The submerged town of Pavlopetri is situated in shallow water between the beach of Pouda at Viglafia (near Neapoli) and the islet of Pavlopetri, opposite the island of Elafonisos. The architectural remains of this prehistoric town, visible at a depth of about three meters, were discovered in 1904 by Fokionos Negris.

The site was first occupied in 3500 BC, making it one of the oldest known submerged cities in the world. The buildings, spread over six hectares, were divided into smaller rooms and in some cases had inner courtyards. At least six prehistoric roads were traced.

What was found among the ruins were stone-lined graves, probably from the Meso-Helladic period and in adherence with the practice at the time of burying infants and small children within the settlement. At the edge of the town under two small reefs are two Mycenaean chamber tombs. On the beach at Pouda is an extensive prehistoric cemetery of cist graves dating from the 3rd and 2nd millenia BC. Of particular interest are the ceramic vessels known as pithoi found at the site, in which the prehistoric inhabitants of Pavlopetri stored their wheat, oil and other products such as figs and olives, fish and meat. Other pots found there indicate they had developed close links with Kythera, Crete, the Cyclades and the north-eastern Aegean.

The settlement appears to have been abandoned in about 1100 BC. Pavlopetri occupied a prominent prehistoric place in the southern part of the Maleas promontory and was one of, if not the most important ports in the southern Peloponnese as it monitored shipping from the ports of southern Laconia to the Aegean and the western Mediterranean.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greece By A Greek

Image Credit: Protothema

The Clumsies has been named one of the 50 best bars in the world for the 5th year in a row! According to The World's 50 Best Bars, an acclaimed organization in the bar and drinks industry, The Clumsies has been voted the 6th best bar in the world due to its ambiance, hospitality, and excellent cocktails.

"Whether for the high-class cocktails, homely food, open-armed Greek hospitality, or charming ambiance, The Clumsies is a place in which everyone feels at home. Set in a townhouse in downtown Athens, The Clumsies freely flows through the ground floor, from the statement bar at the front to the quieter back room and terrace where you’ll find a wide staircase that climbs to a private bar and billiard table. If the provision of homely hospitality has been fundamental to the success of The Clumsies, its latest menu narrows in on the customer further. The Clumsies Revisited is a compilation of the bar’s greatest hits, with simplified methodologies for guests to recreate the cocktail magic at home. A bar launched on a tight budget in a recession by two aspiring young bartenders – Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis – The Clumsies was a smash from the start with locals and international travellers alike. For the past five years it’s been able to call The World’s 50 Best Bars its home too"

 

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Click Here To Read More About The Clumsies And Other Great Cocktail Bars In Athens

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Greece has over a thousand extra virgin olive oils tested by NMR that meet and exceed the EU criteria for health-promoting phenolic compounds. On the rising tide of astonishing research into the health benefits of olive oil in the daily diet, Greek EVOOs are riding this wave of change in the olive oil industry.

In these three studies reviewed, they look to Greek High Phenolic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, proving the ancient wisdom of food as medicine.

In 2012 the EU approved a health claim labelling regulation which created the new category of High Phenolic EVOO. It stated that olive oils containing a specified amount of polyphenols (phenolic compounds) could put a health claim on the label as it was well researched and documented that High Phenolic olive oil has a beneficial effect on the blood lipid level. In simple terms it is good for the heart.

In the same year, Dr. Prokopios Magiatis at the University of Athens discovered an accurate way to identify and measure the polyphenols in olive oil using sophisticated Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). His interest was primarily in oleocanthal, the phenolic compound found only in olive oil. Oleocanthal was pulling out front in research for its broad reaching affect on chronic disease like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart attack and stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, Type II diabetes and even cancer. Its effectiveness was proving itself in the prevention, treatment and sometimes reversal of symptoms. Tests on over two and a half thousand olive oils has revealed best harvest and production practices for optimum concentration of phenolic compounds.

In the four short years since 2012, testing of olive oils from countries around the globe have revealed that early harvest green olives do indeed yield the highest levels of phenolic compounds and that olive oils high in healthful phenolic compounds stay fresh and vital longer.

The movement amongst olive growers throughout Greece is nothing short of a revival of the ancient Hellenic standard of excellence in olive oil. The wave is surging into the other olive oil producing countries as testing and research exemplifies the health-protective benefits of High Phenolic EVOO and practices and methods of production are refined.

Three companies – a distributor, a family business and an importer are being the change they want to see. Greece is once again reaching out into the world. These three companies not only provide excellent products, are invested in sustainable technology and innovation, but they are each involved in research and consumer awareness for this new category of tested and certified health-promoting High Phenolic EVOO.

To read this article in full, please visit: Huffington Post

Travel Bloggers Greece is a network of travel bloggers who write about their travel experiences in Greece and other countries, as well as their expat life mostly in Greece. Greek TV reporter, Kyriaki Iatropouli met Marissa Tejada, Elena Sergeeva, Chrysoula Manika and Amber Charmei, in Lesvos during one of their trips as a group. These four women have created a network, working together, sharing their experiences, and learning from each other. Iatropouli met them again in Athens at Mana’s Kouzina-Kouzina restaurant and there they talked about their blogs, the network and their travelling experiences. New member Gabi Ancarola was also there.

Marissa came to Greece initially with her first husband. It didn’t work out, but she decided to stay in Greece.

“I was going to stay for the summer and that was six years ago! So, I’m still here, I still love life here, I’m remarried, and I’m Greek!” she says. She started her blog My Greece, My Travels four years ago as an experiment out of her love for travelling and writing. She’s a journalist, corporate writer, travel blogger and novelist. She published her first book “Chasing Athens” two years ago. It’s a romantic comedy novel that takes place in Greece. “I hope to write another book ‘cause Greece inspires me,” she says, while the rest cheer and encourage her!

Elena’s family moved to Athens when she was a child. At first, it was only for a few years, but finally they made Greece their permanent home.

“So basically I’m Greek now!” she says. She started her first blog in 2009, but she discovered the power of blogging and social media in 2011, while writing her dissertation for her master’s degree. She has a few blogs, under the “Passion for” concept. She is a passionate, young, full of energy and ideas woman. I ask her how she came up with this concept. “I was in a flight from New York and in the plane I was watching ‘Steve Jobs’ movie. When he said ‘I don’t wanna work for anybody else’ the idea of ‘Passion for Greece’ was born. I said ‘If the domain is available, then it’s destiny!’ So, I came in Athens, I searched and I bought a couple of domains. I started with Passion for Greece two years ago, my next chapter is ‘Passion for Dubai’ and I have more ‘Passions’ coming out.”

Chrysoula is the only one in the group born and raised in Greece. She studied tourism but she works in the marketing team of a newspaper. She started her blog Travel Passionate because her friends saw her passion and encouraged her.

“Because I love travelling and organizing trips I give advice to my friends on travelling. They encouraged me to have a blog and write about it so I decided to start a blog about Greece, where I give advice to people who want to visit, on where to go, what to do, where to eat and drink, everything…” She hopes to make it her profession in the future.

Gabi is the only one not living in Athens at the moment, but she’s planning to. She lives in Italy, where she used to be a translator for tourism, until she decided to start writing and have her own voice. She now writes on her blog The Tiny Book about her passion, which is travelling with her children. She educates them on the road.

“I try to teach them how the world works by actually seeing the world and not by reading it in books. So I combine a lot of things and I teach the world on a plane, on a bus, on a train to my kids and that’s what I love the most.” She also works on a project about Greece through tourism books and travel guides for the Italian market, trying to promote Greece in Italy.

Amber came to Greece 17 years old in search for the sense of community she missed from New York city, when it became so big.

“Where I grew up in Manhattan I knew the guy who made the mozzarella cheese, I knew the guy who made the bread, I knew the guy who made the sausage, I knew everybody. And I missed that kind of life. I missed that community and that connection. So, when I had the opportunity to move here [in Greece], I came in search of that: something urban but sweeter, something a little more authentic.” She started writing on her blog, Provocolate, mainly about food until she met the other members of TBG. “Now I write a lot more about things that make life real, authentic, special.” It seems that in Greece Amber found what she was looking for. She adds, “Something we all like about Greece very much is that it embodies values, too. I think that’s what drives people here, it’s not just that it’s beautiful, it’s not just that the food is delicious, but that it’s coming from a place very real. So I hope to try to capture that and share it as much as possible.”

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek TV

Despoina Bebedeli, a renowned actress, starred in Hecuba, a Refugee, which was the first play performed in an ancient theatre on the uninhabited Greek island of Delos in over than 2,100 years.

The play, which is based on two monologues written by Athenian tragedian Euripides, tells the tale of Hecuba, the queen of fallen Troy who as a captive mourns the loss of her husband and children during the Trojan War.

Over the centuries, this tragic heroine of Greek mythology has become an anti-war icon whose suffering lays bare all the horrors caused by conflict.

‘Our goal was to highlight the grave problem that affects all of us here in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the plight of war and being a refugee,’ Dimitris Athanasoulis told Al Jazeera. Athanasoulis is the director of the department of antiquities of the Cyclades who co-produced the play.

Organisers said they chose Delos, situated in the heart of the Aegean, to raise awareness about the drama of refugees risking everything to reach Europe's shores.

Millions of people fleeing poverty, war and repression in the Middle East, Asia and Africa have tried crossing the Aegean in recent years. Thousands have died undertaking the perilous journey.

Known as "the most sacred of all islands", Delos is the birthplace of Apollo, the son of daylight, and his twin sister, Artemis, the goddess of moonlight, according to Greek mythology.

This small rugged island was first settled in the third millennium BC, and by the third century BC it had become a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of cultural, commercial and political life in the region.

Its imposing ancient theatre, regarded as one of the most important artistic creations of its time, was built entirely from marble in the third century BC. With a 6,500-strong capacity, it hosted major theatrical productions, dances and other cultural events.

To read this article in full, please visit: Al Jazeera

Exploring European cities in the off-season provides a unique opportunity to experience each place anew. You can visit popular Mediterranean cities in the winter or Scandinavian cities in the summer to avoid tourist hordes and bask in how each destination is bathed in a whole new light as the weather shifts.

Many dream of an Italian summer getaway, but one Italian city is just as dreamy when the temperatures fall. Venice maintains a leisurely place in winter when the heat dies and the crowds disperse, creating a magical atmosphere that deepens one's appreciation of its canals and majestic architecture.

Belgrade's defining gritty urban flair is countered by its unique Balkan charm, making it a haven for the arts. Savamala, a riverside neighborhood, buzzes with creative energy and features two popular art performance spaces. Springtime also means Belgrade is ready to party in full force as the splavovi boathouses on shores of the Sava and Danube rivers pack crowds dancing to all kinds of beats.

Winters may cloak the city of Stockholm in layers of beautiful snow, but summer is the perfect opportunity to enjoy Swedish island life. In a city comprised of fourteen islands, Stockholm in summer is high time for swimming, kayaking or canoeing between the islands. Travellers venture out to the thousands of islands and skerries of the serene Stockhom archipelago during the warmer months.

Central Europe's freezing temperatures are no match for the thrill of discovering Prague when the snow is falling. Winter's gentle sunlight only enhances Prague's fairytale views of sky-high spires, Gothic cathedrals, and cobblestone lanes lit by the soft hue of street lamps.

Innsbruck's famously perfect ski slopes take on a new form each summer as a green haven for outdoor enthusiasts who visit to take advantage of warmer temperatures, the Austrian way. The town itself is awash in pastel-coloured buildings, with the city's rich heritage and modern architecture making it the epicenter of culture in the Tyrol region.

To read this article in full, please visit: Elsewhere Nine

Launched in October of 2015, the Politismos Museum of Greek History is an online museum which brings ancient and contemporary Greek history and culture to a worldwide audience, with a goal to soon establish a physical museum presence in the United States. In this interview, Despina Kreatsoulas, co-founder of the Politismos Museum, discusses the idea behind the museum, its exhibits and related offerings, the museum’s future plans, and the importance of Greek culture within the global community today.

Despina Kreatsoulas: Our hope is to one day have a physical museum in Sacramento, California, and as we were looking at how we do this—I was actually doing some research for another project, at the U.S. Holocaust Museum. It’s a phenomenal museum, and what was most impressive was not the thousands of people who walk through their doors on a daily presence, but the millions of people who they reach with their online exhibits. We thought that this could potentially be a really great way to get the information out there, to build an audience, to start sharing stories, and to start building a profile for ourselves. We thought this would be the ideal way to get started, to build a presence, and to move forward.

I think, actually, that we have a few more opportunities available to us in being creative, in that if we were a physical museum, the challenge is always having a wide variety of artifacts. By being online, we can have images that reflect the stories, the history, and that type of thing. For instance, exhibits that have to do with antiquities, it would be a little difficult getting some antiquities into the United States, of course, so we’re able to use images [online]. It also allows us to get a little creative and to explore some greater things: literature, contemporary art, so we’re able to expand what we’re doing.

We’re working with a historian here in Greece and we’re producing an exhibit on the original Olympic Games, Dr. Elizabeth Whalen-Barber, who is an expert on textiles. We’re doing another one on the ancient dancers of Crete, and we also have a very special exhibit that’s going to be opening, on the Greeks who came to the United States in the early 1900s and who returned to Greece to fight for Greece during the Balkan Wars. And we have a few more that are coming, but we’ll have you visit our site to surprise you with those.

That would be great, but there are so many phenomenal museums in Greece already, that we’d like to just be able to collaborate with all of them. I think the most important thing is that we do want to collaborate and we want to expose people to the amazing things that are already happening here in Greece and the places they should be going to.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek TV

Learn more about XpatAthens’ GB Roof Garden contest, how we are among recommended blogs for expats in Greece, what award the Athens International Airport won, and what will be developed at the Hellenikon land!

 

 

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According to Stride Travel, Greece is among the top destinations for adventure travel in 2017!

From incredible ancient sites like The Acropolis and Epidaurus to the stunning blue waters off Santorini, an adventure tour to Greece will ensure you don’t miss any of the classics. There’s no place like Greece for sailing - head out to sea and enjoy a view of the famous Greek islands from the water.

Some outfitters even encourage you to help skipper the boat. Back on dry land, check out local tavernas where you can taste delicacies such as moussaka and grilled octopus.

Greece is also a relatively inexpensive destination compared to other European countries, which keeps it popular with budget travelers and value-seekers alike.

To read this article in full, please visit: Tornos News