A three-member misdemeanors court issued its verdict on the 21 defendants on Monday. Credit: Greek Reporter
A Greek court on Monday found six people, five top officers from the Fire Brigade and Civil Protection and a resident, guilty of the 2018 fire in Mati. Mati is east of Athens. The wildfire claimed the lives of 104 people.
None of the politicians among the 21 defendants was found guilty by the three-member misdemeanors court. All five convicted officials were let go and allowed to pay fines in lieu of serving their sentences, estimated at up to 40,000 euros ($43,000) each.
The verdict announcement triggered an angry reaction among victims’ relatives and the burn victims present in the courtroom.
“They should have walked into prison on their own. All of them innocent? There is no justice!” exclaimed a relative of a victim, who approached the front of the courtroom and began shouting at the defendants.
“Damned, you have no shame! Not even a single apology,” yelled another relative of a victim, as many others broke into tears.
Among those found guilty is Sotiris Terzoudis, the chief of the Fire Department at the time, Vasilis Matthaiopoulos then deputy chief, and Ioannis Fostieris then head of the Unified Operations Coordination Center (ESKE).
Furthermore, a guilty verdict was passed on Konstantinos Angelopoulos, the man who with criminal negligence, lit a fire in Daou Penteli, even though there were gale-force winds, which ultimately led to the disaster.
In February, the trial prosecutor, Panagiotis Maniatis, recommended guilty verdicts for nine defendants and the acquittal of twelve
others, including the then-Attica regional governor, Rena Dourou, and the then-mayor of Marathon, Ilias Psinakis. The court dismissed the guilty verdict on the above.
The risk of the statute of limitations looms even though the decision will finally be issued. Until the decision becomes final, after possible appeals to the Supreme Court, the time limits remain tight.
The Mati fire was the worst disaster of modern Greek history
It has been six years since the devastating fires of July 23, 2018 at the seaside Athens resort of Mati that left the nation plagued by unforgettable and horrifying images and accounts of the incident. That day’s fear and devastation still haunt the Greek people.
As photos and footage from that day re-emerge in the media and the posts of victim’s relatives and friends again flood social media, a resounding “WHY” still looms unanswered. The Mati fire was the worst of a series of wildfires in Greece that began in the coastal areas of Attica in July 2018.
The fires were, at that time, the second-deadliest wildfire event in the 21st century, following the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Australia that killed 173.
The flames were so intense they trapped and burned people in their homes, cars, or even a few meters away from the beach. Thousands of vehicles and houses were destroyed before the fire was brought under control hours later. An entire summer camp of 620 children was evacuated in an overnight operation. Many animals (wild and domestic) died or were injured due to the fire.
Over 700 residents were evacuated or rescued, mainly from the seaside settlements located north of the port town of Rafina, namely Kokkino Limanaki and Mati, where rescuers found 26 corpses trapped just meters away from the sea, apparently hugging each other as they died.
Boats also recovered corpses from the water and rescued hundreds of people from beaches and the sea. Two people drowned when the boat rescuing them from a hotel in Mati capsized.
Μore than 4,000 residents were affected by the wildfires. Then-Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared a state of emergency in Attica and announced three days of national mourning, stating in a televised address, “The country is going through an unspeakable tragedy.”
It’s fairly well known that the words to the US National Anthem were written by a 33-year old lawyer named Francis Scott Key, as he watched the British Royal Navy bombarding Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbour on the 13th and 14th September 1814.
The words that he wrote convey perfectly the sense of pride he felt as he saw the huge US flag still flying over the fort in “the dawn’s early light”.
Oh! Say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there. Oh! Say, does the Star-Spangled Banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?
He wrote the words as a song, and with a very specific tune in mind. Known as “Anacreon in Heaven,” the tune was well-known in America at the time and was often used for patriotic songs. Francis Scott Key himself had earlier written another patriotic song, called “The Warrior Returns,” to the same tune.
What Francis Scott Key didn’t know was that the tune had been written 36 years earlier—and in Britain.
Tune of US National Anthem created in honor of Greek poet Anacreon
In 1766, a gentlemen’s club was formed in London with the aim of creating a society dedicated to conviviality, wit, and good wine. Notable members included Samuel Johnson, the poet and playwright; Sir Joshua Reynolds, the renowned portrait painter; and Henry Purcell, the composer. Franz Joseph Hayden, the composer, was a frequent guest.
They called their club The Anacreontic Society, after the Ancient Greek lyric poet who was noted for his drinking songs and erotic poems.
Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ancient Ionic dialect. Like all early lyric poetry, it was composed to be sung or recited to the accompaniment of music, usually the lyre. Anacreon’s poetry touched on universal themes of love, infatuation, disappointment, revelry, parties, festivals, and the observations of everyday people and life.
A long-term president of the society, Ralph Tomlinson, wrote the words to what he intended to be an anthem for the society; he called it “To Anacreon In Heaven.”
To Anacreon in Heav’n, where he sat in full Glee, A few Sons of Harmony sent a Petition, That he their Inspirer and Patron would be; When this answer arriv’d from the Jolly Old Grecian “Voice, Fiddle, and Flute, “no longer be mute, “I’ll lend you my Name and inspire you to boot, “And, besides I’ll instruct you, like me, to intwine “The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus’s Vine.”
On his death in 1778, the society decided to commission suitable music to accompany Tomlinson’s words so that it could be sung as the anthem that Tomlinson had intended.
The organist and composer John Stafford Smith was given the job of creating music for Tomlinson’s words. Unfortunately, the words that he had written were quite torturous and the music that Stafford Smith created meant that the anthem was particularly difficult to sing. It was often used as a test of sobriety in the society; if you could sing the first verse and stay in tune and in time, then you clearly weren’t drunk enough!
The sobriety test aspect of the song soon escaped from the society into the pubs and taverns in England as a drinking song. It was common to make up different words to the tune, and these were often bawdy, as might be expected in a drinking house.
The tune became a firm favorite in America
When the disaffected and the persecuted left Britain for a better life in the United States, they took their drinking songs with them, and the tune became a firm favorite in America, where it was known as “Anacreon in Heaven.” What happened to the preceding “To” isn’t known.
Whilst the British had made up bawdy words to the tune, Americans generally made up patriotic words. In quite a short time, the British origins of the tune were lost and it became accepted as American.
When Francis Scott Key sent his patriotic song to be published, he gave it the title of “The Defence Of Fort McHenry” and added that it was to the tune “Anacreon in Heaven.”
The music and words were later reprinted by the Carr’s Music Store in Baltimore under the title The Star-Spangled Banner—and the name stuck. The sheet music also indicated that the tune was “Anacreon in Heaven” so that those who couldn’t read music were still able to sing it.
Soon the song was everywhere; all who heard it felt the same sense of pride in the stout defiance of the little fort against the might of the greatest navy on the planet.
Although the US Navy began using The Star-Spangled Banner at all flag-raising ceremonies in 1898, it wasn’t until March 3, 1931 that President Herbert Hoover signed the bill that made The Star-Spangled Banner the national anthem of the United States of America.
Although every American knows how to sing their anthem, it’s less well known that the tune is British and even less well known that it was written to honor a Greek.
Konstantinos Cavafy or Kavafis, the Greek poet and master at saying a lot with very little.
Konstantinos Kavafis — or Constantine Peter Cavafy as he was internationally known — was one of the greatest Greek poets.
He was born in Alexandria, Egypt on April 29, 1863, the last of nine children of the wealthy merchant Petros-Ioannou Kavafis. He died on the very same date seventy years later, in 1933.
In a short autobiography, Kavafis wrote of his life:
“I hail from Constantinople, but I was born in Alexandria – in a house on Sherif Street. When I was very young I left and spent much of my childhood in England. I visited this country after a long time but stayed for a short while. I lived in France too. In my teenage years, I lived for over two years in Constantinople. I had not visited Greece for many years. My last job was as an employee of a government office of the Egyptian Ministry of Public Works. I speak English, French, and a little Italian.”
Incredibly, the man known above all else for his poetry Kavafis never published his poems in book form during his lifetime.
Instead, he preferred to give them to newspapers and magazines to publish, or simply handwrote them and gave them away to anyone who was interested.
Beloved Alexandria was Kafavis’ base
He wrote 154 poems and dozens of sketches and left behind a number of unfinished pieces. The first book of his poems was only published in 1935, two years after his death.
Kavafis lost his father at the age of seven, the death forcing his mother Harikleia to take the family and move to London, and then to Liverpool.
The young Konstantinos learned English and cultivated an interest in literature early on in life. However, financial problems forced the family to move again in 1878, this time back to Alexandria.
In 1882 the nationalist riots in Egypt prompted the Kavafis family to relocate yet again, but to Constantinople this time. He made his first systematic efforts to write poetry during his stay in this great city, with the very first poem in his archives appearing to have been written in 1882.
The works “Beizades to His Mistress” (1884), “Dunya Guzeli” (1884) and “Nihori” (1885) show how deeply the Byzantine city had inspired him.
In October of 1885 Kavafis returned to Alexandria, along with his mother and his two brothers, Alexander and Paul, after receiving compensation for the destructive riots of 1882.
One of his first decisions upon his return there was to acquire Greek citizenship. Kavafis then began to work, first as a journalist and then as a broker at Egypt’s Cotton Stock Exchange.
In 1889, he was initially recruited to work as an unpaid secretary to the country’s Irrigation Service; in 1892 he became a salaried employee there, a post in which he would remain until 1922, even reaching the rank of Deputy Mayor.
In 1891, Kavafis saw his first remarkable poem “Builders,” published. He wrote some of his most important pieces, such as “Candles” (1893), “Walls” (1896) and “Waiting for the Barbarians” (1899) from 1893 until the end of the century.
Greek poet Kavafis. Public Domain
The poet’s mother passed away in 1899, and Kavafis wallowed in his grief for a long period of time.
In 1902 Kavafis traveled to Greece for the very first time in his life; it was in Athens where he met his future colleagues Grigorios Xenopoulos and Ioannis Polemis.
In a letter he wrote upon arriving in the Greek capital, he said he felt like a Muslim pilgrim who travels to Mecca.
He visited Athens again during the next year, and on Nov. 30 of the same year, Xenopoulos wrote the historical article “A Poet,” which appeared in Panathenaea magazine.
This was the first time Kavafis’ work had received any attention and praise from the Greek public.
Kavafis settled in the house at 10 Lepsius Street in Alexandria, where he would spend the rest of his life writing the most important poems of his oeuvre, in December of 1907.
With his literary reputation on the rise, he received a number of renowned visitors to his home, including Tommaso Marinetti, Andres Malraux, Nikos Kazantzakis, Kostas Ouranis and Myrtiotissa.
Kavafis and his famous poem, “Ithaca”
In 1911, Kavafis wrote his famous poem, “Ithaca.” Three years later, he met the great English novelist Edward Morgan Forster and became friends with him; five years later, Forster would introduce the poetry of Kavafis to the English-speaking world.
Kavafis was finally able to resign from his work as a public servant to dedicate himself to his poetry in April of 1922.
“At last, I was released from that hateful thing,” he later wrote.
In the following year the poet’s last living brother, John Kavafis, who had been the first admirer and translator of Konstantinos’ work, passed away.
In 1926, the Greek government awarded Kavafis their greatest honor, the Medal of the Order of the Phoenix.
He began to suffer from problems with his larynx and doctors diagnosed cancer in 1930.
Kavafis soon found himself unable to speak, and in 1932 he was subjected to a tracheotomy operation in Athens.
The poet returned to Alexandria, with his health constantly deteriorating, in 1933. In early April he was transferred to the Hellenic Hospital and at 2 AM on April 29, 1933, the poet breathed his last breath at the age of 70.
Kavafis brought an international aura to modern Greek poetry
Scholar Maria Akritidou wrote about the great man’s work “Konstantinos Kavafis is a hypermodern poet, a poet for later generations.”
“Apart from its historical, psychological and philosophical value, the austerity of his style, which sometimes touches on laconism, his weighted enthusiasm that appeals to emotional intellectualism, his correct phrasing, the result of a classy naturalness, his slight irony, represent elements which will be further appreciated by future generations, motivated by the progress of the discoveries and the subtlety of the mental mechanism.”
Greece 2021, the organization which organizes the events of the Greek Bicentennial, wrote about Kavafis:
“The ‘Alexandrian’ (1863-1933) brought an international aura to modern Greek poetry. Modern, even before modernism was a term, a scholar and an aesthetician, a realist, and lover of detailed verse. He compelled Greek poetry with his hedonistic, esoteric sentiment in the social context of the time. He glorified beauty and pleasure of the flesh.
“He was a master at saying a lot with very little. His style was ironic, esoteric, unrhymed, focused on detail and precise expression, qualities that made him a novelty among the poets of his time. Although his bibliography is rather small, just 154 published poems, it is an inexhaustible field for humanistic and poetry studies.”
The first of the seven days leading up to Easter, called Great and Holy Week in the Greek Orthodox Church, is Holy Monday. The Church has dedicated this day to the memory of Saint Joseph Pangalos, the 11th son of the great Hebrew patriarch Jacob.
Joseph was a virtuous man who chose to live his life as such—something which bothered his older brothers, who decided to sell him as a slave.
He was sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard in Egypt.
Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph, but he refused her advances. This enraged the rejected woman, who then made false claims that Joseph tried to rape her. Joseph was then thrown into prison.
Joseph was able to leave prison after interpreting one of Pharaoh’s dreams in which he predicted seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine.
St. Joseph is honored on Holy Monday in Greek Orthodox Church
“St. Joseph Explaining his Dream,” Wurzinger, 1845. Credit: Public Domain
Joseph advised the Pharaoh to store surplus grain against the coming famine, and by doing so, he saved the people of Egypt.
Following the fulfillment of the prediction, Joseph became Vizier and took the name of Zaphnath-Paaneah.
The man who was once sold into slavery by his brothers was now one of the most powerful men in Egypt, responsible for food distribution in the kingdom.
As Joseph’s brothers were on the verge of starving to death, they traveled to Egypt and presented themselves to him, begging for his help.
Although the brothers did not recognize Joseph, he realized who they were and helped them, showing the greatness of his soul.
Holy Monday sets the stage for Greek Orthodox Easter
For Christians, Joseph is seen as a prototype of Jesus, one who endures great hardships yet perseveres and goes on to save his people.
For the Greek Orthodox Church, Holy Monday is also known as the day which commemorates the withering of the fruitless fig tree, a symbol of judgment which befalls those who do not bring forth the fruits of repentance.
In addition, for Greeks, Holy Monday marks the beginning of the preparations for the celebration of Easter in villages across the country. People paint flower pots red and use paint to outline their yards in white.
About Easter in the Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Easter, or Pascha, is the most important religious feast of the year with customs and traditions that have been part of Christianity for over two thousand years.
The 40-day period of Lent before Easter (Πάσχα-Pascha), the solemnity of Holy Week, the rich symbolism, and the unique traditions of Orthodox Easter make it a very different experience from the Easter celebrated by Western Christians.
The way Greek Orthodox Easter is observed by the faithful is very unlike the way it is commemorated by Western Christians; different symbols are used to symbolize the Resurrection, and Easter is often observed on different dates.
Every Easter, Greeks thank and honor Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, and we celebrate the miracle of the Resurrection, the rise of Jesus Christ from the dead and the promise of an afterlife.
Gold stater of the Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides. Credit: Public Domain, illustration by Greek Reporter
Bactria, a huge area in what is today Afghanistan, was the eastern edge of the ancient Greek empire, established by Alexander the Great. After Alexander’s death, amid the constant wars and squabbling of his generals, Bactria eventually rose to become an independent Hellenistic successor state.
The Kingdom of Bactria was located north of the Hindu Kush mountain range and south of the Amu Darya river on the plateau where Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are today.
After the death of Alexander, his empire was divided up among the generals in his army. Bactria became a part of the Seleucid Empire, named after its founder, General Seleucus.
Seleucus I and his son Antiochus I went on to establish a great many Greek towns. The Greek presence was so overpowering that the Greek language remained prominent in the region for some time.
Bactria the eastern edge of the Greek empire
However, one of the lesser-known reasons for the overwhelming Greek cultural influence in the region was the mass deportations of Greeks to Bactria. During the reign of Darius I, every single one of the inhabitants of the Greek city of Barca in Cyrenaica was deported to Bactria for refusing to surrender suspected assassins to authorities.
The Persian King Xerxes also sent prisoners to the area. The “Branchidae” were the descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma and had surrendered the temple to him. The Greek historian Herodotus also records a Persian commander threatening to enslave the daughters of the revolting Ionians and send them to Bactria.
Diodotus I, the satrap, or ruler, of Bactria, declared independence from the Seleucid kings in the year 245 B.C., conquering Sogdia and becoming the founder of the great Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Diodotus and his successors resisted continued attacks from the Seleucids, particularly from Antiochus III the Great, who was ultimately defeated by the Romans in 190 BC.
Map of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Credit: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
The Greco-Bactrians became very powerful militarily and succeeded in expanding their territory as far as present-day India.
The Greeks who had instigated the Bactrian revolt had become extremely wealthy, partially due to the great fertility of their country. Their great wealth enabled them to become masters not only of Bactria but also of India.
Greek language for administrative purposes
The Greco-Bactrians used the Greek language for administrative purposes, and the local languages were also influenced by Hellenism, as suggested by their adoption of the Greek alphabet and Greek words.
Bactrian King Euthydemus I and his son Demetrius I crossed the Hindu Kush mountains and began their conquest of the Indus Valley. Within a short time, they were so powerful that a Greek empire seemed to be on the rise in the East.
However, corruption and internal feuds tore the nascent empire apart. When Demetrius advanced far east of the Indus River, one of his generals, Eucratides, pronounced himself king of Bactria.
Usurpers suddenly arose in every province. All of them desired to be kings, and they fought bitterly against each other.
Many of them did become kings, as evidenced by the many gold coins found centuries later in Afghanistan, but they were kings only within their own provinces. The internecine wars between them had taken a great and irreversible toll, destroying much of what had made their societies progressive and diminishing the Hellenic element.
After Demetrius and Eucratides, the kings abandoned the Attic standard of coinage and introduced a native one to attract support from non-Greeks.
In the Indus Valley, the Indo-Greek king Menander I converted to Buddhism. The last known Indo-Greek ruler, King Strato II, ruled in the Punjab region until around 55 B.C., according to some sources. Others place the end of Strato II’s reign as late as 10 A.D.
A violent altercation took place on Sunday morning in Athens. Credit: Jebulon, Wikimedia Commons, CC0-1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
A violent altercation between two young men took place outside a popular nightclub in Marousi, Athens in the early hours of Sunday morning at around 03:30 AM EEST (00:30 UTC).
The altercation unfortunately ended in tragedy, as one of the young men involved lost his life soon after. The victim was a 23-year-old man. However, he was not the only one. A 26-year-old man was also seriously injured in the event.
According to reports from Greece’s public broadcaster ERT, which is quoting unverified police sources, the two men engaged in a heated argument as they were leaving the nightclub. However, no clear reason or motive has been established as of yet. This altercation quickly escalated into a physical confrontation. During the altercation, gunshots were fired, and a knife was allegedly used, as the 23-year-old was found to have sustained knife wounds.
Emergency services, including ambulances from Greece’s EKAB service, were promptly dispatched, and they rushed to the scene. Upon arrival, police officers and paramedics discovered the 23-year-old man bleeding from a neck wound, likely caused by a knife.
Additionally, a bullet as well as a 22-caliber pistol were found nearby in a flower pot. Despite every possible effort to save his life, the young man succumbed to his injuries during transport to Athens‘ Red Cross hospital.
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old man who was also found on the scene with a serious abdominal injury was rushed to the hospital, too. His injuries were possibly from a gunshot wound. The man is currently receiving treatment for his injuries.
Greek police (ELAS) have now launched an investigation into the incident, trying to determine the motive behind this violent confrontation and to identify any additional individuals who may have been involved.
Authorities are urging anyone with information related to this case in Marousi, Athens to come forward and assist in the ongoing investigation.
Gun violence in Athens: A concerning trend
While Greece has been historically known for having a relatively low rate of gun violence compared to other Western nations, recent data suggests the country, and particularly Athens, is experiencing a noticeable increase in firearm-related incidents.
Approximately two months ago, in February 2024, four people died during a shooting incident at a Greek shipping company in the southern Athens suburb of Glyfada.
The gunman, who was a former employee of the shipping company, entered the building and opened fire on employees, resulting in the deaths of three individuals before turning the gun on himself.
The perpetrator was later identified as a 70-year-old Egyptian national who was indeed working for the company. However, some reports at the time suggested he had been terminated from his position at the firm.
April 28 is Palm Sunday according to the Orthodox Christian calendar and Greeks across the country flocked to their churches to attend beautiful and moving church services.
Thousands of devoted Christians across the nation went to commemorate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.
This unique feast for the Christian faith is always one of the most joyous of the year and marks the beginning of the Orthodox Holy Week that leads up to Easter Sunday, a week later.
From small chapels and churches to impressive Cathedrals and from the mainland to the islands, the faithful gathered holding beautiful crosses that had been woven from palm fronds.
A key moment of the Orthodox Palm Sunday service in every church is the Blessing and Distribution of the Palms, with a special prayer that is always read over the basket of crosses placed before the icon of Christ.
A series of beautiful age-old traditions and customs surround Palm Sunday in Greece, with every place having its own little piece to place in the puzzle of customs for that day. Although it falls during the solemn period of Lent, the Greek Orthodox Church in particular allows the consumption of fish, oil, and wine on this important day. However, the faithful need to continue abstaining from products such as dairy, eggs, chicken, and red meat.
Many families gather for a traditional seafood meal, often the classic dish of fried cod with garlic mash called ”bakaliaros skordalia”.
In some other regions, people use the blessed palm crosses that they receive from their church to decorate their homes as well as boats, and even their animals and pets to ensure blessings and protection. Children may also weave the palms into different shapes like crosses, fish, or wreaths depending on the local tradition.
Another beautiful example of a Palm Sunday tradition comes from the Ionian island of Corfu, where a large procession with a marching band carries the relics of the island’s patron Saint Spyridon. The Corfiots do that to commemorate the deliverance from a past plague that, according to legend, happened after the intervention of the island’s patron saint.
This uniquely joyous atmosphere in churches is also palpable as beautiful hymns that glorify Christ – such as the “Vanquisher of Death” – are resounded in the temples.
The Story Behind Palm Sunday
According to the Bible, the entry of Jesus into the ancient holy city of Jerusalem took place just a few days before he was betrayed at the Last Supper, and is deemed to have marked the beginning of Christ’s Passion, or the events leading up to his suffering and eventual death on the cross.
Although the circumstances leading up to Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem differ somewhat in each of the Gospels, all describe the entrance of Jesus into the city as a joyous event, as citizens gathered around him and proclaimed him to be the Lord.
In ancient Greece, temples were an important part of daily life and served as monuments dedicated to the beloved gods and goddesses. Many important ancient temples are located in Greece itself, as well as in other countries, such as Italy, which were then part of the wider ancient Greek world.
Let’s take a look at the ten Greek temples that you cannot miss
Parthenon, Acropolis
The Parthenon, located on the top of the Acropolis, is dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the patron goddess of Athens. The Parthenon was built in the mid-5th century BC and was originally constructed to replace an older temple that was destroyed by the Persians. The statue of Athena which originally stood in the temple was made from ivory, silver, and gold but was later stolen and destroyed.
The Valley of the Temples, which is located in Sicily, Italy, has some of the most outstanding examples of Greek architecture. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and includes temples dedicated to Concordia, Juno, and Heracles.
Temple of Concordia – Agrigento, Italy. Credit: Public Domain
Temple of Hephaestus
The Temple of Hephaestus, dedicated to the god of metalworking and craftsmanship, is located in Athens, Greece. The temple was designed by Ictinus, one of the Parthenon’s architects. The Temple of Hephaestus is the best-preserved ancient Greek temple in the world.
Paestum, an ancient Greek city located in southern Italy, contains three well-preserved Greek temples. Two of the three were dedicated to Hera, the goddess of marriage and childbirth while the third one, located away from the temples of Hera, was dedicated to Athena.
The temple is situated in the northwestern part of Sicily, Italy. The Doric Temple of Segesta was constructed in the 5th century BC. However, it appears that the temple was never actually finished, as tabs that might have been used as lifting blocks still remain in the blocks of the base.
The Temple of Apollo Epicurius is located in the Peloponnese in southern Greece on the archeological site Bassae. It is not a typical example of an ancient Greek temple, as it is aligned north-south rather than the standard east-west due to the limited space on the steep mountain. The temple is 1,131 meters above sea level on the slopes of Kotylion Mountain.
The Erechtheum, located on the northern side of the Acropolis in Athens, is dedicated to the Greek hero Erichthonius. The most famous aspect of the temple is the part supported by the six Caryatids.
Erechtheum Acropolis, Athens. Credit: Public Domain
Temple of Zeus in Cyrene
The Temple of Zeus in Cyrene is located in Libya and was built in the 5th century BC. The temple has been destroyed and re-built multiple times. It was destroyed in 115 AD during a Jewish rebellion and restored five years later under Roman order. The temple was again destroyed by an earthquake in 365 AD and restored in the contemporary era by British and Italian archeologists.
The Temple of Poseidon is situated in Sounion on the tip of the Attica peninsula and is surrounded by sea. It is in many ways similar to the Temple of Hephaestus, suggesting that it was possibly built by the same architect.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus, located in central Athens, is a colossal ruined temple that was dedicated to Zeus. Its construction began in the 6th century BC but was not completed until the 2nd century AD. It was considered the largest and most impressive temple in Greece, but today, only a fragment remains.
The Greek Orthodox monastery at Grottaferrata Abbazia. Credit:lepacifique’, CC BY 2.0/Wikipedia
A Greek Orthodox monastery in Italy founded more than one thousand years ago, is thriving just south of Rome in the epicenter of Catholicism.
The Orthodox monastery is a remnant of ten monks belonging to the Byzantine rite Basilian order, loyal to the Pope but clinging to their traditional Greek liturgies against all odds while keeping the faith alive and managing to thrive as book restorers in their monastery.
Part of a 1600-year-old order established by St. Basil in the year 356, the men of the Grottaferrata Monastery still follow the ascetic pattern of prayer and work that the Byzantine saint drew up so many centuries ago.
The delicate Italianate architecture and surroundings of the monastery, including an elegant Campanile, or bell tower, belie the Greek roots of their faith. A monk called St. Nilus founded the abbey more than one thousand years ago, in 1004, decades before the fateful Great Schism between Eastern and Western Christianity in 1054.
St. Nilus, born in Rossano, in Calabria, came from a Greek family, according to the monastery’s historical records. At that time, Calabria was under Byzantine rule and was truly Greek in language, culture, and spiritual and liturgical tradition.
The saint had already founded several monasteries in Calabria and in Campania. Though a humble man, he was held in high esteem by princes, emperors, and popes.
The monks in his order had been attracted by the wonderful ruins of a Roman villa on the Tuscolo hills and by a low four-sided building dating back to the Republican era of Rome, which had been adapted as a Christian oratory since the 5th century.
St. Bartholomaeus with other monks worked for twenty years building the Church, utilizing the material which had been abandoned in the Roman villa, namely pillars and pieces of marble, sculptured eaves, and peperino blocks. The church was completed in 1024 and was beautifully decorated with marble, mosaics, and paintings.
Greek Orthodox Monastery nears 1,000-year anniversary of its founding in Italy
Pope John XIX consecrated the Greek monastery on December 17th, 1024, dedicating it to the ‘Mother of God’ while the monks sang Greek hymns that Brother Bartholomaeus (later Saint Bartholomaeus) himself had composed for the occasion. The imposing medieval battlements around the hilltop town just south of the city of Rome harken back to the internecine warfare common between the great Italian cities in those times.
Last year, Reuters interviewed the brothers who remain at the monastery, who doggedly maintain their lifestyle which features constant prayer along with the work that feeds them and allows them to live communally.
Brother Claudio Corsaro, a man in his late twenties, abandoned a promising career as an opera singer to become a monk at Grottaferata. He sings now for the glory of God in the monastery’s chapel during services.
“I was only six years old when I felt the Lord for the first time but I fully realized my vocation many years later, when I had already started my singing career,” he told interviewers while strolling between olive trees on the monastery grounds.
Corsaro and his monastic brothers could easily be taken for Greek Orthodox monks since they dress in the habit of Orthodox churchmen, including flowing black robes and the traditional flat-topped hat, or kalimavkion.
Living on the edge in the modern world
Devoted to a life of prayer and work, the ten monks, aged between 23 and 89, are among Italy’s last remaining Byzantine-rite Basilian religions. Employment in such endeavors as book restoration and olive growing helps them keep body and soul together, but they are living on the edge, having so few members to keep their way of life alive into the future.
In 1054 when the Great Schism occurred, the Grottaferrata monks chose to remain faithful to the Pope in Rome rather than switch allegiance to the newly established Orthodox patriarch in Constantinople, now Istanbul.
However, they still continue to worship in the Eastern, Byzantine rite, including celebrating the Divine Liturgy in ancient Greek. Of course, most Catholics in the West say the mass in their local languages, and occasionally in Latin.
Their daily regimen begins at 5:30 AM with individual prayer followed by communal worship. Then, there is always work in the vegetable garden or olive groves, painting icons, studying, and doing chores.
A typical day for the monks upon the completion of early prayers, breakfast, and work, is followed by rest, the saying of vespers, more work, more prayer, and then an early bedtime.
Monks restore DaVinci’s priceless Notebook
A special area of the monastery is devoted to the exquisite art of book restoration. Since 1931, the Badia Greca in Grottaferrata has been the home of the Laboratory for the Restoration of Ancient Books and Manuscripts, the first scientifically-based laboratory founded by the Italian Ministry of National Education.
Situated in a large room that was once an old monastic guest room, the laboratory plays a vital role, with its work based both on scientific research and its unique technical skills paired with refined craftsmanship.
One of its most noted accomplishments was the discovery of the 6th to 7th-century Homily of St. Ephrem of Syria, who died in 373, found in a 17th-century volume from Italy’s Vallicelliana Library that the workshop was restoring.
Other accomplishments include the restoration of the 12th-century parchment manuscript of the Typikon from Càsole, which was in a serious condition following a fire; an Evangeliarium graecum from the Treasure of St. Mark from St. Mark Library in Venice, which had been badly damaged by mildew; and three 11th to 12th-century parchment scrolls of Exultet from the town of Troia in Puglia.
By far the most prestigious restoration work, however, is considered to be the over one thousand papers from the Codex Atlanticus by Leonardo da Vinci, comprising his fanciful yet prescient drawings of machines, as well as his studies on geometry, calculations, and even his personal notes.
The priceless manuscript was in a deteriorated condition because after four centuries insects and moths had wrought great damage. Mold and oxidation had begun to grow on the surface of its pages.
The monastery’s expert restorers first unglued the papers and then undertook a major cleaning and restoration of the many worm holes in the parchment. The many tears and binding failures were also carefully mended.
Monastery’s connection to ethnic Greek community in Southern Italy
Most of the monks who live at Grottaferrata have connections to tiny ethnic Greek or Albanian communities in southern Italy, which are amazingly still populated by descendants of early settlers from the East.
They are the very last monks of the Italo-Albanian tradition to follow the Rule of St. Basil.
Brother Filippo Pecoraro, 23, who was raised in an Italo-Albanian family in Sicily, is descended from the Arbereshe people, who fled the Ottoman invasions of the Balkans between the 14th and 18th centuries.
“I grew up in an environment very close to the Church and this life choice was inside me,” Pecoraro explained to interviewers.
However, the young age of some of the newer monks will not forestall the decline of the monastery unless it attracts more young men to its ranks soon. As recently as the 1950s, Grottaferrata was home to around eighty monks.
Nonetheless, Corsaro is steadfast in his belief that preserving the ancient tradition is his sacred calling, and he does not fear the future.
“I feel like someone the Lord has chosen among the few to continue this responsibility and I thank God for the grace he has given me to carry out this task,” he said.
During the millennial celebration of the Abbey, which took place from 2004 to 2005, an enormous exhibition showcasing the restoration work carried out by the monastery’s Ancient Book Laboratory, including their restored manuscripts, was opened to the public.
The monastery has a fascinating website, relating its history and describing its current work, and showcasing the beautiful mosaics of its church interiors, which can be explored by clicking here.
Depiction of the Varangian Guard,the Vikings of the Byzantine Empire. Image: Joannis Scylitza, 12th century. Credit: Public domain
The Vikings were a seafaring people from Scandinavia. They most famously raided in and around the British Isles and the western coasts of Europe. However, what many people do not know is that they were active much further east, too.
The Vikings played a surprising yet significant role in the Byzantine Empire, where they formed the Varangian Guard. What do we know about the Varangian Guard, the Vikings of the Byzantine Empire?
The Origin of the Varangians
The Varangians were Vikings from Sweden. In the ninth century, a group of them settled in Northwest Russia, where the city of Novgorod is located today. A man named Rurik was the legendary leader of this group. He was referred to as the Rus’, and the settlement, established in the year 862 according to a twelfth-century chronicle, was likewise referred to as such.
From Novgorod, the Varangians went on south towards the Black Sea. In addition to Russia, they settled in modern-day Belarus and Ukraine. Over time, they began to dominate the trade passing through that area. This was a critical position of commercial power. There was much trade that passed from the Muslim territories of the east to the Byzantine Empire of the west.
At times, there were military conflicts between the Varangians and the Byzantine Empire. In the tenth century in the year 907, the Varangians attacked Constantinople itself. The siege does not appear to have been particularly bloody, and it ended in a peace treaty between the two sides.
Varangian Guard: the Viking mercenaries of the Byzantine Empire
As a result of this and other peace treaties with the Byzantine Empire, Varangians from the Rus’ people received the right to serve in the Empire. Perhaps because it brought the prospect of greater wealth and security, many Varangians chose to do just that. This formed what is now known as the Varangian Guard.
The Varangian Guard was thus a group of Viking mercenaries serving in the Byzantine Empire. From the tenth century onwards, more and more Varangians began associating themselves with the Byzantine emperor. Many of them came directly from the Rus’ people living north of the Black Sea, but there were also many immigrants directly from Sweden.
The Varangian Guard was highly valued by the Byzantine emperor. Because they were foreigners to the Empire, they were far less likely to get involved in political or national intrigues. For this reason, members of the Varangian Guard were often favored as personal bodyguards for emperors, similar to the Praetorian Guard of previous centuries. In addition, they also participated in open warfare against enemies of the Empire.
The Function of the Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard swore utter allegiance to the emperor. They vowed to protect him at all costs as needed. Due to their culture, the people of Scandinavia, including the Anglo-Saxons, were renowned for their loyalty. They had an incredible reputation for sticking to their oaths. Therefore, the emperor could trust them with his very own life.
Beyond simply acting as guards for the emperor, the Varangians also performed ceremonial duties within Constantinople. In times of political unrest or conspiracies, they would act as a kind of special police force.
In general, Vikings were famous for their ferocity in warfare. This aspect of the Varangians was not lost on Byzantine emperors. If a battle got to be too much for the Empire’s own forces, they would send in the Varangian Guard to provide support.
The famous Scandinavian berserkers gave the Varangian Guard a fierce reputation in battle. Supposedly, they fought like fearsome beasts and took no note at all of their wounds or pain. The broad-bladed Dane axe was their weapon of choice.
The History of the Guard
Although originally composed of only Vikings from Scandinavia, Anglo-Saxons later joined the Varangian Guard in the eleventh century. This was after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. This conquest drove out many of the Anglo-Saxons who had been living there. They traveled for new prospects, and this led them to the Byzantine Empire. There, they joined the Vikings in the Varangian Guard.
The Guard played a key role in a number of vital battles. For example, in the eleventh century, the Lombards and Normans attempted to drive the Byzantine Empire out of Southern Italy. In response, the Byzantine Emperor sent a body of troops taken from the Varangian Guard to Italy. During the resulting Battle of Cannae, the Varangians helped the Empire to achieve a decisive victory.
The Varangian Guard continued to protect the Empire, especially the capital, Constantinople, throughout the thirteenth century. However, after the middle of that century, they disappeared from the written record. They last appear escorting a prisoner of war to Nicaea in 1259. No one is aware of what happened to them from that point on.
