there were various explanations for the name Aegean, a possible etymology is a derivation from the Greek word αἶγες – aiges = waves, hence wavy sea, cf. also αἰγιαλός, hence meaning sea-shore. The Venetians, who ruled many Greek islands in the High and Late Middle Ages, popularized the name Archipelago, in some South Slavic languages the Aegean is often called White Sea. The Aegean Sea covers about 214,000 square kilometres in area, the seas maximum depth is 3,543 metres, east of Crete. The Aegean Islands are found within its waters, with the following islands delimiting the sea on the south, Kythera, Antikythera, Crete, Kasos, Karpathos, many of the Aegean Islands, or chains of islands, are actually extensions of the mountains on the mainland. One chain extends across the sea to Chios, another extends across Euboea to Samos, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Aegean Sea as follows, On the South. In the Dardanelles. A line joining Kum Kale and Cape Helles, the dense Mediterranean water sinks below the Black Sea inflow to a depth of 23–30 metres, then flows through the Dardanelles Strait and into the Sea of Marmara at velocities of 5–15 cm/s. The Black Sea outflow moves westward along the northern Aegean Sea, Aegean Sea Intermediate Water – Aegean Sea Intermediate Water extends from 40–50 m to 200–300 metres with temperatures ranging from 11–18 °C. Aegean Sea Bottom Water – occurring at depths below 500–1000 m with a uniform temperature. The current coastline dates back to about 4000 BC, before that time, at the peak of the last ice age sea levels everywhere were 130 metres lower, and there were large well-watered coastal plains instead of much of the northern Aegean. When they were first occupied, the islands including Milos with its important obsidian production were probably still connected to the mainland. The present coastal arrangement appeared c.7000 BC, with post-ice age sea levels continuing to rise for another 3,000 years after that, the subsequent Bronze Age civilizations of Greece and the Aegean Sea have given rise to the general term Aegean civilization. In ancient times, the sea was the birthplace of two ancient civilizations – the Minoans of Crete and the Mycenean Civilization of the Peloponnese, later arose the city-states of Athens and Sparta among many others that constituted the Athenian Empire and Hellenic Civilization. Plato described the Greeks living round the Aegean like frogs around a pond, the Aegean Sea was later invaded by the Persians and the Romans, and inhabited by the Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarians, the Venetians, the Genoese, the Seljuq Turks, and the Ottoman Empire. The Aegean was the site of the democracies, and its seaways were the means of contact among several diverse civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean. Many of the islands in the Aegean have safe harbours and bays, in ancient times, navigation through the sea was easier than travelling across the rough terrain of the Greek mainland
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Odysseus
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Odysseus, also known by the Latin name Ulysses, was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homers epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homers Iliad and other works in that same epic cycle. Husband of Penelope, father of Telemachus, and son of Laërtes and Anticlea, Odysseus is renowned for his brilliance, guile, and versatility and he is most famous for the Odyssey, ten eventful years he took to return home after the decade-long Trojan War. The name has several variants, in Greek the character was called Olysseus, Oulixeus, Oulixes, hence, there may originally have been two separate figures, one called something like Odysseus, the other something like Ulixes, who were combined into one complex personality. The etymology of the name is unknown, ancient authors linked the name to the Greek verbs odussomai to be wroth against, to hate, or to oduromai to lament, bewail. Homer in references and puns, relates it to various forms of this verb and it has also been suggested that the name is of non-Greek origin, probably not even Indo-European, with an unknown etymology, R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin. In Book 19 of the Odyssey, where Odysseuss early childhood is recounted, Euryclea tries to guide him to naming the boy Polyaretos, for he has much been prayed for. Autolycus apparently in a sardonic mood, decided to give the child a name that would commemorate his own experience in life. Because I got odium upon myself before coming here, let the childs name be Odysseus to signify this. The pun was prophetic as well as commemorative, Odysseus often receives the patronymic epithet Laertiades, son of Laërtes. In the Iliad and Odyssey there are several epithets used to describe Odysseus and his name and stories were adopted into Etruscan religion under the name Uthuze. Hence, Odysseus was the great-grandson of the Olympian god Hermes, according to the Iliad and Odyssey, his father is Laertes and his mother Anticlea, although there was a non-Homeric tradition that Sisyphus was his true father. The rumor went that Laertes bought Odysseus from the conniving king, Odysseus is said to have a younger sister, Ctimene, who went to Same to be married and is mentioned by the swineherd Eumaeus, whom she grew up alongside, in Book 15 of the Odyssey. Homers Iliad and Odyssey portray Odysseus as a hero, but the Romans. In Virgils Aeneid, written between 29 and 19 BC, he is referred to as cruel Odysseus or deceitful Odysseus. Turnus, in Aeneid ix, reproaches the Trojan Ascanius with images of rugged, forthright Latin virtues, declaring, You shall not find the sons of Atreus here, nor need the frauds of sly Ulysses fear. While the Greeks admired his cunning and deceit, these qualities did not recommend themselves to the Romans, who possessed a rigid sense of honour. His attempts to avoid his sacred oath to defend Menelaus and Helen offended Roman notions of duty, the majority of sources for Odysseus pre-war exploits—principally the mythographers Pseudo-Apollodorus and Hyginus—postdate Homer by many centuries
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Mount Oeta
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Mount Oeta is a mountain in Central Greece. A southeastern offshoot of the Pindus range, it is 2,152 m high, since 1966, the core area of the mountain is a national park, and much of the rest has been declared a protected area under Natura 2000. Mount Oeta is located on the boundaries of the prefectures of Phocis in the south, to the east, Oeta is defined by the gorge of the Asopos river, which forms its boundary with the neighbouring Mount Kallidromo. The southern slopes of Oeta are very gentle, bordering with the mountains Vardousia to the southwest, on its western slope, Oeta is separated from Mount Goulina by the valley of the river Vistriza, ancient Inachos. Three major rivers spring forth from the mountain, Gorgopotamos and Asopos from the east, the streams of the southern slope flow into the river Mornos. The mountains tallest peak, Pyrgos, has a height of 2,152 metres, while the second-tallest is that of Greveno at 2,117 metres. With an area of 7,000 hectares, of which 3,370 form the zone and 3,630 the periphery. Any human activity that impacts the environment in whatsoever way is forbidden within the national parks boundaries. The area of the park has furthermore been declared a Special Area of Conservation as part of the Natura 2000 Network. The Gorgopotamos Gorge has also declared a SAC, and together with the national park. Oeta also has two wildlife refuges, where hunting is forbidden, the Skasmeni Frantzi – Dyo Vouna area on the slopes. The national park and protected areas are overseen by the Management Body of Mt Oiti National Park, in Greek mythology, Oeta is chiefly celebrated as the scene of Heracles death, and Roman authors even gave the demi-god the epithet Oetaeus. Another version of the claims that Zeus threw a lightning bolt on the site of Heracles death. The temple complex remained in use until late Roman times, in historical times, the area of Oeta belonged to southern Thessaly, forming its southernmost district, that of Oetaea. A city called Oeta was also said to have founded by Amphissus, son of Apollo and Dryope. Further north, Hypate/Hypata, modern Ypati, was the city of the Aenianes. The women of Hypate were associated with witchcraft in Antiquity, the sorceresses Mycale and Agaonice, called the Pharmacidae, even in more recent times, the precipice of Anemotrypa near the town was said to be the haunt of the crone Lyousa Armagou. Hypate is still mentioned in the 6th century by the historian Procopius of Caesarea, who recorded repairs to its walls by Emperor Justinian I, and in the Synecdemus
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Mount Olympus
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Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece. It is located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, between the units of Pieria and Larissa, about 80 km southwest from Thessaloniki. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks, deep gorges, and exceptional biodiversity, the highest peak Mytikas, meaning nose, rises to 2,918 metres. It is one of the highest peaks in Europe in terms of topographic prominence, Olympus was notable in Greek mythology as the home of the Greek gods, on the Mytikas peak. Mount Olympus is also noted for its rich flora with several species. It has been a National Park, the first in Greece, since 1938 and it is also a Worlds Biosphere Reserve. Every year thousands of people visit Olympus to admire its fauna and flora, to tour its slopes, organized mountain refuges and various mountaineering and climbing routes are available to visitors who want to explore it. The usual starting point is the town of Litochoro, on the foothills of the mountain,100 km from Thessaloniki, where, in the beginning of every summer. The shape of Olympus was formed by rain and wind, which produced an isolated tower almost 3,000 metres above the sea, Olympus has many peaks and an almost circular shape. The mountain has a circumference of 150 kilometres, a diameter of 26 kilometres. To the northwest lies the Vlach village of Kokkinoplou, the Makryrema stream separates Olympus from the massif of Voulgara. The villages Petra, Vrontou and Dion lie to the northwest, while on the side there is the town of Litochoro. On its southeastern side, the Ziliana gorge divides Mount Olympus from Kato Olympos, while on its foothills, there are the villages Sykaminea. The Aghias Triadas Sparmou Monastery and the village Pythion lie to the west, Olympus dry foothills are known as the Xirokampi, containing chaparral and small animals. Further east, the plain of Dion is fertile and watered by the streams originate on Olympus. Mount Olympus is formed of rock laid down 200 million years ago in a shallow sea. Various geological events that caused the emergence of the whole region. Around one million years ago glaciers covered Olympus and created its plateaus, the complicated geological past of the region is obvious on the morphology of Olympus and its National Park
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Titanomachy
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In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy was a ten-year series of battles fought in Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans fighting against the Olympians and their allies. This event is known as the War of the Titans, Battle of the Titans, Battle of the Gods. The war was fought to decide which generation of gods would have domain over the Universe, greeks of the Classical Age knew of several poems about the war between the gods and many of the Titans. The dominant one, and the one that has survived, is the Theogony attributed to Hesiod. A lost epic, Titanomachia, attributed to the blind Thracian bard Thamyris, the Titans also played a prominent role in the poems attributed to Orpheus. Although only scraps of the Orphic narratives survive, they show interesting differences from the Hesiodic tradition, the stage for this important battle was set after the youngest Titan, Cronus, overthrew his own father, Uranus, with the help of his mother, Gaia. Uranus drew the enmity of Gaia when he imprisoned her children the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes in Tartarus, Gaia created a great sickle and gathered together Cronus and his brothers to convince them to castrate Uranus. Only Cronus was willing to do the deed, so Gaia gave him the sickle, when Uranus met with Gaia, Cronus attacked Uranus, and, with the sickle, cut off his genitals, casting them into the sea. In doing so, he became the King of the Titans, but Uranus made a prophecy that Cronuss own children would rebel against his rule, just as Cronus had rebelled against his own father. Uranus blood that had spilled upon the earth, gave rise to the Gigantes, Erinyes, from his semen or blood of his cut genitalia, Aphrodite arose from the sea. Cronus took his fathers throne after dispatching Uranus and he then secured his power by re-imprisoning his siblings the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes in Tartarus. Cronus, paranoid and fearing the end of his rule, now turned into the king his father Uranus had been. Rhea, however, managed to hide her youngest child Zeus, Rhea brought Zeus to a cave in Crete, where he was raised by Amalthea. Upon reaching adulthood, he masqueraded as Cronus cupbearer, once Zeus had been established as a servant of Cronus, Metis gave him a mixture of mustard and wine which would cause Cronus to vomit up his swallowed children. After freeing his siblings, Zeus led them in rebellion against the Titans, Zeus then waged a war against his father with his disgorged brothers and sisters as allies, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Zeus released the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes from the earth and they allied with him as well, the Hecatonchires hurled stones, and the Cyclopes forged for Zeus his iconic thunder and lightning. Fighting on the other side allied with Cronus were the other Titans with the important exception of Themis, Atlas was an important leader on the side of Cronus. The war lasted ten years, but eventually Zeus and the other Olympians won, the Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus, Atlas was given the special punishment of holding up the sky
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Titan (mythology)
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In Greek mythology, the Titans and Titanesses were members of the second generation of divine beings, descending from the primordial deities and preceding the Olympian deities. Based on Mount Othrys, the Titans most famously included the first twelve children of the primordial Gaia and they were giant deities of incredible strength, who ruled during the legendary Golden Age, and also comprised the first pantheon of Greek deities. The first twelve Titans comprised the females Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea, and Themis and the males Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus, Crius, like Cronus overthrowing his father Uranus, the Titans were overthrown by Cronus children, in the Titanomachy. The Greeks may have borrowed this mytheme from the Ancient Near East, Greeks of the classical age knew of several poems about the war between the Olympians and Titans. The dominant one, and the one that has survived, was in the Theogony attributed to Hesiod. A lost epic, Titanomachia was mentioned in passing in an essay On Music that was attributed to Plutarch. The Titans also played a prominent role in the poems attributed to Orpheus, although only scraps of the Orphic narratives survive, they show interesting differences with the Hesiodic tradition. Sometimes the elders are supplanted, and sometimes the rebels lose and are either cast out of power entirely or incorporated into the pantheon, the Titanomachy lasted for ten years. The Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus after the war had ended, Tartarus is the deepest spot known in the Underworld, where the most evil beings would be cast into to be tortured for all eternity. Hesiod does not have the last word on the Titans, surviving fragments of poetry ascribed to Orpheus preserve some variations on the myth. In such text, Zeus does not simply set upon his father violently, instead, Rhea spreads out a banquet for Cronus so that he becomes drunk upon fermented honey. Rather than being consigned to Tartarus, Cronus is dragged—still drunk—to the cave of Nyx, another myth concerning the Titans that is not in Hesiod revolves around Dionysus. At some point in his reign, Zeus decides to give up the throne in favor of the infant Dionysus, who like the infant Zeus, is guarded by the Kouretes. The Titans decide to slay the child and claim the throne for themselves, they paint their faces white with gypsum, distract Dionysus with toys, then him and boil. Zeus, enraged, slays the Titans with his thunderbolt, Athena preserves the heart in a gypsum doll and this story is told by the poets Callimachus and Nonnus, who call this Dionysus Zagreus, and in a number of Orphic texts, which do not. Pindar, Plato, and Oppian refer offhandedly to the Titanic nature of humans, according to them, the body is the titanic part, while soul is the divine part of humans. Other early writers imply that humanity was born out of the malevolent blood shed by the Titans in their war against Zeus, Martin Litchfield West also asserts this in relation to shamanistic initiatory rites of early Greek religious practices. Beekes connects the word with τιτώ, burket, Walter, The Orientalizing Revolution, Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age, Harvard University Press,1995
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Twelve Olympians
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Hades and Persephone were sometimes included as part of the twelve Olympians, although in general Hades was excluded, because he resided permanently in the underworld and never visited Olympus. The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon, were the deities of the Greek pantheon. The Olympians gained their supremacy in a war of gods in which Zeus led his siblings to victory over their predecessor gods. The concept of the Twelve Gods is older than any extant Greek or Roman source, the gods meet in council in the Homeric epics, but the first ancient reference to religious ceremonies for the Olympians collectively is found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. The Greek cult of the Twelve Olympians can be traced to 6th-century BC Athens, the Altar of the Twelve Gods at Athens is usually dated to the archonship of the younger Pesistratos, in 522/521 BC. In ancient Greek religion, the Olympian Gods and the Cults of Twelve Gods were often relatively distinct concepts, while the number was fixed at twelve, there was considerable variation as to which deities were included. However, the twelve as most commonly portrayed in art and poetry were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes and either Hestia, or Dionysus. Hades, known in the Eleusinian tradition as Pluto, was not usually included among the Olympians because his realm was the underworld. Plato connected the Twelve Olympians with the months, and implies that he considered Pluto one of the twelve in proposing that the final month be devoted to him. In Phaedrus, Plato seems to exclude Hestia from the rank of the great gods. At Olympia there were six altars dedicated to six pairs of gods, Zeus and Poseidon, Hera and Athena, Hermes and Apollo, the Charites and Dionysus, Artemis and Alpheus, the historian Herodotus states that Heracles was included as one of the Twelve by some. At Kos, Heracles and Dionysus are added to the Twelve, for Pindar, the Bibliotheca, and Herodorus of Heraclea, Heracles is not one of the Twelve Gods, but the one who established their cult. Lucian includes Heracles and Asclepius as members of the Twelve, without explaining which two had to give way for them, hebe, Helios, Selene, Eos, Eros and Persephone are other important gods and goddesses who are sometimes included in a group of twelve. Eros is often depicted alongside the twelve, especially his mother Aphrodite. Notes ^ Romans also associated Phoebus with Helios and the sun itself, however, ^ According to an alternate version of her birth, Aphrodite was born of Uranus, Zeus grandfather, after Cronus threw his castrated genitals into the sea. This supports the etymology of her name, foam-born, as such, Aphrodite would belong to the same generation as Cronus, Zeus father, and would be Zeus aunt. See the birth of Aphrodite The following gods and goddess are sometimes included as one of the twelve Olympians, the following gods and goddesses were not usually counted as Olympians, although they had close ties to them. Aeolus – King of the winds, keeper of the Anemoi, Alpheus – God of the River Alpheus
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Jason
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Jason was an ancient Greek mythological hero who was famous for his role as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Aeson, the king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea and he was also the great-grandson of the messenger god Hermes, through his mothers side. Jason appeared in literary works in the classical world of Greece and Rome, including the epic poem Argonautica. In the modern world, Jason has emerged as a character in various adaptations of his myths, such as the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts, Jason has connections outside the classical world, being the mythical founder of the city of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Jasons father is invariably Aeson, but there is great variation as to his mothers name, Pelias was power-hungry and wished to gain dominion over all of Thessaly. Pelias was the product of a union between their mother, Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus, and the sea god Poseidon. In a bitter feud, he overthrew Aeson, killing all the descendants of Aeson that he could and he spared his half-brother for unknown reasons. Alcimede I already had an infant son named Jason whom she saved from being killed by Pelias, by having women cluster around the newborn and cry as if he were still-born. Alcimede sent her son to the centaur Chiron for education, for fear that Pelias would kill him — she claimed that she had been having an affair with him all along. Pelias, still fearful that he would one day be overthrown, many years later, Pelias was holding games in honor of Poseidon, when Jason arrived in Iolcus and lost one of his sandals in the river Anauros, while helping an old woman to cross. She blessed him for she knew, as goddesses do, what Pelias had planned, when Jason entered Iolcus, he was announced as a man wearing one sandal. Jason, knowing that he was the king, told Pelias that and Pelias said, To take my throne. Jason assembled for his crew, a number of heroes, known as the Argonauts after their ship, the group of heroes included the Boreads who could fly, Heracles, Philoctetes, Peleus, Telamon, Orpheus, Castor and Pollux, Atalanta, Meleager and Euphemus. The isle of Lemnos is situated off the Western coast of Asia Minor, the island was inhabited by a race of women who had killed their husbands. The women had neglected their worship of Aphrodite, and as a punishment the goddess made the women so foul in stench that their husbands could not bear to be near them. The men then took concubines from the Thracian mainland opposite, the king, Thoas, was saved by Hypsipyle, his daughter, who put him out to sea sealed in a chest from which he was later rescued. The women of Lemnos lived for a while without men, with Hypsipyle as their queen, during the visit of the Argonauts the women mingled with the men creating a new race called Minyae
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Argonauts
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The Argonauts were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War, around 1300 BC, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, Argo, named after its builder and they were sometimes called Minyans, after a prehistoric tribe in the area. After the death of King Cretheus, the Aeolian Pelias usurped the Iolcan throne from his half-brother Aeson, because of this unlawful act, an oracle warned him that a descendant of Aeolus would seek revenge. Pelias put to death every prominent descendant of Aeolus he could, instead, Pelias kept Aeson prisoner and forced him to renounce his inheritance. Aeson married Alcimede, who bore him a son named Jason, Pelias intended to kill the baby at once, but Alcimede summoned her kinswomen to weep over him as if he were stillborn. She faked a burial and smuggled the baby to Mount Pelion and he was raised by the centaur Chiron, the trainer of heroes. When Jason was 20 years old, an oracle ordered him to dress as a Magnesian, while traveling Jason lost his sandal crossing the muddy Anavros river while helping an old woman. The goddess was angry with King Pelias for killing his stepmother Sidero after she had sought refuge in Heras temple, another oracle warned Pelias to be on his guard against a man with one shoe. Pelias was presiding over a sacrifice to Poseidon with several neighboring kings in attendance, among the crowd stood a tall youth in leopard skin with only one sandal. Pelias recognized that Jason was his nephew and he could not kill him because prominent kings of the Aeolian family were present. Instead, he asked Jason, What would you do if an oracle announced that one of your fellow-citizens were destined to kill you, Jason replied that he would send him to go and fetch the Golden Fleece, not knowing that Hera had put those words in his mouth. Jason learned later that Pelias was being haunted by the ghost of Phrixus, Phrixus had fled from Orchomenus riding on a divine ram to avoid being sacrificed and took refuge in Colchis where he was later denied proper burial. According to an oracle, Iolcus would never prosper unless his ghost was taken back in a ship and this fleece now hung from a tree in the grove of the Colchian Ares, guarded night and day by a dragon that never slept. Pelias swore before Zeus that he would give up the throne at Jasons return while expecting that Jasons attempt to steal the Golden Fleece would be a fatal enterprise, however, Hera acted in Jasons favour during the perilous journey. There is no definite list of the Argonauts, H. J. Rose explains this was because an Argonautic ancestor was an addition to even the proudest of pedigrees. The following list is collated from several lists given in ancient sources, several more names are discoverable from other sources. Amyrus, eponym of a Thessalian city, is given by Stephanus of Byzantium as one of the Argonauts, he is said to have been a son of Poseidon. Azorus was the helmsman of Argo according to Hesychius of Alexandria, atalanta is included on the list by Pseudo-Apollodorus, but Apollonius claims that Jason forbade her because she was a woman and could cause strife in the otherwise all-male crew
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History of Thessaly
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The history of Thessaly covers the history of the region of Thessaly in central Greece from antiquity to the present day. Only two passes, the Porta pass and, in the summer, the pass of Metsovo, from the south, the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae connects Thessaly with southern Greece. In the north Thessaly borders on Macedonia, either through the coast or the pass of Servia towards Thessalonica, the first evidence of human habitation in Thessaly dates to the late Paleolithic, but in the early Neolithic this expanded rapidly. Over 400 archaeological sites dating to the period are known, including fortified ones, the most notable of these is at Sesklo. During the Mycenaean period, the settlement was at Iolcos, as attested in the later legends of Jason. From there they quickly expanded inland to the plain of the Pineios, the Thessalians spoke a distinct form of Aeolic Greek. In the late 7th century BC, the Thessalians conquered the so-called perioikoi, in this process the Thessalians captured Anthela and came to control the local amphictyony. In the second half of the 7th century, Thessaly became the home of large families, controlling huge tracts of land and working them with serfs. The most important were the Aleuadae of Larissa, the Echecratidae of Pharsalus, and their clan chiefs were often called basileis. In the summer of 480 BC, the Persians invaded Thessaly, the Greek army that guarded the Vale of Tempe evacuated the road before the enemy arrived. The Thessalian family of Aleuadae joined the Persians, in the Peloponnesian War the Thessalians tended to side with Athens and usually prevented Spartan troops from crossing through their territory with the exception of the army of Brasidas. In the 4th century BC Thessaly became dependent on Macedon, in the 2nd century BC, as with the rest of Greece, Thessaly came under the control of the Roman Republic. From 27 BC it formed part of the Roman province of Achaea, in the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius, Thessaly was separated from Achaea and given to the province of Macedonia, eventually it became a separate province. In the new system as it evolved under Diocletian and his successors, Thessaly was a separate province within the Diocese of Macedonia. With the division of the Roman Empire in 395, Thessaly remained as a part of the East Roman Empire, thus in 395–397, as most of Greece, Thessaly was occupied by the Visigoths under Alaric, until they were driven out by Stilicho. Under Theodemirs son, Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogoths once more invaded Thessaly in 482, until they left for Italy in 488. From the reign of Justin I on, attacks on the frontier on the Danube became more and more frequent. In 539, however, a large Hunnic raid plundered Thessaly and, bypassing the fortified Thermopylae pass and this led to a serious fortification effort under Justinian I, and the establishment of a permanent garrison at Thermopylae
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First Ancient Theatre, Larissa
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The First Ancient Theatre of Larissa is a major open-air theatre and the largest theater in Thessaly, with a seating capability of 10,000 persons. It is situated on the side of the Acropolis Hill in Larissa. The First Ancient Theatre of Larissa was constructed inside the ancient citys centre during the reign of King Philip V of Macedonia, the theatre was in use for six centuries, until the end of the 3rd century AD, when its operation was abruptly stopped. The ancient theatre of Larissa by the end of the 7th century BC had the lead, the theatre has the typical structure of the Hellenistic theater with three basic components, koilon, orchestra and skene with a diameter of about 25 meters. The hollow of the ancient theater was the same slope of the hill Fortress, in the second period, at the 2nd half century BC front of the stage building, towards the band built a colonnade, the limelight. It consists of six pilasters and Doric semi-columns six monolithic bloc, at the time of the emperor Octavian Augustus and his successor Tiberius, there were found inscriptions in their honor on the foreheads of the Doric order entablature cornices of the scene. First Ancient Theatre of Larissa - Larissa Municipality
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Neolithic
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It ended when metal tools became widespread. The Neolithic is a progression of behavioral and cultural characteristics and changes, including the use of wild and domestic crops, the beginning of the Neolithic culture is considered to be in the Levant about 10, 200–8800 BC. It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming. The Natufian period was between 12,000 and 10,200 BC, and the so-called proto-Neolithic is now included in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic between 10,200 and 8800 BC. By 10, 200–8800 BC, farming communities arose in the Levant and spread to Asia Minor, North Africa, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. Early Neolithic farming was limited to a range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat, millet and spelt, and the keeping of dogs, sheep. By about 6900–6400 BC, it included domesticated cattle and pigs, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order, the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery before developing agriculture, unlike the Paleolithic, when more than one human species existed, only one human species reached the Neolithic. The term Neolithic derives from the Greek νέος néos, new and λίθος líthos, stone, the term was invented by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. In the Middle East, cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in the 10th millennium BC, early development occurred in the Levant and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by around 8000 BC. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square yards, the Neolithic 1 period began roughly 10,000 years ago in the Levant. A temple area in southeastern Turkey at Göbekli Tepe dated around 9500 BC may be regarded as the beginning of the period. This site was developed by nomadic tribes, evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in the vicinity. At least seven stone circles, covering 25 acres, contain limestone pillars carved with animals, insects, Stone tools were used by perhaps as many as hundreds of people to create the pillars, which might have supported roofs. Other early PPNA sites dating to around 9500–9000 BC have been found in Jericho, Israel, Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, the start of Neolithic 1 overlaps the Tahunian and Heavy Neolithic periods to some degree. The major advance of Neolithic 1 was true farming, in the proto-Neolithic Natufian cultures, wild cereals were harvested, and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred. The grain was ground into flour, emmer wheat was domesticated, and animals were herded and domesticated
Greece
