The Greek coastguard discovered the bodies of three girls. Credit: AMNA
The bodies of three migrant girls have been recovered by the Greek coastguard after their dinghy hit rocks on Chios Island in Greece.
19 migrants were rescued and the coastguard said three patrol vessels were looking for other possible survivors.
The boat began its journey to Greece from the Turkish Aegean coast opposite Chios.
Around 10,163 migrants reached Greece by sea so far this year.
Greece is a major arrival point for migrants seeking a better life in the European Union. For years, most headed for the eastern Aegean Sea islands, such as Lesvos, Chios, and Samos near the Turkish mainland.
But increased Greek and European Union sea patrols in the area have prompted smuggling gangs to also seek alternative routes, including from Libya to southern Crete and from Turkey to Italy around the southern Greek mainland.
Migrant flows to Greece move from the Aegean to Crete and Gavdos
Greece’s Immigration Minister expressed concern recently about the recent spike in the number of undocumented migrants arriving in the southern islands of Crete and Gavdos.
“The flow of migrants from eastern Libya is small, but with an increasing trend, which worries and concerns us, and that is why we are taking a series of initiatives to deal with this new front,” the Minister of Immigration and Asylum Dimitris Kairidis.
Earlier in April Greece pledged financial support for the Greek island of Gavdos and its larger neighbor Crete after a recent increase in migrant arrivals.
The tiny island of Gavdos, which has a population of just 70 people, lies south-west of Crete on a migrant route from Libya towards Europe. Since January this year, more than 1,180 migrants have arrived on both islands. The Libyan port of Tobruk is located around 200 kilometers away.
In contrast to the spike in southern Greece, Kairidis said that the situation is much better in the eastern Aegean and the border with Turkey at Evros.
“The situation in the eastern Aegean is very good as we are down more than 75 percent from the highs of last September and in the last few days, we have had almost no flow. At Evros, the flow has been reduced to zero,” the minister said.
Greece adopts tough policy on migration
Greece has adopted a tougher policy on illegal immigration during the reign of the conservative government.
PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently noted that “a fair migration policy does not mean open or non-existent borders, but rules.”
He pointed out that a European solution to the migration problem is needed and emphasized that the management of the problem will judge the credibility of the EU, adding that it must be proven in practice whether the EU knows how to translate its declarations into an effective policy.
He stressed that guarding its borders is non-negotiable for Greece. “An opponent of the state is anyone who is illegal,” Mitsotakis said, adding that illegal migrant flows in 2023 were much smaller than in previous years, and the government managed the problem much better than other European countries.
View of the Santorini caldera from Fira. Credit: Caleb Howells
There are numerous Greek islands, and they all have their own unique character. One particularly impressive island is Santorini. In fact, Santorini is made up of several islands making up a small, circular archipelago. This distinctive formation gives it a majestic appearance. But beyond simply admiring the geographical layout, there are lots of great things to do on Santorini. Let’s take a look at some of the best places to visit.
Oia
View of Oia, Santorini. Credit: Caleb Howells
One of the most striking things about Santorini is the display of whitewashed houses decorating the border of the caldera. This is perhaps the most famous feature of Santorini, and it is therefore the reason why many tourists visit. You certainly would not want to miss out on getting the best view possible.
While the famous white houses are scattered all over the island, the most beautiful concentration of them is Oia. This is the second-largest town on Santorini (although it is really just a village). It does not take too long to walk all around Oia, and doing so is a beautiful experience. The streets themselves are fascinating and full of all sorts of interesting sights. But the highlight, without any doubt, is the view overlooking the village itself.
Unlike some places, there is no single spot that you need to go to for a good view of the houses. Because of the haphazard way the houses are built into the rock, you can easily find countless spots that overlook beautiful parts of the village.
The Lost Atlantis Experience Museum
Lost Atlantis Experience Museum, Santorini. Credit: Caleb Howells
One thing that makes Santorini so interesting is the possibility that it was the origin behind Plato’s story of Atlantis. A museum has been set up on the island entirely dedicated to the legend of Atlantis and the theory that it came from stories of ancient Santorini (or Thera, as it is usually called in historical contexts).
This is a very impressive museum that is well worth visiting. To be clear, it is not a big museum. In fact, as you approach the building, you might be startled by how small it is. It does have two stories, however.
But what this museum lacks in size, it certainly makes up for in content. It is far more high tech than most museums, with various interactive displays. It even has some pseudo-holograms – one of Plato, and one of the island itself. One of the most impressive features is a large diorama of Atlantis, which is supposed to show exactly how Plato described it.
On top of all of this is a ‘9D’ cinematic experience, with moving chairs, falling ‘ash’ (don’t worry, you won’t get burned), and blasts of water and air, all put together to let you experience the famous eruption of the island that happened 3500 years ago. Visiting this museum is truly an experience, and the kids especially will feel that this is one of the best things on Santorini.
As of April 2023, there are at least two doctor fish spa treatments. These are places you can go to get your feet nibbled at by dozens of fish. If that doesn’t sound like a good time, bear in mind that the fish do not eat your healthy flesh. This is not like putting your feet into a tank full of piranhas. Rather, these fish – colloquially called ‘doctor fish’ but formally known as red garra – just nibble at the dead skin on your feet. They are very small, so they could not harm you even if they tried.
When you first put your feet in the tank, the fish swarm around them and start doing their work. For a lot of people, this initial sensation will likely tickle a lot. But after a few minutes, this discomfort goes away and it actually becomes quite relaxing. The best part, however, is after you take your feet out of the water and feel how smooth they now feel, with all the dead skin gone. The treatment is a highly unusual one, and that is exactly why it’s worth doing when you have the chance. Both treatment experiences are in Fira, the capital of Santorini.
Like all unusual treatments, this has some controversy surrounding it. Some critics say that it is unsanitary, while others say that there is no issue as long as the water is continuously cleansed. Obviously, each person should consider the risks before making the personal decision to do it.
One of the most famous things about Santorini is the eruption that occurred there in the 16th century BCE. This eruption, which may have been the largest eruption in all of human history, utterly destroyed the ancient Minoan civilisation on this island. It seems that one of the main Minoan settlements there was Akrotiri. Like Pompeii, this city was covered by volcanic ash, destroying it but also preserving it at the same time.
Only a small fraction of the Bronze Age city has been uncovered. A large structure has been built over it to protect it from the elements. This ongoing archaeological site is open to the public. You can walk around it on raised platforms that take you all around the ruins. It is remarkable to see so many buildings – many of them multi-storied – still half covered with ash from more than 3500 years ago.
However, it is important to realise that some of the most impressive things discovered from Akrotiri, the colourful wall frescoes, have not been left in place. To see those, you will have to go to the Museum of Prehistoric Thera, which is in Fira, the capital. But simply for the sake of seeing the physical buildings that were used by the Minoans, this archaeological site is well worth a visit.
Cryonics is a controversial and unproven procedure. Credit: Anders Sandberg, CC2/Flickr
A Greek entrepreneur created the first body-freezing facility in Australia aiming to resurrect the dead in the future.
Peter Tsolakides, who became interested in cryonics after reading Robert Ettinger’s book The Prospect of Immortality in the late 60s, founded Southern Cryonics to try to turn this idea into reality.
Cryonics, coming from the Greek word “krýos” for “icy cold,” involves the preservation of legally declared dead bodies at extremely low temperatures for potential future revival.
Southern Cryonics says that the procedure is the best option left when medicine can no longer help. “Cryonics patients are stored at very low temperature until medical science advances enough to be able to heal them, however long that takes, and they can resume their lives.”
The facility in Holbrook, New South Wales, uses this practice, with the expectation that one day, advancements in “medical technology and science” will “restore patients to health and in the young body.”
Tsolakides worked in the marketing organization of a major international oil company for over 30 years, with 24 years of overseas assignments including Thailand, Singapore, Japan and the US. But, his goal now is to make cryonics more accessible and widespread.
Peter Tsolakides: “I’d rather have a five percent possibility (of being revived) than zero percent.”
He recently told Daily Mail Australia that when passes away, he also plans for his body to be frozen so he may one day come back to life.
A common criticism of cryonics is that there is no guarantee that one will be revived in the future, which Tsolakides acknowledged. “There are no guarantees in cryonics, everybody is aware of that, especially those who sign up for the service,” he said.
“But I’d rather have a five percent possibility (of being revived) than zero percent.”
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, he revealed that currently 50 people, are willing to take the risk for a chance at life after death, and the number “is growing.”
This group consists of 35 “investors” each contributing $50,000 to $70,000, and 15 “subscribers” or “customers” who have paid $150,000 through life insurance.
Body freezing is a controversial and untested procedure
People can be frozen after death, but no one has ever been successfully revived.
Scientists say that there are major hurdles in the process including the fact that freezing damages cells, and we don’t know how to repair that damage well enough to bring someone back. Additionally, the brain’s complex structure might be especially vulnerable.
Critics argue that the chances of successfully reviving someone preserved through cryonics are extremely low, if not impossible, given our current understanding of biology and technology. Additionally, the long-term stability of cryonically-preserved bodies and the feasibility of future revival remains uncertain.
However, proponents of cryonics believe that advancements in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and medical science could one day make revival possible.
They argue that while cryonics is currently speculative, it represents a form of “medical optimism” that holds the potential to extend human life and overcome mortality.
Several companies offer cryonics services. The largest is Alcor Life Extension Foundation which claims to have the most advanced technology.
Others include the Cryonics Institute, a non-profit organization that provides cryopreservation for members, and KrioRus which is the first cryonics company in Eurasia, founded in Russia.
Battle of Salamis by artist Wilhelm von Kaulbach. The so-called Ionian Revolt was the beginning of a series of events and war reprisals between Ancient Greeks and Persians. (1868). Public Domain.
Around 540 BC, the cities of Ionia (Aegean coast of Asia Minor) had been conquered by Persia and thereafter were ruled by native tyrants nominated by the Persian satrap in Sardis. It was 499 BC when the Greek vassal-tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition on the side of the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer the Greek island of Naxos in an attempt to bolster his position.
The mission was a total failure, and sensing his imminent removal as tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king, Darius the Great.
In a desperate attempt to save himself, Aristagoras chose to incite his own subjects, the Milesians, to revolt against their Persian masters, thereby beginning the so-called revolt of Miletus.
This was the beginning of the Ionian Revolt, the associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus, and Caria—that is, the major uprising of several Greek regions and cities of Asia Minor against Persian rule lasting from 499 BC to 493 BC.
Persians and Ancient Greeks
The Greek cities of Ionian and Aeolia on the coast of Asia Minor had fallen into Persian hands in the aftermath of the Persian Conquest of Lydia (547 to 546 BC).
The Persians first crossed into Europe in around 513 BC when Darius launched a fairly unsuccessful campaign against the Scythian nomads north of the Danube. This was followed by the conquest of parts of Thrace in 512 BC, giving the Persians a foothold in Europe, and threatening the Greek grain trade routes into the Black Sea.
The obvious next target for Persian attack were the cities of mainland Greece, but the Ionian Revolt came first and gave the Persians a convincing reason for their invasion.
At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras.
The Ionian Revolt constituted the first major conflict between Greece and the Persian Empire, and as such, represents the first phase of the Greco-Persian Wars.
In 498 BC, supported by troops from Athens and Eretria, the Ionians marched on. Declining to personally lead the force, Aristagoras appointed his brother, Charopinus, and another Milesian, Hermophantus, as generals.
This force was then guided by the Ephesians through the mountains to Sardis, Artaphernes’s satrapal capital. The Greeks caught the Persians unaware and were able to capture the lower city. However, Artaphernes still held the citadel with a significant force of men.
The lower city then caught on fire. Herodotus suggests it was accidental, but the fact of the matter is the fire quickly spread. The Persians in the citadel, being surrounded by a burning city, emerged into the market-place of Sardis, where they fought with the Greeks, forcing them back. The Greeks, demoralized, then retreated from the city, and began to make their way back to Ephesus.
Herodotus reports that when Darius heard of the burning of Sardis, he swore vengeance upon the Athenians (after asking who they indeed were), and tasked a servant with reminding him three times each day of his vow: “Master, remember the Athenians.”
With all of Asia Minor firmly returned to Persian rule after the Persian counter-offensive (497–495 BC), the revolt was finally over. For the Persians, the only unfinished business that remained by the end of 493 BC was to exact punishment on Athens and Eretria for supporting the revolt.
The Ionian Revolt had severely threatened the stability of Darius’s empire, and the states of mainland Greece would continue to threaten that stability unless dealt with. Darius thus began to contemplate the complete conquest of Greece, beginning with the destruction of Athens and Eretria.
When the Persians destroyed Athens
In 480 BC, after the victory of Xerxes I at the Battle of Thermopylae, all of Boeotia fell to the Achaemenid Army. The two cities that had resisted Xerxes, Thespiae and Plataea, were captured and razed.
Attica was also left open to invasion, and the remaining population of Athens was thus evacuated, with the aid of the Allied fleet, to Salamis. The Peloponnesian Allies began to prepare a defensive line across the Isthmus of Corinth, building a wall and demolishing the road from Megara, thereby abandoning Athens to the Persians.
Credit: Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879 , Public Domain
Athens fell a first time in September 480 BC. The small number of Athenians who had barricaded themselves on the Acropolis were eventually defeated, and Xerxes then ordered Athens to be torched. The Acropolis was razed, and the Old Temple of Athena and the Older Parthenon destroyed, as Herodotus writes:
“Those Persians who had come up first betook themselves to the gates, which they opened, and slew the suppliants; and when they had laid all the Athenians low, they plundered the temple and burnt the whole of the acropolis.”
— Herodotus VIII.53
The statue “Nike (Victory) of Callimachus,” was severely damaged by the Achaemenids. It was erected next to the Older Parthenon in honor of Callimachus and the victory at the Battle of Marathon.
The statue depicts Nike (Victory) in the form of a woman with wings on top of an inscribed column. Its height is 4.68 meters, and it was made of Parian marble. The head of the statue and parts of the torso and hands were never recovered.
Xerxes also removed some of the statuary, such as the bronze statue of Harmodius and Haristogiton, “the Tyrant-slayers,” which was recovered by Alexander the Great in the Achaemenid capital of Susa two centuries later.
Column drums of the Older Parthenon were reused in the North wall of the Acropolis by Themistocles so that the Athenians always remember the sufferings of the Persian atrocities over Greeks.
Retaliatory burning of Persepolis
In the year 330 BC, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) conquered the Achaemenid Persian Empire following his victory over the Persian Emperor Darius III (r. 336-330 BC) at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC.
The burning of Persepolis by by Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse, 1890. Public Domain
After Darius III’s defeat, Alexander marched to the Persian capital city of Persepolis and, after looting its treasures, burned the great palace and surrounding city to the ground. This was after a drinking party and at the instigation of Thais, a hetaira (courtesan) from Athens (according to several much later Greek and Roman accounts from Plutarch, Arrian, Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus).
It was said that: “When the king [Alexander] had caught fire at their words, all leaped up from their couches and passed the word along to form a victory procession in honor of Dionysus. Promptly many torches were gathered. Female musicians were present at the banquet, so the king led them all out for the comus to the sound of voices and flutes and pipes, Thaïs the courtesan leading the whole performance. She was the first, after the king, to hurl her blazing torch into the palace. As the others all did the same, immediately the entire palace area was consumed, so great was the conflagration. It was remarkable that the impious act of Xerxes, king of the Persians, against the acropolis at Athens should have been repaid in kind after many years by one woman, a citizen of the land which had suffered it, and in sport.”
The Mosque in Thessaloniki was turned into a museum. Credit: Ggia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Hundreds of faithful gathered on Wednesday for the Eid Muslim prayers at Thessaloniki’s Yeni Mosque which opened for the first time in more than 100 years in Greece.
Crowds were seen arriving to pray early in the morning at the iconic Mosque led by the Egyptian Imam Taha Abd El-Galil, a Greek citizen and member of the religious committee of the Islamic mosque in Athens.
The prayer, which concluded after half an hour, was conducted in Arabic, followed by a sermon in both Arabic and Greek.
The decision by Greek authorities to open the Mosque for Muslim prayers follows a period when relations with Turkey improved following the visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Athens last December.
History of the Mosque in Thessaloniki
The Yeni Mosque was built by Italian architect Vitaliano Poselli in 1902 for the city’s Dönmeh community, crypto-Jewish converts to Islam. .
After the Greco-Turkish war of 1919-22 and the Treaty of Lausanne, the Dönmeh along with the other Muslims living in Greece were “exchanged” with Christians in Turkey (i.e., Greece and Turkey agreed to take in each other’s religious refugees resulting from the terms of the treaty).
Its minaret — like most minarets in Thessaloniki — was subsequently demolished. Christian refugees from Asia Minor lived inside the Yeni Mosque in 1924, after which time it became the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.
In its courtyard, there is a rich collection of marble sculptures from the Roman era and the early Christian period (sarcophagi, funerary monuments, reliefs, honorary and funerary columns) from all over Thessaloniki. Today it serves as an exhibition center and hosts various cultural activities.
Thessaloniki has several Ottoman buildings that represent part of the history of the second-largest Greek city.
Several mosques have been preserved, such as the Hamza Bey Camii of 1467 – 68, the Alaca Imaret Camii of 1484, the Yeni Camii of the early 20th century, as well as other public buildings, such as the Bay Hamam, an impressive double bath of the mid 15th century, an inn and some fountains in the upper city.
Greece opens Rhode’s Suleymaniye Mosque for prayers
Given the preparations for Ramadan, Greece has also decided to open the Suleymaniye Mosque on Rhodes for Eid prayers.
It was originally built after the Ottoman conquest of Rhodes in 1522 and is named after Sultan Suleiman to commemorate his conquest. The mosque was reconstructed in 1808 and has been restored several times since. It is the most significant surviving Ottoman-era monument in Rhodes.
In Attica, apart from the Athens Mosque in Votanikos, there are 15 licensed mosques. Unofficial ones are estimated at 55 to 60. There are some 300 mosques operating in Thrace, and one each in Kos, Rhodes, Thiva and Thessaloniki.
Muslim Greeks number about 125,000 and live primarily in Thrace. In Attica, Muslim refugees and migrants are estimated at 250,000.
Turkey disputes Greece’s right to establish a marine park in the Aegean. Credit: PM Press Office
On Tuesday Turkey contested the plan by Greece to establish a new marine park in the Aegean Sea saying that Athens does not have sovereignty over islands within the region.
“We recommend Greece not to involve the outstanding Aegean issues, and the issues regarding the status of some islands, islets and rocks whose sovereignty has not been ceded to Greece by the international treaties, within the frame of its own agenda,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
“We will not accept the fait accomplis that Greece may create on geographical features whose status is disputed,” it said.
“We would also like to advise third parties, including the EU, not to become a tool for Greece’s politically motivated attempts regarding environmental programs,” it said.
Greece responds to Turkey on Aegean marine park
Greece responded to the claims by accusing Turkey of “politicizing a purely environmental issue.”
“The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s announcement politicizes a purely environmental issue. The universal challenge of environmental protection should raise awareness among governments and not be used to create impressions,” the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes in its announcement.
It adds that “the Greek government will continue to unwaveringly support its sovereignty and sovereign rights country in the framework of foreign policy principles”.
Greece announced on Monday that it will launch two new marine parks in the Aegean and Ionian Seas to coincide with the Our Ocean Conference in Athens this week.
The first will span 11 groups of deserted islands and islets from west of the island of Milos to Nisyros, known as “the Greek Galapagos” due to their rich biodiversity. The second will encompass an area starting north of Kefalonia and ending at Kythera and Antikythera.
Environment and Energy Minister Theodoros Skylakakis told journalists that the two new national parks — one in the Ionian Sea for sea mammals and turtles, and another in the Aegean for seabirds, to be set into law by early next year.
Turkish challenge runs counter to “positive momentum” in relations
The challenge by Turkey on Greek sovereignty in the Aegean comes at a time when the two NATO allies reiterated their joint commitment to build on the existing positive momentum in their relationship.
After a long period of tensions marked by disputes over irregular migration, the Cyprus dispute, energy exploration, and territorial sovereignty in the Aegean, Turkey and Greece have been taking confidence-building steps for a fragile normalization of their relations.
This moved into a new chapter with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s landmark visit to Athens in December.
Greek runner Stylianos Kyriakides, the winner of the Boston Marathon. Courtesy of Dimitris Kyriakides
The 128th Boston Marathon which will be run on Monday, April 15 has a special significance for Greeks in America. Begun in 1897, the event was inspired by the success of the first marathon competition in the 1896 Athens Summer Olympics. It is the world’s oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world’s best-known road racing events.
It is also a race won in 1946 by Stylianos Kyriakides, a Greek Cypriot marathon runner. He became the first non-U.S. athlete to win the Boston race and with his victory, he raised awareness and money for the plight of post-war Greece.
“I came to run for seven million hungry Greeks,” were Kyriakides’ words upon his arrival in the United States—and he was and looked very hungry and unhealthy himself—so much so that race doctors asked him to sign a statement before he ran that he would be solely responsible if something happened to him.
Kyriakides had fought against the Nazis as a member of the Greek Resistance during the German Occupation. After the war, which left Greece devastated and impoverished, he traveled to the U.S. not only to run but also to tell people about Greece’s suffering.
Kyriakides later said that while he was running in Boston on April 20, 1946, Greek expatriates and journalists there cheered him on, shouting: “For Greece, my Stelios, for your children!”
The Greek athlete finished the marathon in 2:29:27, setting a new European record, and for almost twenty-three years, a Greek record, earning an entry into the Guinness Book of Records.
Wreath ceremony for the winners of the Boston Marathon
Each year, olive wreaths are cut on the plains of Marathon, fashioned into wreaths, and then gifted by the Greek people to the Boston Marathon winners. Credit: Alpha Omega Council
In 1984, in recognition of the historic ties that continue to this very day between the birthplace of democracy in ancient Athens and the City of Boston, the birthplace of the American Revolution in 1775, a team of people of the Alpha Omega Council created the tradition of presenting the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) with olive branch wreaths to crown the four first-place winners of the Boston Marathon.
This tradition continues this year with the special wreath ceremony taking place on April 12. The honorable Symeon Tegos, Consulate General of Greece in Boston, with the support of The Alpha Omega Council and the 26.2 Foundation, will present the winners’ wreaths to BAA.
Alpha Omega was founded in 1976 by a group of friends and businessmen in Boston, Massachusetts, under the leadership of the late Peter Agris, the publisher of The Hellenic Chronicle, an English-language weekly newspaper targeting the Greek-American community.
The Alpha Omega Council is comprised of Americans of Hellenic ancestry in Business, Education, Academia, Medicine, Law, Politics, Science and other fields.
Its mission is to promote and encourage loyalty and patriotism to the United States of America; to cultivate the ideals of Hellenism; to constantly strive towards maintaining positive Greek-American relations; to unite Americans of Greek descent in fellowship and philanthropy; to help recognize the achievements of those who excel in their field individually or as a group; to help alleviate the wants of the poor and needy; and to establish, maintain or aid religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational activities.
Since its inception, the Alpha Omega Council has contributed over $3,000,000 to various philanthropic causes, not including the annual Peter Agris Memorial Journalism Scholarship Awards
In the wake of the bombings at the Boston Marathon in 2013, the Alpha Omega Council and the Consulate General of Greece in Boston launched the Marathon Educational Committee, to create educational initiatives to encourage an appreciation of the traditions of civic responsibility and liberty that the ancient Greeks demonstrated at Marathon.
The wine jar was looted by the Germans in 1943 during excavations at the southernmost end of the Corinth Canal. Credit: Ministry of Culture
An oenochoe, or wine jug, of the 7th century BC that was looted from Greece during the German occupation in World War II, was returned by the Municipality of Hanover and the August Kestner Museum, the Greek Ministry of Culture announced on Tuesday.
The oenochoe has a trefoil-shaped mouth and a cover and is dated to 620-600 BC. Traces of the decoration around its neck are still visible.
Intermediate between a pithos (large storage vessel) or amphora (transport vessel), and individual cups or bowls, it held fluid for several persons temporarily until it could be poured. The oinochoe could pour any fluid, not just wine. The English word, pitcher, is perhaps the closest in function.
Ancient wine jar was looted from near the Corinth Canal
The vessel had been given to the August Kestner Museum by geology professor Hannfrit Putzer in 1986. It was accompanied by a letter of provenance, which said it had been handed over to him after being discovered by Germans in 1943 during excavations at the southernmost end of the Corinth Canal.
The vessel was also accompanied by a description of the trench and its position in it.
Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni hailed the return of the ancient wine jar, saying that the German museum dared to do proper research on illicitly acquired antiquities.
“The August Kestner Museum joins the group of international museums that have in recent years made great efforts to investigate provenance issues of artifacts in their collections. These (are) museums whose officials have the courage to publicize the results of their research and return to Greece the objects they have determined are linked to illegal acts.”
The oenochoe’s provenance was researched by Dr. Johannes Schwarz, who was assigned by the Museum the research into the provenance of its objects.
The Museum also reached out to the Greek Ministry of Culture for the archaeological excavation background. The entire process took two years until the vessel was handed over by the mayor to the Greek consul general in a ceremony at the Museum in Hanover on Monday that included ministry and Museum officials and members of the local Greek community as well.
“The decision of the Municipality of Hanover and the August Kestner Museum is actual proof of their wish to contribute to the restoration of the damage Greece’s cultural heritage suffered, but also to defend the reputation of the August Kestner Museum, ” Mendoni said.
A report in Deutsche Welle says that a book was published recently after years of research documenting in detail the looting of antiquities between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The book “Constantinople—Samos—Berlin: Forfeiture, Division of Finds and Clandestine Export of Antiquities on the Eve of the First World War” consists of essays that reconstruct in detail the history of excavations of the then Royal (today: National) Museums in Berlin on Samos.
The Germans also conducted official excavations at ancient Olympia during the occupation, removing all the finds to Germany. Places like Eleusis experienced large-scale looting, with many artifacts disappearing from the area.
Due to the chaotic nature of wartime looting, many smaller items taken by soldiers remain undocumented. These objects could be anything from coins to figurines.
Detail from “The Exodus from Missolonghi” (1853) – Theodoros Vryzakis
On April 10, 1826 and after a year of siege, the 10,500 Missolonghi inhabitants made the heroic “Exodus of Missolonghi,” adding another brilliant page to the Greek War of Independence history.
It was April 15, 1825, three years after the failed attempt to occupy Missolonghi, that the Ottoman armies returned to besiege the city that had become the seat of the Senate of Western Continental Greece.
The army of Resid Mehmed Pasha, or Kioutachis, as Greeks called him, numbering 20,000 men, began the second siege of the city, later to be joined by another 10,000 men under Ibrahim Pasha, who arrived from the Peloponnese campaign.
The siege of the city can be divided into two periods: the first period is from April 15th to December 12, 1825, while the second period spans from December 25, 1825 to April 10, 1826. Without significant help from the rest of Greece, due to the civil war and having to cope with superior enemy forces, the Missolonghi residents were able to resist for a whole year.
A three-man committee composed of Ioannis Papadiamantopoulos, Dimitrios Themelis, and Georgios Kanavos organized the city’s defense.
The fortress of the city after the first siege had been restored and fortified following the efforts of Alexandros Mavrokordatos, the great philhellene Lord Byron, and engineer Michail Kokkinis.
Its trench was now deeper and the courtyard was reinforced with towers on which several cannons had been placed. The islet of Vassiladi between the lagoon and the sea became a kind of advanced fortress. There were six guns and 2,000 women and children who were gathered so as not to burden the city guard.
10,000 Greeks inside Missolonghi
Within Missolonghi there were 10,000 residents, including 4,000 men, excellent warriors from Epirus and Aitoloakarnania, and another 1,000 men capable of managing weapons.
Missolonghi under siege. Public Domain
During the first phase of the siege (April 15 to December 12, 1825) Missolonghi was besieged only by the forces of Kioutachis, and their attacks were easily repelled. The siege from the sea was not strong enough and was repeatedly disrupted by Andreas Miaoulis’ fleet which supplied the besieged citizens with munitions and food.
On July 24th, 1,000 Russian soldiers under Georgios Karaiskakis forced the Ottomans to withdraw their forces to the foot of Mount Zygos, relieving the siege of Missolonghi. The Turkish fleet, being harassed by the Greek boats, was forced to seek shelter in English-ruled Kefalonia.
On August 5th, Kitsos Tzavellas, head of a group of fighters from Souli, entered the city, raising the morale of the besieged. However, at the beginning of November, a fleet of Ottomans and Egyptians brought 8,000 Egyptian soldiers to the siege, and a month later, the army of Ibrahim Pasha came to the region.
At the time, Ibrahim’s army numbered 25,000 troops, comprised of Ottomans, Egyptians, and Albanians. They were commanded by French officers and had modern artillery at their disposal.
Second phase of siege of Missolonghi
It was December 25, 1825 when the second phase of the siege began. The two generals of the Ottoman forces were in disagreement, and Ibrahim attacked the city first. On January 16, 1826; Ibrahim admitted his failure in conquering the city and was forced to cooperate with Kioutachis.
The two armies had stunned the besieged Greeks with a ruthless bombardment. They managed to dominate the strategically important islets of Vassiladi (February 25th) and Kleisovas (March 25th). After the fall of the two islets, the situation for the besieged became desperate, as Miaoulis and his ships could no longer bring supplies to the city.
Missolonghi was now without food. Soon, they were forced to eat seaweed, mice, and cats. Under the circumstances, it was impossible for the city to defend itself. On April 6th, the board of chieftains decided to make the exodus at midnight on the Saturday of Lazarus through the dawn of Palm Sunday (April 9th to April 10th).
At midnight, according to plan, they were divided into three groups under Dimitrios Makris, Notis Botsaris, and Kitsos Tzavelas in the hope of breaking enemy lines and taking the enemy by surprise. Earlier, they had killed all Ottoman prisoners while only the wounded and the very old would remain in the city.
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Heroic exodus of Missolonghi
However, the plan was not properly executed or there was a traitor who betrayed the scheme to the Ottomans. Ibrahim’s forces slaughtered the Greek freedom fighters who fought against all odds. Meanwhile, the enemy forces had invaded the city and killed everyone who was left behind.
It is estimated that 3,000 Greek men were killed during the Exodus of Missolonghi. The 6,000 women and children of the city were taken as slaves and sold to the slave markets of Constantinople and Alexandria. The Ottoman-Egyptian casualties amounted to 5,000 men.
The Ottoman victory proved to be Pyrrhic, as the barbarity of Ibrahim’s troops and the heroism of the Greeks generated a new wave of philhellenism throughout Europe.
Missolonghi was liberated on May 11, 1829. In 1937, it was recognized as “Holy City” due to the mass slaughter of its citizens, and Palm Sunday was designated as the anniversary of the Exodus.
Pregnancy may accelerate biological aging, new study finds. Credit: Pexels. CC BY 2.0/Pixabay
A new study has found that pregnancy accelerates biological aging with each baby causing women to grow older by up to 2.8 months.
It is well understood that pregnancy can have long-term health impacts. However, previous research has shown these to be largely beneficial, such as lowering the risk of cancer or dementia. Now, new research conducted by Columbia University in New York has shown carrying a baby exerts such a toll on the body that it causes a woman to age internally.
The study, which was carried out on 1,735 young people in the Philippines, examined alterations to DNA to calculate the biological age of mothers compared with their actual age.
At the start of the study, in 2005, all the participants were of the 20 to 25 age group. They all provided their blood samples and answered a few questions on their reproductive and sexual history. Each woman also responded to questions like how many times she had been pregnant and whether or not pregnancies had resulted in live births.
Throughout the lifespan, as a person ages, small molecules are accreted to their DNA, providing updated instructions about how to function. These “tags,” so to say, accumulate at a steady rate and can be used as a kind of clock that reveals age.
Each additional pregnancy was associated with between 2.4 and 2.8 months of accelerated biological aging.
The research team found men were not impacted in the same way with their DNA unaffected by fatherhood, implying it is something about pregnancy or breastfeeding specifically which speeds up biological aging, the researchers said.
What the pregnancy-aging study tells us
“Our findings suggest that pregnancy speeds up biological [aging] and that these effects are apparent in young, high-fertility women,” Dr. Calen Ryan, lead author of the study and associate research scientist in the Columbia Aging Center told The Telegraph.
“Our results are also the first to follow the same women through time, linking changes in each woman’s pregnancy number to changes in her biological age.
“Ultimately I think our findings highlight the potential long-term impacts of pregnancy on women’s health, and the importance of taking care of new parents, especially young mothers,” Ryan said.
The bodies of women who stated they had been pregnant appeared biologically older than women who had never carried a baby. Women who had been pregnant more often were biologically older than those who reported fewer pregnancies.
Even taking into account other factors linked with biological aging, such as socioeconomic status, smoking and genetic variation, the relationship between pregnancy history and biological age remained.
Ryan added, “We still have a lot to learn about the role of pregnancy and other aspects of reproduction in the [aging] process. We also do not know the extent to which accelerated epigenetic [aging] in these particular individuals will manifest as poor health or mortality decades later in life.”
In 2023, a study which employed the UK Biobank found genes which encourage people to have more children also push them towards an early death.
