Greece 2021

Friday19November

Now that we have cowardly abandoned our rental car  , it is only on our feet that we can count to visit the capital over the next three days. Fortunately, everything is never too far here. And especially not the acropolis, visible from almost everywhere, perched at 156 meters high on its hill. And our first vision of the famous site is of the most beautiful effect, the jewel of the city shines under the spotlight...

At the foot of the hill, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus located behind these arches, a Roman theater from the year 161.

The Moon invites itself to add a little mysterious atmosphere to the setting...

Another hill rivals the Acropolis: Mount Lycabettus. With its 277 meters altitude, it is the highest point of the capital.

Dinner with the Parthenon in sight.  

Saturday20November

It's usual for me, I like to go discover cemeteries and dive into the past according to a name, a date, a stele or another small detail. Here we are at the "First Cemetery of Athens" (that's its name), the Greek Père-Lachaise where graves of anonymous people and celebrities rub shoulders amidst the pines. Here, we give ourselves as a challenge, to find the final resting place of one of the Greeks best known in France: Demis Roussos!   Here we are thus gone exploring among the 12000 graves and 18 hectares of the site without any other clue than chance...

We wander thus in the alleys of the cemetery. Here the work of the Greek sculptor Costas Valsamis: "The mother under occupation", representing a dead mother with her baby in her arms, a scene he had really seen during the winter of 1941.

Chance does not help us much and for the moment we draw a blank. We finally unsheathe our unstoppable weapon of modern times (the mobile phone) to quickly investigate and scrutinize the singer's burial place on youtube  . The images seem to indicate that the burial took place in a more recent area of the cemetery. So we look for more modern tombstones but no celebrity in sight... We stop to set up a strategy to scrupulously and methodically cover the entire cemetery. It was then that a quick glance at the neighboring grave made us open our eyes wide: Demis Roussos is right there!!!     It will have finally taken us only 20 minutes to get there. phew!

"Artemios Ventouris Roussos (??t?µ??? ?e?t????? ???ss??), known as Demis Roussos, is a Greek musician and singer, born June 15, 1946 in Alexandria (Egypt) and died January 25, 2015 in Athens (Greece). © Wikipedia

"First singer and bassist of the progressive rock group Aphrodite's Child, with Vangelis on keyboards, Silver Koulouris on guitar and Lucas Sideras on drums, he then began a solo career mainly oriented towards variety. During his career, he sold nearly sixty million records worldwide." © Wikipedia

To save you the search, here is the exact position of Demis Roussos' grave: https://goo.gl/maps/UqfQtfxbLttDkg6r9

And here are some must-haves like "Rain and Tears", "Quand je t'aime", "Forever and Ever"... You just have to click...

We can now resume the walk in "normal" mode... Another famous grave of the cemetery for its sculpture: "The Sleeper" by Chalepas, grave of Sofia Afedaki.

The Saint Theodore Church within the cemetery grounds.

Statue of the Greek theater actress Marika Kotopouli (1887-1954) by the sculptor Kleanthi Loukopoulos.

The spouses Nicholas and Aikaterini Goulandris, collectors and founder of museums on Cycladic art.

Zaxapian Mantzapakhn

Georges Averoff (1815-1899). Businessman and philanthropist known for having founded numerous schools in Egypt and Greece.

So much for the cemetery. Let's move on now to Hadrian's Gate. "The monument was erected in honor of Emperor Hadrian, after his visit to Athens, in 131. It marked the entrance to the new Athens wanted by the emperor." © Wikipedia

Just next to Hadrian's Gate, we find the Temple of Olympian Zeus, also called Olympieion. We will come back to it the day after tomorrow.

"The Monument of Lysicrates is an edifice financed by Lysicrates in the 4th century BC to commemorate a first prize he had won at the theater of Dionysus with a chorus of young men in the dithyramb contest." © Wikipedia

"The Tower of the Winds, also called Clock of Andronikos, is a monumental ancient hydraulic clock in Athens, located on the Roman Agora. It is remarkable for the vestiges of the clock mechanism, but even more for the high-relief figures of the Wind deities adorning each of its eight faces." © Wikipedia

At the foot of the Acropolis where we can see the Parthenon, here is the Roman Agora, the former public square of Athens where the central market was also located.

"The Kerameikos is the potters' quarter in Athens. According to Herodotus, its name comes from the ancient Greek ???aµ?? / kéramos, potter's earth, clay. For Pausanias, the name comes rather from Keramos, son of Ariadne and Dionysus." © Wikipedia

Inside the Kerameikos, the Church of the Holy Trinity.

The sacred way running along the Kerameikos cemetery.

Several steles commemorating the deceased concerned.

Funerary bull from the tomb of Dionysios of Kollytos, treasurer of the Heraion in the 4th century BC.

Look, the place also hosts a whole group of marginated tortoises (Testudo marginata).  

Another tortoise, there were a good ten scattered all over...

Oops, the exit of the labyrinth will be quickly found... at turtle speed anyway.

Funerary stele of sisters Demetria and Pamphile.

All these cylinders were tombstones...

The Kerameikos Museum.

1- Funerary stele with the deceased holding a stick and a sword (570-560 BC).
2 - Archaic funerary sphinx wearing a headband and a wreath of leaves.
3 - Kouros of the Sacred Gate.

We find the bull from earlier, which suggests that outside, they are only copies and that the originals are rather here sheltered in the museum.

Here is finally a ceramic that we expect here... It is an Attic black-figure vase.

And here a red-figure ceramic.

Short look at Lycabettus which we will climb tomorrow.

And the superb Acropolis which we will also visit tomorrow.

Short tour in the national garden created in the middle of the 19th century.

After the marginated tortoises, here are the red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta) sunbathing.

Passage in front of the presidential palace where suddenly arrive curiously costumed soldiers...   These are the "evzones", the name given to the presidential guard created in 1867!

In this month of November, the guards wear the blue winter doulama, in opposition to the ochre summer doulama. The uniform for ceremonies or Sunday is white.

From the sidewalk opposite, we are going to watch the changing of the guard. One of the most astonishing and curious that can be seen... The ritual requires 5 weeks of learning and great balance in the leg lift... Behind each movement hides a symbolic meaning for the history of Greece. "The leg lift simulates hand-to-hand combat. The foot salutes the dead then falls back with force, expelling the 400 years of slavery under Ottoman occupation. The union of the two legs symbolizes the union of the Greeks."

Evzones are not professional soldiers, they are volunteers and simply perform their mandatory military service. You still have to be over one meter eighty and successfully pass the five weeks of training.

The guard is done under all temperatures. It is only below five degrees that the Evzone adds a wool cape to his traditional outfit. In times of rain or snow, he shelters in his cabin.

And here are the three minutes of the changing of the guard.

Change of location, but still with the Evzones. We are in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier, also permanently guarded by the presidential guard.

Here too, it's the changing of the guard. The choreography resumes and makes the 400 pleats of the fustanella fly, the skirt pleated 400 times to recall the years of Ottoman occupation. They also have to lift the 1.5 kilos of tsarouchia shoes whose each sole is studded with nails that must click when placed on the ground. The black pompom at the end of the shoe hid a sharp blade to surprise the opponent, and also allow toes to be less cold... The beret or pharion, in red felt, is adorned with a long black silk tassel. Finally, the garter holders or epicnemes, are black for Evzones and blue for officers. And all this is handmade!

The thicker the mustache, the older the evzone...

The evzone must never speak or move apart from traditional movements. If he needs help, he can tap the butt of his rifle on the ground. To communicate, only one way: blink... Once for yes, twice for no and three times for "I don't know"...   The imperturbable evzone lets himself be inspected from every angle by the officer in fatigues.

The curious inspection where the officer puts the long silk threads under the nose of the evzone... But all lights seem green, because he blinks only once...    

Attention, the tourist can have his picture taken with the evzone, but forbidden to touch him!

Behind, the tomb of the unknown soldier. The monument represents a foot soldier of ancient Greece breathing his last breath.

The monument was inaugurated on March 25, 1932, day of the national holiday.

Just behind, the Greek parliament.

Opposite the parliament, Syntagma Square where the Christmas tree has just been decorated! It is a little over 5 p.m., and night is coming. Tomorrow, we will take a little height with the visit of the Acropolis and Mount Lycabettus.