GREEK COLOR: March 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011

Greek Independence Day !

March 25th
Greek Independence Day

March 25 is both a National
(The Revolution against the Turks)
and Religious holiday (Annunciation).
There is a school flag parade
in every town and village and
a big armed forces parade in
Athens , the capital of Greece .

The Byzantine Empire fell
to the Turks in 1453 and
the Greeks remained under
Ottoman rule for nearly 400 years.
During this time their language,
their religion
and their sense of identity
remained strong.

Bishop Germanos raised the Flag of Independence on March 25th, 1821 at the Monastery of Agia Lavra in the Peloponnese and the revolution against the Turks began. The people of Greece shouted "Freedom or Death" and they fought the War of Independence for 9 years (1821-1829) until a portion of the modern Greek state was finally liberated and it was declared an independent nation.

The struggle for the liberation of all Greek lands continued. In 1864, the Ionian islands were returned to Greece; in 1881 parts of Epirus and Thessaly were in turn returned. Crete, the Islands of the Eastern Aegean and Macedonia in 1913 and Western Thrace in 1919. After World War II the Dodecanese Islands were also returned to Greece.

"Freedom or Death" ( Eleftheria i Thanatos)
was the motto during the Greek Revolution
against the Ottoman Empire.
It is believed that the nine lines of the flag
reflect the number of syllables in the Greek phrase
"Eleftheria i Thanatos" = Freedom or Death.

The line pattern was chosen because of their similarity with the wavy sea that surrounds the shores of Greece.The interchange of blue and white colors makes the Hellenic Flag on a windy day to look like the Aegean Sea. The Greek Square Cross that rests on the upper left-side of the flag demonstrates the respect and the devotion that Greek people have for the Greek Orthodox Church and signifies the important role of Christianity in the formation of the modern Hellenic Nation. During the dark years of the Ottoman rule, the Greek Orthodox Church helped the enslaved Greeks to retain their cultural characteristics: the Greek language, the Byzantine religion and generally the Greek ethnic identity. Today, Christianity is still the dominant religion among Greeks. Therefore the existence of the Cross is justified.

Freedom or Death !

War of Independence Flag

The present flag of Greece as described above

The Greek National Anthem:
Hymn to Liberty
(Imnos stin Eleftheria)

Σε γνωρίζω από την κόψη
Του σπαθιού την τρομερή
Σε γνωρίζω από την όψη
Που με βία μετρά τη γη.
Απ' τα κόκαλα βγαλμένη
Των Ελλήνων τα ιερά,
Και σαν πρώτα ανδρειωμενη,
Χαίρε, ω χαίρε, Ελευθεριά !

Translation
We knew thee of old,
Oh, divinely restored,
By the lights of thine eyes,
And the light of thy Sword,
From the graves of our slain,
Shall thy valor prevail,
As we greet thee again-
Hail, Liberty! Hail!

Transliteration
Se gnorizo apo tin kopsi,
Tou spathiou tin tromeri,
Se gnorizo apo tin opsi,
Pou me via metra tin yi.
Ap' ta kokala vgalmeni,
Ton Ellinon ta iera,
Ke san prota andriomeni,
Haire, o haire, Eleftheria!

Lyrics: Dionysios Solomos, 1824
Music: Nikolaos Mantzaros, 1828
Translation: Rudyard Kipling in 1918

74°F/24°c
51°F/10°c

Sunday, March 13, 2011

St. Nicholas Church

A church made by a sailor using rocks and
shells from the beaches of South Athens.
The Church's Patron Saint is St. Nicholas
located in the South Athens area of Vouliagmeni.

72°F/22°c
46°F/8°c