Athens: Temple of Olympian Zeus

South Athens: Mikrolimano [Small Harbor]

Elia Beach on the Island of Mykonos

Athens: Metro Line 1 traveling through the historic/ancient quarter

Athens Metro Line 1 going through the
historic/ancient quarter of the city .

The Wonderful Serenity of the Seaside.....

The Greek Seaside......Relaxing & Serene

Greek Independence Day : March 25th

The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution (Greek: Ελληνική Επανάσταση, Elliniki Epanastasi; Ottoman: يونان عصياني Yunan İsyanı) was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1829, with later assistance from several European powers, against the Ottoman Empire, who were assisted by their vassals, the Egyptian Khedivate and partly the Vilayet of Tunisia.

Following the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Empire, most of Greece came under Ottoman rule. During this time, there were numerous revolts by Greeks attempting to gain independence. In 1814, a secret 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 and Constantinople. The first of these revolts began on March 6th,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 in action and on 17 March 1821 the Maniots declared war on the Ottomans. By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in open revolt against the Turks and by October 1821 the Greeks under Theodoros Kolokotronis had captured Tripoli[tsa]. The Peloponnesian revolt was quickly followed by revolts in Crete, Macedonia and Central Greece, which would soon be suppressed. Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea and prevented Ottoman reinforcements from arriving by sea.

Tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to a virtual civil war. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Sultan negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt, who agreed to send his son Ibrahim Pasha to Greece with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gain. Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and had immediate success: by the end of 1825, most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control, and the city of Messolongi—put under siege by the Turks since April 1825—fell in April 1826. 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, the United Kingdom and France, decided to intervene in the conflict and each nation sent a navy to Greece. Following news that combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleets were going to attack the Greek island of Hydra, the allied fleet intercepted the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet at Navarino. Following a week long standoff, a battle began which resulted in the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet. With the help of a French expeditionary force, the Greeks drove the Turks out of the Peloponnese and proceeded to the captured part of Central Greece by 1828. As a result of years of negotiation, Greece was finally recognized again as an independent nation in May 1832.

The Revolution is celebrated on 25 March by the modern Greek state, which is Independence Day and celebrated throughout the country from the largest urban centers to remotest rural villages.

Amorgos Color

Amorgos (Greek: Αμοργός) is the easternmost island of the Greek Cyclades island group, and the nearest island to the neighboring Dodecanese island group. Along with several neighboring islets, the largest of which is Nikouria Island, it comprises the municipality of Amorgos, which has a land area of 126.346 km², and a population of 1,859 (2001 census).

Amorgos is also known as Yperia, Patagy, or Platagy, Pagali, Psichia, and Karkisia. Part of the island is named Aspis, where the ancient temple of the goddess Aphrodite stood. Due to the name Minoa we suspect that Amorgos had been colonised by the Cretans from ancient times. In approximately 630 BC, the poet Semonides led the foundation of a Samian colony on Amorgos. With the passing of time, the island's name changed to Amolgon, Amourgon, Amorgian, and Amourgian. After the 5th century one can also find the name Amoulgos from Bishop Theodore who signed a Synod in Constantinople, as Theodore the Bishop of Parion, Sifnion, and Amoulgion. Skilax mentions it as Tripoli (the circumnavigation of the Cyclades Islands).

Paros Color

Paros (Greek: Πάρος; Venetian: Paro) is an island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about 8 km (5 mi) wide. It lies approximately 100 nautical miles (185 km) south-east of the Port of Athens : Pireas. Today, Paros is one of the most popular European tourist hotspots. The Municipality of Paros includes numerous uninhabited offshore islets totaling 196.308 km² of land. Its nearest neighbor is the Community of Antiparos, lying to its southwest. Paros also became known for its fine white marble which gave rise to the term Parian which is used for China and fine marbles worldwide.

The story that Paros was colonized by one Paros of Parrhasia, who brought with him a colony of Arcadians to the island is one of those etymological fictions which abound in Greek legend. Ancient names of the island are said to have been Plateia (or Pactia), Demetrias, Strongyli (meaning round due to the round shape of the island), Hyria, Hyleessa, Minoa , Cabarnis
and Windmill in Parikía. The traditional Cyclades design

From Athens the island later received a colony of Ionians under whom it attained a high degree of prosperity. It sent out colonies to Thasos and Parium on the Hellespont. In the former colony, which was planted in the 15th or 18th Olympiad, the poet Archilochus, native of Paros, is said to have taken part. As late as 385 BC the Parians, in conjunction with Dionysius of Syracuse, founded a colony on the Illyrian island of Pharos (Hvar).

Shortly before the Persian War Paros seems to have been a dependency of Naxos. In the first Greco-Persian War (490 B.C.), Paros sided with the Persians and sent a trireme to Marathon to support them. In retaliation, the capital Paros was besieged by an Athenian fleet under Miltiades, who demanded a fine of 100 talents. But the town offered a vigorous resistance, and the Athenians were obliged to sail away after a siege of 26 days, during which they had laid the island waste. It was at a temple of Demeter Thesmophoros in Paros that Miltiades received the wound of which he afterwards died. By means of an inscription Ross was enabled to identify the site of the temple; it lies, as Herodotus suggests, on a low hill beyond the boundaries of the town.

Paros also sided with Shahanshah Xerxes I of Persia against Greece in the second Greco-Persian War (480 - 479 B.C.), but after the battle of Artemisium the Parian contingent remained inactive at Kythnos watching the progress of events. For their support of the Persians, the islanders were later punished by the Athenian war leader Themistocles, who exacted a heavy fine.

Under the Delian League, the Athenian-dominated naval confederacy (477 - 404 B.C.), Paros paid the highest tribute of all the island members: 30 talents annually, according to the estimate of Olympiodorus (429 B.C.). This implies that Paros was then one of the wealthiest islands in the Aegean. Little is known of the constitution of Paros, but inscriptions seem to show that it was modeled on Athenian democracy, with a senate at the head of affairs. In 410 BC the Athenian general Theramenes found an oligarchy governing Paros; he deposed it and restored the democracy. Paros was included in the second Athenian confederacy (the Second Athenian Empire 378 - 355 B.C.). In c.357 B.C., along with Chios, it severed its connection with Athens.

From the inscription of Adule we learn that the Cyclades, presumably including Paros, were subject to the Ptolemies, the Hellenistic dynasty that ruled Egypt (305 - 30 B.C.). Paros then became part of the Roman Empire and later of its Greek-speaking successor state, the Byzantine Empire.

Ermoupolis Color [ Island of Syros ]

Ermoupoli (Greek: Ερμούπολη), also known with by formal older name Ermoupolis or Hermoupolis (Greek: Ἑρμούπολις /Ἑρμοῦ πόλις "Town of Hermes"), is the largest city of the island of Syros and the capital of the Cyclades prefecture [county].

Ermoupoli was founded during the Greek Revolution in the 1820s, as an extension to the existing Ano Syros township. It soon became the leading commercial and industrial center of Greece, as well as its main port. The renowned Greek Steamship Company was founded in the city in 1856. Thousands of ships were built in the various Syros shipyards.

Eventually Ermoupoli was eclipsed by Piraeus in the late 19th century. In the following decades the city declined. Recently, its economy has greatly improved, based on the service industry.

Volos Color

Volos (Greek: Βόλος) is a coastal port city in Thessaly located midway on the Greek mainland, about 326 km/215 miles north of Athens and 215 km/133 miles south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia prefecture [county] .

Built at the innermost point of the Pagasetic Gulf and at the foot of Mount Pilio or Pelion (the land of the Centaurs), Volos is the only outlet towards the sea from Thessaly, the country's largest agricultural region. With a population of around 150,000, it is an important industrial center, while its port provides a bridge between Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Volos is the third of Greece's major commercial ports, but also gains significant traffic because of its connections by ferry and hydrofoil with the nearby Sporades Islands, which include Skiathos, Skopelos , Alonissos, Limnos, Lesvos, Chios and Skyros.

Volos is the newest of the Greek port cities, with a remarkably large proportion of modern buildings, erected in the wake of the catastrophic earthquakes of 1955, and including the municipalities of Volos, Nea Ionia and Iolkos, as well as smaller suburban communities. The economy of the city is based on manufacturing, trade, services and tourism, and with its improved infrastructure the city is increasingly dynamic. Home to the University of Thessaly, one of the most important in country, the city also offers a wide range of facilities for the organization of conferences, exhibitions and major cultural and scientific events, together with international-standard sporting amenities.

Volos participated in the Olympic Games, and as an Olympic City it helped to present a new face of contemporary Greece to a world audience. The city has also since played host to a succession of athletic events, such as the European Athletic Championships. It will host the 2013 Mediterranean Games.

Amorgos Color

Athens

Athens: Tram

Athens: Urban Railroad [ Suburban Metro ] & Freeway

Athens Dionysos Neighborhood

Athens: Thrakomakedones Neighborhood II

Athens: Thrakomakedones Neighborhood

South Athens : Tram

Square and Pedestrian Street : Nea Smyrni [ New Smyrna]

Athens: Church in Center

NAXOS COLOR [Agios Prokopios]

Athens

Athens Ancient Color

Athens Ancient Agora Museum

Athens Seaside.....

Athenians woke up to another
wonderful sun filled day...
winds shifted though and
reminding us that it is still winter ..
the nice thing about living in Athens is that the weather
is predominantly sunny throughout the year...
with infrequent long periods of cloudy weather....
on the plus side..
the reservoirs and the countryside will be replenished.

Looking towards south Athens and Faliro Bay

Views of Kastella Neighborhood

Views of the main seaside road and towards the bay

View from Kastella

South Athens

Seaside South Athens

A very good month to you all !

A very good month to you all !