GREECE KNIFE AND FORK

Location in the world Greece is located in the south-east of Europe.Population : 10,815,197 people Capital city : Athens

Platamon Castle The Platamon Castle an important part of the history of Pieria, is a Crusader castle (built between 1204 and 1222) in northern Greece (Macedonia) and is located southeast of Mount Olympus, in a strategic position which controls the exit of the Tempe valley, through which passes the main road connecting Macedonia with Thessaly and southern Greece. The tower, which overlooks the highway, is an imposing medieval fortress.

Mount Olympus It’s the tallest mountain in Greece with an altitude of 2.918 meters and was the residence of the 12 “Olympian” Gods where its highest peak called Pantheon (or Mytikas) was considered to be their meeting place. According to legend, they dwelled in the canyons, the “folds of Olympus”, as Homer used to call them, where also their palaces were located. The throne of Zeus, today’s “Wreath”, was dedicated exclusively to the leader of the gods, who used to unleash his thunders from there, showing his «Divine rage».Together with Zeus the 12 Gods are Hera, Estia, Demeter, Neptune, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Mars, Aphrodite and Hephaestus.

The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "blue and white" (Greek: Γαλανόλευκη, Galanólefki) or the "sky blue and white" (Κυανόλευκη, Kyanólefki), is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. The cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the prevailing religion of Greece. It was officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822. According to popular tradition, the nine stripes represent the nine syllables of the phrase Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος ("Freedom or Death"), the five blue stripes for the syllables Ελευθερία and the four white stripes ή Θάνατος.The nine stripes are also said to represent the letters of the word "freedom" (Greek: ελευθερία). There is also a different theory, that the nine stripes symbolise the nine Muses, the goddesses of art and civilisation (nine has traditionally been one of the numbers of reference for the Greeks). White and blue have been interpreted as symbolising the colours of the sky and sea.

The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, Peloponnese: The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus is regarded as the best preserved ancient theatre in Greece in terms of its perfect acoustics and fine structure. It was constructed in the late 4th century BC. It is situated near the ancient sanctuary of Asklepios, a celebrated healing center of the classical world. It was used as a therapeutic and religious center dedicated to Asklepios, the god of healing. Today the sanctuary is an extended archeological site with interesting buildings. Due to its incomparable acoustics, the actors can be perfectly heard by all 15,000 spectators, as you can even hear the sound of a pin dropping. It is known from the antiquity until the present days for its size, the unique architecture and harmonious proportions. It was built by the architect Polykleitos on the side of a mountain and overlooking the sanctuary of Asklepius. This is a superb example of classical theater with an orchestra and the circular area between the seats and the stage. The highest distance of the concave is 58 meters, while the diameter of the stage is 20 meters. For centuries the monument remained covered by a slope of trees until the year 1881, when several excavations took place. As the theatre was built after the classical times, not a single original ancient drama had been presented there, but all performances were repetitions of classic plays. Since 1938, when modern dramas started to be presented again in the theatre, it has hosted hundreds of plays. The famous Epidavria Festival, presently Athens Epidaurus Festival, begun in1954 and it is held every summer with famous ancient dramas or modern plays. Over the years, the festival has hosted both Greek and foreign artists.

Thessaly

.Volos

Velestino.

VELESTINO Velestino is built in the district of Thessaly and is located at 120 metres elevation on a hillside, at the southeastern end of the Thessalian plain, which is one of the biggest plains in our country. It is 17km away from Volos, a coastal port city with a population of about 145,000 people, in the centre of Greece. The city is the only outlet to the sea from Thessaly and is also built close to the mountain Pelio, which combines both sea and mountain and is a popular tourist attraction throughout the year.It is part of the Magnesia regional unit-Volos is the capital city-and embraces 24 villages. Mountain and sea are always very close to the inhabitants of Volos!

METEORA The Meteora are a collective of natural sandstone rock pillars, which have served as places of worship throughout modern history. With an average elevation of 313m (1027ft), the Meteora rocks stand proudly at the centre of an extraordinarily beautiful Greek landscape, housing 24 monasteries in total, of which 6 remain active. The name, ‘Meteora’ , means ‘middle of the sky’. Aptly named, the rock formations of Meteora jut out of the ground like giant fingers made of stone, allowing the various monasteries to sit, suspended in the air. It has taken millions of years for various forces of nature to sculpt out these unique rock pillars.

Volos city The city is the only outlet to the sea from Thessaly and is also built close to the mountain Pelio, which combines both sea and mountain and is a popular tourist attraction throughout the year.It is part of the Magnesia regional unit-Volos is the capital city-and embraces 24 villages. Mountain and sea are always very close to the inhabitants of Volos! At the end of the 19th century it was decided to build a railroad from Volos to Pelion villages. Evaristo de Chirico, an Italian engineer, father of the eminent surrealist painter and sculptor Giorgio de Chirico who was born in Volos, was put in charge of the project. Starting operation in 1895 the train remained in regular service till 1971.Since 1996 it operates again as a heritage railway for tourists during the summer season. In Greek mythology, Mount Pelio was the summer residence of the twelve gods and the homeland of the Centaurs, mythological creatures with the head of a human and the body of a horse. Chiron, the Centaur, was known for his wisdom and was the tutor of many ancient Greek heroes, such as Hercules and Jason. Jason was the son of Aeson, King of Iolkos (modern day Volos) who was told that he could have the throne back from his uncle Pelias if he sailed to Colchis(current day Georgia) to bring back the Golden fleece. He accepted the challenge, boarded the ship Argo and sailed from the part of Volos with his ‘dream team’ of heroes ,known as the Argonauts. As a nod to this ancient hero there’s a replica of an ancient Trireme ship berthed at the city’s port. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4lc7eLKdFc

Antonios Rigas Velestinlis Antonios Rigas Velestinlis (Αντώνιος Ρήγας Βελεστινλής) was born in 1757 into a wealthy family in the village of Velestino in the Sanjak of Tirhala, Ottoman Empire (modern Thessaly, Greece). He later was at some point nicknamed Pheraeos or Feraios, by future scholars, after the nearby ancient Greek city of Pherae, but he does not seem ever to have used this name himself; he is also sometimes known as Konstantinos or Constantine Rhigas (Κωνσταντίνος Ρήγας). He is often described as being of Aromanian ancestry, with his native village of Velestino being Aromanian.Rigas' family had its roots in Perivoli, another Aromanian village, but it usually overwintered in Velestino.Some scholars question whether there is good evidence for this. According to his partner Christoforos Perraivos, Rigas was educated at the school of Ampelakia, Larissa. Later he became a teacher in the village of Kissos, and he fought the local Ottoman presence. At the age of twenty he killed an important Ottoman figure, and fled to the uplands of Mount Olympus, where he enlisted in a band of soldiers led by Spiros Zeras. Rigas, by Peter von Hess. He later went to the monastic community of Mount Athos, where he was received by Cosmas, hegumen of the Vatopedi monastery; from there to Constantinople (Istanbul), where he became a secretary to the Phanariote Alexander Ypsilantis (1725-1805). Arriving in Bucharest, the capital of Ottoman Wallachia, Rigas returned to school, learned several languages and eventually became a clerk for the Wallachian Prince Nicholas Mavrogenes. When the Russo-Turkish War (1787-1792) broke out, he was charged with the inspection of the troops in the city of Craiova. Here he entered into friendly relations with an Ottoman officer named Osman Pazvantoğlu, afterwards the rebellious Pasha of Vidin, whose life he saved from the vengeance of Mavrogenes. He learned about the French Revolution, and came to believe something similar could occur in the Balkans, resulting in self-determination for the Christian subjects of the Ottomans; he developed support for an uprising by meeting Greek bishops and guerrilla leaders. After the death of his patron Rigas returned to Bucharest to serve for some time as dragoman at the Frenchconsulate. At this time he wrote his famous Greek version of La Marseillaise, the anthem of French revolutionaries, a version familiar through Lord Byron's paraphrase as "sons of the Greeks, arise". Born 1757 Feres (Velestino), Ottoman Empire(now Greece) Died 24 June 1798 (aged 40–41) Belgrade, Sanjak of Smederevo, Ottoman Empire(now Serbia) Era Age of Enlightenment Region Western philosophy School Modern Greek Enlightenment Main interests Popular sovereignty, civil liberties, constitutional state, freedom of religion, civic nationalism

Thessalian plain The Thessalian plain is the dominant geographical feature of the Greek region of Thessaly.The plain is formed by the Pineios River and its tributaries and is surrounded by mountains: the Pindus mountain range to the west, which separates Thessaly from Epirus; Mount Othrys and its outliers in the south; Thessalian plain to the east; Mount Ossa and Mount Olympus to the northeast, with the pass of the Tempe Valley leading to Macedonia.

2nd Primary School Feron 'Rigas Velestinlis' Our school, 2nd Primary School Feron 'Rigas Velestinlis' , is situated in a small market town called Velestino.The Greek writer and hero of the 1821 Greek revolution Rigas Feraios (Velestinlis) was born in Velestino in 1757, thus our school was named after him. The school is a six-teacher Primary school (i.e has 6 classes),and was founded in 1995.One hundred and two students aged between 6 and 12 years old attend our school. They learn basic skills in a number of subjects like Language Reading and Writing, Environmental Studies and Maths. Moreover in our syllabus there is a special place for foreign languages, as students start studying English at the age of six and later on, at the age of 11 ,learn either French or German, depending on their preferences. Special emphasis is also placed on Music, sports and new technologies, since all Greek pupils are engaged in these educational fields from the age of six. There are no students with severe learning disabilities in our school but there are children of Albanian origin, whose parents have migrated to Greece seeking better job prospects. Some of them don’t speak the Greek language fluently enough, so a special teacher to further help and encourage these kids has found a place in our school. In short, fourteen teachers teach in the school. Most of them have basic or advanced foreign language and ICT skills. They often make use of ICT knowledge in class ,to facilitate the whole teaching and learning process and modernize their teaching methods. Some of them have already participated in EU projects.

Traditional dishes of Greece: souvlaki gigantes or fasoles taramas greek salad green pie cheese pie and finally......... dessert !!!!