Greece, the country of sun

Our flag with blue and white colours

Greece

In our country and for that matter in our island, a few kilometers away from our school, is situated the longest gorge in Europe. The Samarian gorge (18 km long approximately) is a National Park, where , along with the exceptional beautiful scenery, you will find unique animals and plants. The most typical is the Cretan Goat or else the Kri-Kri.

Greece is a country surrounded by the sea and is the 11th country in line among the countries with the longest coastline, as it has a multitude of islands, which are about 2,500, according to criteria, and among these about 200 are inhabited.

The country of sun

Falasarna beach

Kri-Kri

Our country is called Greece/ Hellas and is situated in southeastern Europe and more specifically in the most southern point of the Balkan peninsula and has a population of approximately 11.000.000 people. It is a Mediterranean country with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.

Erasmus+ KA2

Project: SMART

2016 - 2018

Our capital is Athens, which took her name from the goddess Athena, who after fighting with Poseidon, managed to take hold of the city. In Athens you can find the temple which is dedicated to the goddess Athena, the Parthenon, which stands tall upon the rock of Acropolis for 2.500 years. This temple has been the result of the cooperation between great architects and sculptors.

Parthenon

Greek cuisine is ranked in the Mediterranean gastronomy which shares common characteristics and influences with Italy's, the Balkans' and Eastern cuisines. One of our typical dishes is the mousaka.

The position of our school in Europe map.

Democracy, philosophy, the Olympic Games and drama were born in Ancient Greece. Plato, Socrates and Aristotle were the great philosophers and Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides were the great dramatists.

Right now you can watch a magical video which will take you to some beautiful places of our country. If you want to find more information about our country, you can visit the website the Ministry of Civilization.

http://www.visitgreece.gr/

Video title: " Greek Tourism. An eternal journey "

Produced by: Greek National Tourism Organisation

Greece was recognized as an official state in 1828, whatsoever her history and civilization had began developing for thousands of years, since the Stone Age. Among the most important civilizations developed in the country were the Minoic, the Cycladic, the Ancient Greek with its most notable period the Classical Years

(5th century B.C.), and the Hellenistic Years with the dissemination of the greek spirit in many areas of the East through Great Alexander's campaigns.

Knosos

Decorating a ship instead of a tree during Christmas is one of our country's customs. At Easter we “clink” red eggs and we turn lambs on the spit. April the 1st is the day we all tell lies and play jokes and finally on Sundays we all eat together at the family table.

The Arts are cultivated in Greece from ancient times to today. Two of the most notable Greek belletrists, who were awarded with the Nobel prize of Literature, are Giorgos Seferis (1963) and Odysseus Elytis (1979).

Our school is in the biggest island of Greece, Crete. At the south part of Crete a small inhabited island is situated, Gavdos. This heavenly island is the most southern place of Greece and of the whole Europe. According to the Greek mythology, this was Calypso's island, where Ulysses was kept captive for seven years during his return trip to Ithaca.

Seferis has written about Greece:

“Wherever I travel Greece always hurts me.”

Elytis has said:

“ If you break down Greece in parts, at the end you will be left with just an olive tree, a vine and a ship. Which means: that's what you need to rebuild it.”

Editors

Giannenakis Konstantinos - Teacher

and

Students of the sixth class

~~~~~~~

Music: Mikis Theodorakis

Song title: Zorba's Dance

The Olympic Games, which were inspired by Hercules' feats, are a part of the ancient greek civilization which is used today to accent the human values. The first modern Olympic Games took place in Athens in 1896 and were hosted again by our country a few years ago, in 2004.