In response to Athens' increasing number of homeless and refugee population, a group of volunteers has created the first mobile laundry van, called the 'mobile street laundrette.' By washing clothes, the mobile laundry's goal is to improve the life conditions and self-esteem of about 20,000 homeless people living in Athens. The mobile street laundrette goes out 5 days a week and so far, has washed 42 tons of clothes!

 About Ithaca

Our goal is to help homeless people to find their Ithaca. We aim at increasing the level of social integration of the homeless population, whose number has increased significantly in the last few years due to the socio-economic crisis. Given the lack of adequate hygiene services for the homeless, we decided to create a mobile laundry. Through our free provision of services, we intend to improve the hygiene conditions of homeless people, as well as to restore their dignity and self-esteem.

Since April 2016 we have been providing social services with dedication in order to ensure proper hygiene conditions for people in need. The main goal of our work is the social reintegration of individuals from vulnerable population groups. Through the operation of the mobile laundry at different but stable spots in Athens and Piraeus we are able to provide hygiene services to the homeless, so as to restore their dignity and self-esteem. Alongside, since January 2017 we have created part-time jobs for people from vulnerable social groups. By employing them for a specific time period and providing them with certain skills, such as work, counseling and guidance, we aim at their reintegration in both work and social life.

If you're interested in becoming a volunteer, please click here.

Alongside them Nasos Ghavelas, Grigoris Polychronidis, Alexandros Nikolaidis, Periklis Iakovakis, Panagiotis Giannakis, Evina Maltsi, Joe Arlauckas, Michalis Triantafyllidis, Georgia Kaltsi, George Lazaridis, Grigoris Souvatzoglou, will be there and compose a unique team that will be united with the event’s participants on October 21-23.

Watch here the running routes of Navarino Challenge, along with all their technical characteristics.

Extensive schedule with numerous actions 

This year’s schedule will be the richest ever in the 10-year history of Navarino Challenge. People of all ages and abilities with the message “Sports Unites People” will join this celebration and enjoy unique activities such as:

• Tennis demonstration by the wheelchair tennis player and member of the National team George Lazaridis powered by Miele
• Basketball demonstration powered by Samsung by wheelchair players and members of the National team
• 4on4 basketball tournament by Trace 'n Chase
• Tennis Induction powered by Miele for ages 6–9 and 10–13 years old with the support of Mouratoglou Tennis Center – Costa Navarino 
• Bike Tour at Voidokilia with the World Champion in Track Cycling Christos Volikakis powered by Stoiximan in collaboration with Navarino Outdoors
• High intensity training for people of all ages by Dimitris Moros & FitnessArt
• Kick boxing lessons powered by Samsung for people of all ages from the kick boxing champion, Alexandros Nikolaidis
• Baby Swimming Lessons by Red Swim Academy & Swim O' Clock for children up to 3 years old with one parent 
• Boxing lessons by Christos Gatsis and Vizantinos Target Sport Club
• Spinning Challenge for people of all ages powered by Vikos with Dimitris Moros & FitnessArt
• Pilates lessons from the team of the pilates instructor Mandy Persaki powered by Samsung
• Yoga by Messinian Spa from FitnessArt
• Men’s Round Robbin Tournament with UTS format powered by Miele with the support of Mouratoglou Tennis Center – Costa Navarino
• Women’s Round Robbin Tournament with UTS format powered by Miele with the support of Mouratoglou Tennis Center – Costa Navarino
• Sea Kayaking to the island of Sphacteria with the support of Explore Messinia
• Gravel Bike Tour 30km at the Kalamaris Waterfall powered by Vikos in collaboration with Navarino Outdoors
• Basketball lessons for children 5 to 16 years old with Dimitris Diamantidis and Georgios Printezis powered by Iroes, together with Evina Maltsi & Joe Arlauckas
• Half day Kids Camp for children 5 to 15 years old with the support of Mouratoglou Tennis Center – Costa Navarino
• Padel tournament powered by Stoiximan with the support of Mouratoglou Tennis Center – Costa Navarino
• Beachathlon powered by Europa (Track and field games for parents & children 6 to 13 years old) by Olympian and European Champion Periklis Iakovakis
• F45 Barrio Salamanca Heavy Cardio Workout by the F45 team together with Dimitris Moros & FitnessArt
• Tsimikas Football Clinics for children 13-17 years & 5-12 years powered by Prosport
• Climbing lessons with Christina Flampouri powered by The North Face, supported by Navarino Outdoors
• King of the Court Women’s Beach Volley Tournament from Triantafyllidis Beach Arena powered by Europa
• King of the Court Men’s Beach Volley Tournament from Triantafyllidis Beach Arena powered by Europa
• King of the Court Mixed Beach Volley Tournament from Triantafyllidis Beach Arena Mixed powered by Europa
• Long jump with the gold Olympic medalist Miltos Tentoglou powered by Stoiximan
• Golf lessons by Bombay Sapphire with the support of Navarino Golf Academy
• Gymnastics by the gold and bronze Olympic medalist in rings Lefteris Petrounias powered by Stoiximan
• Gymnastics by the champion Vasiliki Millousi powered by Iroes
• Rowing lessons from the gold Olympic medalist in rowing Stefanos Ntouskos powered by Stoiximan with equipment from Concept2 
• Freestyle wrestling lessons with the world champion Maria Prevolaraki powered by Stoiximan
• “Feed the Fish” Golf Exhibition Game powered by Samsung
• Swimming lessons from the silver world champion Kristian Gkolomeev powered by Stoiximan
• Half marathon powered by Miele
• 10km run powered by Stoiximan
• 5km run powered by Samsung
• 1km run powered by Vikos for children 10-14 years old & up to 9 years old

You can see here the event’s schedule.

Register now for the running activities (21.1km, 10km, 5km, 1km) through the following link.

For group registrations of 10 people or more, a 20% discount applies. For more information, please contact the event organizers.

Live the unique sports experience and stay at The Westin Resort Costa Navarino

Enjoy a weekend with more than 40 activities for people of all ages. Book now the event’s accommodation package with half board and live this year’s unique sports and cultural experience. For more information on accommodation packages at The Westin Resort Costa Navarino you may send your email to booking(at)navarinochallenge.com or call Vita N Travel at +30 210 3249070.
Check the accommodation packages here. 

Stoiximan is the event's Grand Sponsor.

Samsung Electronics Hellas supports the event for another year as its Official Technology Sponsor. 

Miele and Europa are the event’s Official Sponsors.

Vikos Natural Mineral Water is the Official Water. 

Luanvi is the Official Sports Supplier.

Sixt of the Motodynamics group is the Premium Mobility Partner.

Costa Navarino and The Westin Resort Costa Navarino are the Official Hospitality Sponsors.

Poseidonia Restaurant, Karalis Beach Hotel and Bombay Sapphire are Navarino Challenge’s Official Supporters.

Trace ‘n Chase is the Sports Memorabilia Partner.

Kois Optics are the event’s Official Optics Partner.

Messinian Spa is the Official Beauty Partner.

Athens Medical Group is the Medical Partner. 

Pilia Express, the transportation company based in Pylos, Pylos-Nestor Municipality and Phee, are the event’s Partners.

SKAI is the Premium TV Partner. 

Concept2, Explore Messinia, FitnessArt, F45 Barrio Salamanca, Mouratoglou Tennis Center – Costa Navarino, Navarino Golf Academy, Navarino Outdoors, Pilates by Mandy, Red Swim Academy, Swim O’ Clock, Triantafyllidis Beach Arena, Vizantinos target sport club are Navarino Challenge’s Athletic Partners.

The event is assisted by Vita N Travel and Kayak. 

Navarino Challenge will take place under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism and the Greek National Tourism Organization.

The event has joined the Greek actions of the #BeactiveHellas 2022 program of the European Commission and is held under the auspices of the General Secretariat of Sports. 

All running races are co-organized with Messiniakos Gymnastic Club and EAS SEGAS Peloponnese Region.

The event is organized by ActiveMedia Group which is also responsible for the event’s Sports Production.

Hashtags: #navarinochallenge #costanavarino #sportsunitespeople #10yearsNavarinoChallenge #eatwell #runwell #livewell

(photo by Angelos Zymaras @ Navarino Challenge) 

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The warmer weather and sunshine (finally!) really make a difference to one’s mood… Spring is here, and with it the feeling of ‘getting outside’… With this in mind, I ventured out to the Run for a Smile event on Sunday put on by the Sport Relief charity. The event was a lot of fun, great turnout, lots of families, out in the sunshine for a good cause…

In many ways the ‘main character’ of the whole day was the Alsos Syngrou (‘Syngrou Park’, Alsos means ‘grove’) – what a nice surprise! An unexpected green forest in the heart of the northern suburbs.

The park is on Kifissias Avenue, opposite the KAT hospital - with bus lines stopping right outside, or a 15-minute walk from the Marousi metro station. It is a favorite spot for walking the dog, jogging, cycling, etc. There is some parking available on Kifissias avenue outside the park gates.

There are plenty of trails for walking, jogging or cycling – and dog-owners will be in paradise. Numerous cyclist groups meet there regularly – Google it! Top off your afternoon at the park with a coffee or bite to eat in Kifissia or Kefalari – and you have the making of a perfect spring day…! The park is open daily until dusk.

See you next week!

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

By contrast, the classic Greek taverna chair is made for comfort. Its rush seat is soft. The back slats provide support as well as ventilation. The braces at the base lend stability (and a place to prop your feet) – stability for leaning in to participate in conversation or to help oneself to a meze in the center of the table. Plus it is light; chose your table and sit on down.

Greek people can spend hours at the taverna, eating their meals, drinking their ouzo, reading their paper and talking with friends. In a popular tavernas, there is at least one card game going at any time. If you prefer tavli (backgammon) you can usually find a set or two behind the bar.

Tavernas were just as popular in ancient Greece as they are in Greece today. Back then they were called kapeleion. Commenting on the ubiquity of tavernas in Athens and alluding to the militant Spartans, whose citizens were fed from common messes, Diogenes the Cynic said "tavernas are the canteens of Attica". Tavernas were a regular feature in the comedies of Aristophanes with their staff being a frequent target of his jokes.

Unfortunately, no example of an ancient taverna chair survives. We can only hope that they were as comfortable as the ones we sit on today.

epikouria.com

But how did a kingdom operate, and how did it differ from Classical Greece? An obvious difference lay in its geographical structure. Classical Greece was based around cities, the polis: the city and its surrounding territory. Macedonia, on the other hand, was a much larger kingdom, comprising a number of different cities – two of which vied to be the capital.

The old capital was Aegae, modern Vergina, where the kings were all buried. We have already looked at the burial of Philip II, the grandest burial of all (CWA 50). Then in CWA 51 we went on to look at the rest of Aegae: the huge palace built by Philip II, and some of the other tombs that made up the city.

There was, however, another ‘capital’: Pella was the commercial capital, the place where Philip II and Alexander the Great were born. Today, modern Macedonia is dominated by the great Medieval town of Thessalonika, the second town in Greece and, in the Middle Ages, second only to Constantinople as the queen of the Aegean.

Vergina lies 50 miles to the west, along the old Roman Via Egnatia and the modern motorway. Pella forms the third point of the triangle above Vergina to the west and modern Thessalonika to the east. Today it is 20 miles from the sea, but in Classical times it was a maritime town on a huge inlet of the sea, now long since filled in; today, it is the bread basket of Greece.

Mosaic magic

Archaeologically, the features for which Pella is best known are the pebble mosaics. The art of mosaic was perfected by the Romans, who learnt to make mosaics of tesserae – small stones cut to shape; but mosaics had already been used by the Greeks, though rather than tesserae, they used pebbles. Most of the resulting mosaics came out in black and white, but occasionally they used coloured pebbles too.
The finest examples of these are found at Pella, where a number of rich houses have been excavated in the blocks south of the agora. The finest of these represents the abduction of Helen, where Theseus has seized Helen and is about to carry her off in a four-horse chariot, and is signed by the mosaicist responsible for the composition, Gnosis.

Another large house, known as the House of Dionysus, consists of two parts formed around two central peristyle courtyards. In the southern part of the house are two andrones (banquet rooms) with the famous mosaic of a lion hunt, now in the museum.

In the centre of Pella was the agora, or market place. This is currently being excavated and restored courtesy of the EU, indeed some would say that it is being over-restored. But excavations are revealing a row of buildings with a workshop at the rear, and a shop to sell the goods at the front.

On the far side of the agora was an administrative complex, housing the city magistrates and certain cultic functions. The south-west section housed the public archives. Here, in a two-storey building with a central courtyard, public documents were transcribed, sealed, and stored. Archaeologists found scores of clay seals from the public documents which had fallen from the archives above on the second floor. They also found broken pens and ink wells, along with stores of clay and stone stamp seals. A popular image used on these seals was that of a grazing cow – which also appears on coins. The inscription ‘Pella exchange’ on another seal is indicative of the commercial activities carried out in the complex.

However, the agora at Pella is, to some extent, misleading. Whereas in a Classical Greek city the agora was not only the commercial centre but also the political centre, being surrounded by the law courts and the offices of the town council, Pella was part of a kingdom, and so the real centre of the town lay in the palace on the higher ground north of the agora.

The palace has five separate units, each with a large central courtyard surrounded by buildings erected on terraces stepped into the hillside. These units, each of which has four to five buildings, communicate with each other via gates, flights of steps, and galleries. On the south side, facing the agora, was a monumental colonnade. Unlike at Vergina, here at Pella the palace was the administrative centre as well as a grandiose royal residence. The royal household lived here along with various administrative, military, and financial services with their suites of handsome banqueting rooms and baths. There were also archives and libraries, the royal mint, and rooms for cultic purposes. For keeping fit there was a palaestra, or wrestling ground, and the portico of a gymnasium.

The original core of the palace was built towards the end of the 5th century; but most of the architectural remains discovered date to the Hellenistic period.
Collecting the best

A splendid new museum has just been opened at the site which contains many of the treasures and, unlike at the Vergina museum, one is allowed to take photos of the exhibits.

Many of the finest pebble mosaics have been conserved and laid out. However, for me the finest exhibit was many an archaeologist’s delight: a potter’s shop, which had been overwhelmed in a catastrophe, was discovered still filled with complete pots. All the pots were excavated and put on display for our inspection. Alas, they were no longer for sale as they would have been 2,300 years ago.

I was also fascinated by a case devoted to finds from the sanctuary of the god Darron. Darron was a local, rather minor god – of healing – but, nonetheless, still surviving right down to the 1st century BC, despite the onslaught of the Olympian deities from Greece. Interestingly, the artefacts from his shrine differed little from those found at the shrines of the Olympian gods.

Macedonian rulers wanted the best for their kingdom and were prepared to pay top prices to get it. The great Greek painter Apelles was lured away to do his best work at Pella, none of which, alas, has survived. The playwright Euripides spent his last days in Pella writing one of his most surreal plays, The Bacchae, where fierce women, tricked by the vengeful Dionysus, tear the king Pentheus limb from limb.

By Andrew Selkirk

Source: World Archaeology