1.
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
2.
Athens Metro
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The Athens Metro is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens conurbation and parts of East Attica. It incorporates the former Athens-Piraeus Electric Railways, which opened as a steam railway in 1869. Beginning in 1991, Attiko Metro constructed and extended Lines 2 and 3, the metro network merged in 2011 when the Greek government created the Urban Rail Transport Company, a subsidiary of the Athens Urban Transport Organisation. First Chairman and CEO of the company became Kostas Vassiliadis. The system is noted for being modern and efficient, in its own right and it has drastically changed Athens by providing a much-needed solution to the citys traffic and air pollution problem, as well as revitalising many of the areas it serves. An extension of Line 3 is under construction towards Piraeus and also extensions of existing lines. The Athens Metro is actively connected with the means of public transport, such as buses, trolleys, the Athens Tram. The Athens Metro is hailed for its modernity and many of its stations feature works of art, exhibitions, until 28 January 2000, Line 1 was the only rapid-transit line in Athens and Piraeus. The Athens and Piraeus Railway Company opened the line on 27 February 1869 as a railway between Piraeus and Thiseio. It was electrified in 1904, and extended in stages to Kifisia in 1957, from 1976 to 16 June 2011, the Athens-Piraeus Electric Railway Company operated Line 1 independently from the rest of the metro and tram networks. Unlike Lines 2 and 3, it runs almost entirely above ground, since the current Line 1 opened the government has proposed many expansions to the subway network, including a 1963 plan for a fourteen-line subway network. Construction of Lines 2 and 3 began in November 1992 to decrease traffic congestion, Lines 2 and 3, built by Attiko Metro and operated until 2011 by Attiko Metro Operations Company, are known respectively as the red and blue lines and were inaugurated in January 2000. Line 3 was extended to the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in summer 2004, the Greek government attempted to absorb ISAP into Attiko Metro under Law 2669/1998 so the latter would be responsible for the whole network, but this initiative failed. Athens Metro operations were consolidated when the Greek government enacted Law 3920/2011, replacing AMEL, ISAP and Athens Tram with Urban Rail Transport, the modern incarnation of Line 1 is 25. 6-kilometre long, and serves 24 stations. Together, Lines 2 and 3 are 58. 9-kilometre long, the three-line Athens Metro network serves 61 stations. It owns and operates 57 of them, and OSE owns the remainder on the airport section, the network has four metro interchanges, enabling the lines to interchange with each other at least once. Line 2 and the Attiko Metro portion of Line 3 is entirely underground, Line 1 is primarily in the open, with a tunnel section in central Athens. The airport section of Line 3, east of the tunnel portal near Doukissis Plakentias, is open, in the tunnel sections up and down lines share a common tunnel, except for approaches to stations with an island platform
3.
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
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Monastiraki
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Monastiraki is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens, Greece, and is one of the principal shopping districts in Athens. The area is home to clothing boutiques, souvenir shops, and specialty stores, the area is named after Monastiraki Square, which in turn is named for the Church of the Pantanassa that is located within the square. The main streets of this area are Pandrossou Street and Adrianou Street, the Monastiraki Metro Station, located on the square, serves both Line 1 and Line 3 of the Athens Metro. Photo Album of Monastiraki Monastiraki Photo Guide
5.
Voivode
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Voivode is an Eastern European title that originally denoted the principal commander of a military force. It derives from the word vojevoda, which in early Slavic meant the bellidux, i. e. the military commander of an area, in Byzantine times it referred to mainly military commanders of Slavic populations, especially in the Balkans. In medieval Serbia it meant an official and - before the Ottoman conquest in the 15th century - the commander of a military area. During Ottoman times, Voivode was the title borne by the ruler of a province, whose powers included the administration, security, the same title was borne by the Ottoman official who oversaw the “Chora Metzovo” each time. The word gradually came to denote the governor of a province, the territory ruled or administered by a voivode is known in English as a voivodeship. In the English language, the title is translated as duke or prince. In Eastern European terminology, the rank of a voivode is considered equal of that of a German Herzog, a voivode was often considered to be an assistant of the Knyaz. During military actions the voivode was in charge of an army that consisted of the local population, the voj, while the knyaz had its own regular military formation. As of 2016 in Poland the term means the centrally-appointed governor of a Polish province or voivodeship. The Polish title is rendered in English as palatine or prince palatine. Other similar titles include Margrave, Governor-General, and others, with the expansion of the Russian Empire the title of voivode was superseded by namestnik. Later, voivode denoted the highest military rank in the principalities of Montenegro and Serbia, in the Romanian medieval principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, voievode became part of the official titulature of the sovereign prince, showing his right to lead the entire army. Voivode or vajda was also the title of the Hungarian governors of Transylvania in the Middle Ages, baida was a title of a Ruthenian nobleman and Cossack leader Dmytro Vyshnevetsky. Similarly, the leaders in the Balkans were called voivodes. The term derives from Slavic voi or vojsko + vodi, the word has developed to take various forms in the modern Slavic languages, such as vojvoda, wojewoda, воевода, войвода or воевода, воєвода, vévoda and војвода. It has also borrowed into some non-Slavic languages, taking such forms as voievod, vajda. Voivode is also related to state such as Vojvodina, Polish provinces voivodeship. For this reason, the Slavic terms are translated as duke
6.
Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens
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The Temple of Olympian Zeus, also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is a monument of Greece and a former colossal temple at the centre of the Greek capital Athens. It was dedicated to Olympian Zeus, a name originating from his position as head of the Olympian gods, during the Roman period the temple -that included 104 colossal columns- was renowned as the largest temple in Greece and housed one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world. The temples glory was short-lived, as it fell into disuse after being pillaged during an invasion in the 3rd century AD. It was probably never repaired and was reduced to ruins thereafter, in the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, it was extensively quarried for building materials to supply building projects elsewhere in the city. Despite this, a part of the temple remains today, notably sixteen of the original gigantic columns. The temple is located approximately 1640 feet south-east of the Acropolis and its foundations were laid on the site of an ancient outdoor sanctuary dedicated to Zeus. An earlier temple had stood there, constructed by the tyrant Peisistratus around 550 BC, the building was demolished after the death of Peisistratos and the construction of a colossal new Temple of Olympian Zeus was begun around 520 BC by his sons, Hippias and Hipparchos. They sought to two famous contemporary temples, the Heraion of Samos and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. It was to be flanked by a colonnade of eight columns across the front and back and twenty-one on the flanks. The work was abandoned when the tyranny was overthrown and Hippias was expelled in 510 BC, only the platform and some elements of the columns had been completed by this point, and the temple remained in this state for 336 years. The temple was left unfinished during the years of Athenian democracy, in the treatise Politics, Aristotle cited the temple as an example of how tyrannies engaged the populace in great works for the state and left them no time, energy or means to rebel. The design was changed to have three rows of eight columns across the front and back of the temple and a row of twenty on the flanks. The columns would stand 17 m high and 2 m in diameter, however, the project ground to a halt again in 164 BC with the death of Antiochus. The temple was still only half-finished by this stage, serious damage was inflicted on the partly built temple by Lucius Cornelius Sullas sack of Athens in 86 BC. While looting the city, Sulla seized some of the columns and transported them back to Rome. In 124-125 AD, when the strongly Philhellene Hadrian visited Athens, a walled marble-paved precinct was constructed around the temple, making it a central focus of the ancient city. Cossutiuss design was used with few changes and the temple was dedicated by Hadrian in 132. The temple and the precinct were adorned with numerous statues depicting Hadrian
7.
Ancient Agora of Athens
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Some of these included, The Middle stoa which was the most extensive monument built during the 100s B. C. E. A small Roman temple was added in front of the Middle stoa, an Altar of Zeus Agoraios was added just to the east of the Monument to the Eponymous Heroes. The Temple of Ares, dedicated to Ares, the god of war, was added in the north half agora, the Odeon of Agrippa and accompanying gymnasium were added in the centre of the agora. The substantial Stoa of Attalos was built along the edge of the agora. A collection of buildings were added to the south-east corner, the East stoa, the Library of Pantainos, the Nymphaeum, there is evidence of a Synagogue in the Agora of Athens in the 3rd century. A statue of the Roman emperor Hadrian was located near the metroon, the Temple of Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria dated to the 300s B. C. E. and is located near the Temple of Apollo Patroos. The south end of what is believed to be a Basilica has been uncovered near Hadrian Street and is dated to the mid 100s C. E, the Monopteros was located south of the Basilica and also dated to the mid 100s C. E. It had no walls, was a dome supported by columns and was about 8 meters in diameter, the Bema was a speakers platform and was located near the Stoa of Attalos. The ancient Athenian agora has been excavated by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens since 1931 under the direction of T and they continue to the present day, now under the direction of John McK Camp. The museum is housed in the Stoa of Attalos, and its exhibits are connected with the Athenian democracy. Ecclesia Roman Agora Church of the Holy Apostles Hellenic Ministry of Culture, The Ancient Agora of Athens – official site with a schedule of its hours, tickets. Agora Excavations – American School of Classical Studies Agora excavation project, map of the Agora of Athens in Socrates and Platos time Agora of Athens in 421 BC The Athenian Agora, A Short Guide in Color The Athenian Agora
8.
Greek War of Independence
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The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution, was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1832 against the Ottoman Empire. Even several decades before the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, during this time, there were several revolt attempts by Greeks to gain independence from Ottoman control. In 1814, an organization called the Filiki Eteria was founded with the aim of liberating Greece. The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolts in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities, the first of these revolts began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities, but it was soon put down by the Ottomans. The events in the north urged the Greeks in the Peloponnese into action and on 17 March 1821 and this declaration was the start of a spring of revolutionary actions from other controlled states against the Ottoman Empire. By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in revolt against the Turks and by October 1821. The Peloponnesian revolt was followed by revolts in Crete, Macedonia, and Central Greece. Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea, tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to two consecutive civil wars. In the meantime, the Ottoman Sultan negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt, although Ibrahim was defeated in Mani, he had succeeded in suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese, and Athens had been retaken. Following years of negotiation, three Great Powers—Russia, Britain and France—decided to intervene in the conflict and each sent a navy to Greece. Following news that combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleets were going to attack the Greek island of Hydra, the battle began after a tense week-long standoff, ending in the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet. As a result of years of negotiation, Greece was finally recognized as an independent nation in the Treaty of Constantinople of May 1832, the Revolution is celebrated by the modern Greek state as a national day on 25 March. The Fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453 and the subsequent fall of the states of the Byzantine Empire marked the end of Byzantine sovereignty. After that, the Ottoman Empire ruled the Balkans and Anatolia, Orthodox Christians were granted some political rights under Ottoman rule, but they were considered inferior subjects. The majority of Greeks were called Rayah by the Turks, a name referred to the large mass of non-Muslim subjects under the Ottoman ruling class. Demetrius Chalcondyles called on Venice and all of the Latins to aid the Greeks against the abominable, monstrous, however, Greece was to remain under Ottoman rule for several more centuries. The Greek Revolution was not an event, numerous failed attempts at regaining independence took place throughout the history of the Ottoman era. Throughout the 17th century there was resistance to the Ottomans in the Morea and elsewhere
9.
Otto of Greece
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Otto, also spelled Otho, was a Bavarian prince who became the first modern King of Greece in 1832 under the Convention of London. He reigned until he was deposed in 1862, the second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto ascended the newly created throne of Greece while still a minor. His government was run by a three-man regency council made up of Bavarian court officials. Upon reaching his majority, Otto removed the regents when they proved unpopular with the people, eventually his subjects demands for a Constitution proved overwhelming, and in the face of an armed but peaceful insurrection Otto in 1843 granted a constitution. However he rigged elections using fraud and terror, throughout his reign Otto was unable to resolve Greeces poverty and prevent economic meddling from outside. Greek politics in this era was based on affiliations with the three Great Powers, and Ottos ability to maintain the support of the powers was key to his remaining in power. To remain strong, Otto had to play the interests of each of the Great Powers Greek adherents against the others, while not aggravating the Great Powers. When Greece was blockaded by the British Royal Navy in 1850 and again in 1854, to stop Greece from attacking the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War, Ottos standing amongst Greeks suffered. As a result, there was an attempt on the Queen. He died in exile in Bavaria in 1867, Otto was born as Prince Otto Friedrich Ludwig of Bavaria at Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg, as second son of Crown Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. His father served there as Bavarian governor-general, through his ancestor, the Bavarian Duke John II, Otto was a descendant of the Greek imperial dynasties of Komnenos and Laskaris. When he was elected king, the Great Powers extracted a pledge from Ottos father to him from hostile actions against the Ottoman Empire. They also insisted that his title be King of Greece, rather than King of the Hellenes, aged not quite 18, the young prince arrived in Greece with 3,500 Bavarian troops and three Bavarian advisors aboard the British frigate HMS Madagascar. Although he did not speak Greek, he endeared himself to his adopted country by adopting the Greek national costume. Von Armansperg was the President of the Privy Council, and the first representative of the new Greek government, the other members of the Regency Council were Karl von Abel and Georg Ludwig von Maurer, with whom von Armansperg often clashed. After the King reached his majority in 1835, von Armansperg was made Arch-Secretary, britain and the Rothschild bank, who were underwriting the Greek loans, insisted on financial stringency from Armansperg. In addition, the regency showed little respect for local customs, as a Roman Catholic, Otto himself was viewed as a heretic by many pious Greeks, however, his heirs would have to be Orthodox, according to the terms of the 1843 Constitution. King Otto brought his personal brewmaster with him, Herr Fuchs, a Bavarian who stayed in Greece after Ottos departure and they were later pardoned under popular pressure, while Greek judges who resisted Bavarian pressure and refused to sign the death warrants, were saluted as heroes
10.
King of Saudi Arabia
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The King of Saudi Arabia is Saudi Arabias head of state and absolute monarch. He serves as the head of the Saudi monarchy — House of Saud, the King is called the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The title, which signifies Saudi Arabias jurisdiction over the mosques of Masjid al Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, King Abdulaziz began conquering todays Saudi Arabia in 1902, by restoring his family as emirs of Riyadh. He then proceeded to conquer first the Nejd and then the Hejaz and he progressed from Sultan of Nejd, to King of Hejaz and Nejd, and finally to King of Saudi Arabia in 1932. The kings since Ibn Sauds death have all been his sons, sons of Ibn Saud are considered to have primary claim on the throne of Saudi Arabia. This makes the Saudi monarchy quite distinct from Western monarchies, which feature large, clearly defined royal families. The current Crown Prince is the first grandson of Ibn Saud to be in the line of succession, Saudi Arabia is ruled by Islamic law and purports to be an Islamic state, but many Muslims see a hereditary monarchy as being a discouraged system of government in Islam. The King of Saudi Arabia is also considered the Head of the House of Saud, the Crown Prince is also the Deputy Prime Minister. The kings after Faisal have named a second Deputy Prime Minister as the subsequent heir after the Crown Prince. Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, born 30 August 1959, son of Nayef bin Abdulaziz and Al Jawhara bint Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Jiluwi Al Saud, Grandson of Ibn Saud and Hassa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, born 31 August 1985, son of King Salman, the Royal Standard consists of a green flag, with an Arabic inscription and a sword featured in white, and with the national emblem embroidered in gold in the lower right canton. The script on the flag is written in the Thuluth script, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Succession to the Saudi Arabian throne List of rulers of Saudi Arabia
11.
Greek Muslims
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Greek Muslims, also known as Greek-speaking Muslims, are Muslims of Greek ethnic origin whose adoption of Islam dates to the period of Ottoman rule in the southern Balkans. They consist primarily of the descendants of the elite Ottoman Janissary corps and Ottoman-era converts to Islam from Greek Macedonia, Crete, northeastern Anatolia and the Pontic Alps. They are currently found mainly in western Turkey and northeastern Turkey (particularly in the regions of Trabzon, Gümüşhane, Sivas, Erzincan, Erzurum, despite their ethnic Greek origin, the contemporary Grecophone Muslims of Turkey regarding their identity have been steadily assimilated into the Turkish-speaking Muslim population. In Greece, Greek-speaking Muslims are not usually considered as forming part of the Greek nation, historically, Greek Orthodoxy has been associated with being Romios, i. e. Greek, and Islam with being Turkish, despite ethnic or linguistic references. Most Greek speaking Muslims in Greece left for Turkey during the 1920s population exchanges under the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek, due to the historical role of the millet system, religion and not ethnicity or language was the main factor used during the exchange of populations. All Muslims who departed Greece were seen as Turks, whereas all Orthodox people leaving Turkey were considered Greeks, regardless of ethnicity or language. An exception was made for Muslims in East Macedonia and Thrace, Northern Greece, who are recognized as a religious. Subsequently, these became part of the Muslim community of the millet system. At that time people were bound to their millets by their religious affiliations, another major reason for converting to Islam was the well-organized taxation system based on religion. All these of course were waived if the person would convert, Ibrahim arranged for the enslaved Greek children to be forcefully converted to Islam en masse. The enslaved Greeks were subsequently transferred to Egypt where they were sold as slaves, Grecophone Pontian Muslims are found within Trabzon province and inhabit the following areas, Pontic is spoken in the town of Tonya and in 6 villages of Tonya district. It is spoken in 6 villages of the entity of Beşköy in the central. Grecophone Muslims are also located in 9 villages of the Galyana valley in Maçka district and they were resettled there in former abandoned Greek Orthodox Pontian dwellings from the area of Beşköy after a devastating flood in 1929. The largest cluster of Pontian speakers is found in the Of valley,12 Grecophone Muslim villages are also located in the Dernekpazarı district. Over the years, heavy emigration from the Trabzon region to parts of Turkey to places such as Istanbul, Sakarya, Zonguldak, Bursa. While emigration to places outside Turkey has also transpired when people left for Germany as invited workers during the 1960s, sizable numbers of Grecophone Muslims in Pontus have retained knowledge and or are fluent in Greek and it is a mother tongue for many and even the young. Males are usually bilingual in both Turkish and Pontic Greek, while there are women who are monolingual only in Pontic Greek. Grecophone Muslim Pontians can also be found in settlements such as Rize, Erzincan, Gümüşhane, parts of Erzerum province
12.
Patras
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Patras is Greeces third-largest city and the regional capital of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese,215 km west of Athens. The city is built at the foothills of Mount Panachaikon, overlooking the Gulf of Patras, Patras has a population of 213,984. According to the results of 2011 census, the area has a population of 260,308. Dubbed as Greeces Gate to the West, Patras is a hub, while its busy port is a nodal point for trade and communication with Italy. The Rio-Antirio bridge connects Patras easternmost suburb of Rio to the town of Antirrio, Patras is also famous for supporting an indigenous cultural scene active mainly in the performing arts and modern urban literature. It was European Capital of Culture in 2006, Patras is 215 km west of Athens by road,94 km northeast of Pyrgos,7 kilometres south of Rio,134 km west of Corinth,77 km northwest of Kalavryta, and 144 km northwest of Tripoli. A central feature of the geography of Patras is its division into upper and lower sections. It is built on what was originally a bed of river soils, the older upper section covers the area of the pre-modern settlement, around the Fortress, on what is the last elevation of Mount Panachaikon before the Gulf of Patras. The largest river in the area is the Glafkos, flowing to the south of Patras, the water is also used for the orchards of Eglykas and as drinking water for the city. Other rivers are Haradros, Meilichos and the mountain torrent Diakoniaris and it features the typical mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers, with spring and autumn being pleasant transitional seasons. Autumn in Patras, however, is wetter than spring, of great importance for the biological diversity of the area and the preservation of its climate is the swamp of Agyia, a small and coastal aquatic ecosystem of only 30 ha, north of the city centre. Another geophysical characteristic of the region is its level of seismicity. Small tremors are recorded along the coast of Patras almost constantly, larger earthquakes hit the area every few years with potentially destructive effects. In 1993, a 5. 0-magnitude earthquake caused damage to several buildings throughout Patras due to the proximity of the epicenter to the city. On June 15,1995, a 6. 2-magnitude earthquake hit the town of Aigion. The Ionian Islands are also hit by even more severe earthquakes. In antiquity, the most notable example of destruction caused by an earthquake in the region was the total submergence of the ancient Achaean city of Helike, the first traces of settlement in Patras date to as early as the third millennium BC, in the area of modern Aroe. Patras flourished for the first time in the Post-Helladic or Mycenean period, Ancient Patras was formed by the unification of three Mycenaean villages in modern Aroe, namely Antheia and Mesatis
Monastiraki
Media related to Tzisdarakis Mosque at Wikimedia Commons
