MESSINIAN MANI, PELOPONNESE

Greek Easter

"Lady Saracosti"

"Pascha" (=Easter) in Greece is the most important religious holiday of the year and the one richest in folklore. For the Greek Orthodox , Pascha is even more important than Christmass. The word "Pascha" stems from the jewish "Pesach" which means passover. Jewish people celebrated "Pesach" to commemorate their liberation from the Egyptians and the passage of the Red Sea, while Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ and the passage from the death to life, from earth to heaven.

In ancient Greece, Easter time coincided with the month of Anthesterion, a celebration of spring and the rebirth of vegetation.

The preparation for the Greek Easter starts 40 days before. It is the period of Lent, in greek "Saracosti". During this period the devout avoid all animal products (meat, milk, butter etc). 

A nice Greek custom of this period is the "Lady Saracosti", a calendar of the period of Lent. Women and children draw on a piece of paper the figure of a woman who had no mouth , as Lady Saracosti is fasting, and whose hands were joined together as in prayer. She had seven legs, one for each week. Every Saturday they cut off one leg. On Holy Saturday they cut off the last leg and they put it in a dry fig so that it would bring luck to whoever found it.

On the Saturday before the Holy Week, the resurrection of Lazarus is celebrated. The housewives bake the "Lazarakia". Those are cookies that have the shape of a man (which is supposed to be Lazarus) wrapped in a shroud.

This day children are going from door to door singing the hymn of "Lazarus" and collecting money and eggs.

The next day is called Palm Sunday. This day commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, when crowds were waving palm branches and proclaiming him as the Messia. The branches of the palm trees sympolize Christ's victory over the devil and death. In Greece all churches are decorated with palm and bay branches. Many people place these palm leaves into the icon stand of the house as blessings and lucky charms.

The oldest underwater ancient city

An underwater ancient city of 2800 B.C is situated near Elafonissos island, at the south of Peloponnese. The about 5.000 years old Pavlopetri, is the oldest known submerged archaeological town. It was submerged around 1000 B.C. by an earthquake and  was discovered in 1967 by Nicholas Flemming. As the town is in a depth of only 4 meters  it is easy to see the submerged 2-floor houses, the temples, the cemetary and the ancient port. Furthermore the whole area is  scattered with statues, pots and tools . The fact that the city was submerged helped to maintain current findings in a perfect condition.

Here is a great video of BBC about Pavlopetri:

For more info about the Pavlopetri Underwater Archaeology Project :
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pavlopetri/index.aspx

Archaeological sites will be open all day, every day in Greece

The Ministry of Culture and Sports has announced that 33 archaeological sites will be open every day from 08:00 to 20:00 h till 31/10/14. This way it will be easier for the travelers to organize their visits to the most important archaeological sites and monuments of Greece.

Here is the list of these 33 sites:

Attica: Akropolis of Athens, Theater of Dionysus, Ancient Agora of Athens, Kerameikos, Olympieio , National archaeological museum of Athens, Byzantine and Christian museum of Athens , Sounion

Peloponnese: Archaeological site and museum of Mycenae, Archaeological site and Museum of Ancient Epidaurus, Fortress of Palamidi (Nauplion) Archaeological site and Museum of Ancient Korinth, Archaeological site and Museum of Olympia, Archaeological site and Museum of Mystras

Archaeological site and Museum of Delphi

Northern Greece: Royal Tombs and museum of the royal tombs at Aigai (Vergina), Archaelogical museum of Thessaloniki, Museum of Byzantine Culture and Museum of White Tower (Thessaloniki)

Islands:

Archaeological site and museum of Delos, Akrotiri (Santorini)

Kos: Asklepieion, Castle of Kos

Rhodos: Lindos, Ialyssos, Kameiros, Archaeological museum of Rhodos, Palace of the Grand Masters

Crete: Knossos, Faistos, Psychro cave, Spinalonga, Archaeological museum of Heraklion

Corfu: Old Fortress of Corfu

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Greece wins the 2014 Prize for cultural Heritage, News from Greece

The European Commission and Europa Nostra announced on Marrch the 20th that Greece is among the winners of the 2014 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage, Europa Nostra awards.

The award ceremony will take place on May 5th at the Burgtheater in Vienna. The awards will be presented by the famous opera singer and President of Europa Nostra,  Placido Domingo and the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth,  Mrs Androulla  Vassiliou .

Six of the winners will be named as Grand Prix laureates and one will receive the Public choise award.

The 27 laurates, which are selected from 160 projects across 30 countries, are honored for  achievements in four areas: conservation, research, dedicate service and education, training and awareness-raising.

Greece excelled in the area of research for  the "Roman Vaulted Construction in the Peloponnese" , a project based on the 10 years research of Dr. Paolo Vitti.

For more info independent.academia.edu/paolovitti

SAMOS, Greek islands

Samos, the island of goddess Hera, of the great philosophers Pythagoras "the father of Mathematics" and Epicurus and the famous astronomer Aristarchus, is one of the eastern most Greek islands of the Aegean Sea. It is separated from Turkey by the strait of Mykale about 2 kms wide.
A range of mountains runs through the island. The capital Vathy is situated on the Northern coast wich is rocky , while the South coast has fertile plains and beautifull beaches.
The island is thickly wooded and known for its fertility from the antiquity, famous especially for the sweet Samian wine.
Samos was inhabitated in the Neolithic Period by the Pelasgians who established the goddes Hera.
Under the Tyranny of Polycrates, the island became one of the principal cities of Ionia.
The tyrrant Polycrates (532 BC) was a statesman of genius and profligate brigant. During this period the great engineer Eupalinos built the famous tunnel to provide the town whith drinking water which came from Great Spring. Two crews began digging the tunnel on both sides of the mountain simultaneously and thanks to the mathematical calculations of Eupalinos, they met in the middle of the mountain with no deviation... 

The principal excursions on the island are to Ancient Samos, to Heraion, to Pythagoreion , to Karlovassi to the waterfalls where the scenery is breathtaking and to the monasteries.
The site of Ancient Samos lies on the South coast of the island. The great Sanctuary of Hera "Heraion" is situated by the sea. According to mythology the goddess was born and grew up here. The same legend states that here also took place her sacred matrimony with Zeus, the father of the Olympian Gods.
The first temple of Hera was built in the 8th c. BC . The second was built in 570 by the two famous archtct- sculptors Rhoikos and Theodore. At that time the Heraion was at the height of its glory, decorated with wonderful offerings, excellent works of art from the Hellenic worldo but also from Syria, Egypt and Cyprus.The statue of Hera belongs to this era, a masterpiece of Samian art that today is in the Louvre.
After the destruction of this temple in 530 BC the enlightened Polycrates started the construction of  the last temple which according to Herodotus was the biggest building in the whole Hellenic world. The construction stopped after the death of Polycrates so the temple remained unfinished.
Today one can see its foundations and the only column that is preserved. In the sanctuary are ruins of a portico, the great Altar and three small temples from different periods. Many well preserved findings from the excavations of the Heraion are in the museum of Samos.
From the monasteries the most important are: The Monastery of Zoodochos Pigi founded in 1756 from where you have a magnificent view of the Strait of Mykale. In the plain of Vlamari is the Monastery of Ayia Zoni founded in 1695 and the Monastery of Vrontiani which is the oldest of the island founded in 1566.
Samos is a modern island with beautiful organized beaches as Tsamados, Votsalakia, Ghryssi Ammos (=golden sand) and Psili Ammos. It has cosmopolitan places as Vathy, Kokkari and Pythagoreion but also quiet and isolated places ideal for rest and relaxation as Marathokambos, Mykali and Kerveli.