A bronze chair arm — possibly the remains of an ancient throne — and a piece of a Greek board game are among the latest treasures raised from the site of the famous shipwreck Antikythera. 

The ship, which went down in 65 B.C., sits off the coast of the Greek island of the same name. It was discovered in 1900 by sponge fishermen and has been periodically studied since.

This year, archaeologists discovered an intact amphora (a vaselike container), a small table jug (known as a lagynos) and a rectangular chiseled stone, probably a statuette base. Digging on the seafloor, they found broken ceramics, a piece of a bone flute, and broken bits of glass, iron and bronze. A section of bronze furniture may be the arm of a throne, according to the Woods Hold Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). A small glass piece looks to be a pawn in a chesslike game. 

"This shipwreck is far from exhausted," project co-director Brendan Foley, a marine archaeologist at WHOI, said in a statement. "Every single dive on it delivers fabulous finds, and reveals how the '1 percent' lived in the time of Caesar."

The first sponge diver to explore the wreck in 1900, Ilias Stadiatis, managed to bring a bronze arm from a statue up 164 feet (50 metres) to the surgace.  The Greek government quickly sent naval support to the area, and divers brought up to 36 marble statues of heroes and gods, along with other luxury items and skeletons belonging to the crew and passengers.  In 1901, the divers brought up an incredible astronomical calendar, the Antikythera mechanism, which could determine the positions of heavenly bodies like Mercury, Venus and Mars.  It remains the most complex ancient item ever found, according to the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.

To read more, please visit: NBC News

Greece’s Culture Ministry and the Arcadia Antiquities Ephorate announced that the Tegea Archaeological Museum has been nominated as a candidate for the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) in 2016.

The museum was included in a list of candidates posted on the website of the European Museum Forum (EMF), which organizes the competition. The winning museum will be announced at a ceremony to be held from April 6-9 at Tolosa and San Sebastian in Spain.

The Tegea Archaeological Museum’s dossier was put together in spring 2015 and submitted to the EMF with the support of the Stasinopoulos-Viohalco Public Benefit Foundation. The museum is situated in the traditional settlement of Alea in Tripoli, Peloponnese, and was one of the first public museums of the independent Greek state, founded in 1907.

To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter

The torch will be lit by the rays of the sun at Ancient Olympia on April 21, 2016 before being relayed to Rio de Janeiro.

The ceremony, which first took place in 1936, involves performers in the roles of ancient priestesses lighting the torch at the Temple of Hera (Heraion) at the archaeological site of Olympia. There, the performer in the role of the High Priestess calls on the god of the sun, Apollo, to light the torch and offer a prayer.

The Olympic flame will visit 83 cities, including 26 state capitals, and will pass through around 500 towns, with 300 hosting the relay and another 200 watching the convoy go by. An estimated 90 percent of Brazil’s population will be reached via the relay, covering 20,000 km by road and 16,000 km by air.

In acknowledgement of the refugee crisis, the Olympic flame will pass through the Elaionas refugee reception center in Athens, with a refugee symbolically carrying the flame as a torchbearer.

The idea was presented to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by the Hellenic Olympic Committee’s president, Spyros Capralos.

To see this article in full, please visit: Greece Is

Escape rooms or escape games have rapidly become a huge entertainment trend throughout the world. The first escape game was developed in Kyoto, Japan in 2007. Escape rooms are physical adventure games in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints, and strategies in order to complete the game’s objective and escape within a specified time limit.

Heading to an escape room is a great way to have fun with your group of friends or family; it's also an excellent way to pump back the motivation into your team. Do something different after work, put your skills to the test, and bond as a team in one of the numerous escape rooms in Athens.

 

Exit Plan Escape Rooms

Exit Plan, one of our favorite escape venues in Athens, is located in Agios Dimitrios right next to the Athens Metro Mall. They offer three different escape rooms, two of which also cater for English speaking players. The 'Dark Side of Elements’ has been ranked #1 escape room in Athens by avid escapers from around Greece. So, gather a group of 2 to 6 players and head to Exit Plan to think, unlock, open, have fun, and escape!

 

To find out more about escape rooms in Athens and their rankings, please visit: The Escapers

 

In Greece, it is also common to receive a pomegranate as a gift (in Greek ; rodi - ρόδι), made of metal, glass or other materials, to bring good luck for the new year. This tradition goes back to Greek history, as well as to other ancient cultures.

This beautiful red fruit was a symbol of fertility and rebirth in ancient Greece. Many goddesses had it as their symbol: Hera, the goddess of marriage, Aphrodite (Venus) the goddess of beauty and Persephone, daughter of Demeter, who brought the spring while also being the Queen of the Underworld.

The Greek myth that connects Persephone with the pomegranate is wonderful. After her abduction by Hades, she had to return up to earth, close to her mother, Dimitra, to revive the withered and frozen earth. Hades gave her a few pomegranate seeds so she would not forget him! She gladly accepted them, and that way remembered to return close to her husband and her kingdom.

In Greece, it is an old tradition to hang an onion on the door with New Year, to bring luck and health.

From ancient times until now this onion-like, wild-growing plant has been a symbol of fertility and purification. Onions are viewed as highly fertile because the bulbs seem to want to sprout, even if they are being left alone. When it is out of the ground, kept in a shady corner of the house, it still grows leaves. Therefore, the onion is a symbol of fertility and is hung on a door in the household – to help the people grow and experience a rebirth of their own in the coming year.

We hope both the onion and pomegranate will bring you good luck for the new year.

It's summer in Greece and this week we take a deep dive into Athens' culture and rich history. Get ready to explore the city like never before through a unique series of podcasts and find out what to do in Athens & beyond!

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Photo credit: @photo_grav

Greece has launched the Covid Free Gr Wallet, a new app allowing citizens to easily save Greek and European Covid-19 certificates on their mobile phones and tablet devices.

Already available on App Store and Google Play, the app aims to facilitate the storage of digital health certificates for vaccination, recovery, and testing as well as simplify verification procedures.

Storage is possible both for the EU Digital Covid Certificate and national certificates and for as many people the user wants – for example, the whole family.

The app is similar to other digital tools already used by citizens to store and verify documents including air boarding passes and event tickets.

Users can save their documents on the Covid Free Gr Wallet simply by scanning their QR code or by uploading them in a pdf format.

The new app is also available through GOV's website.

Originally published on: news.gtp.gr

From outdoors activities to some of the best cycling routes, see what's included in this week's newsletter! 

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