Greek milestones of contemporary History.
Dear partners from Turkey, France, Poland,
Welcome to the Greek page!
Here, you can find the important events we have selected from our country's recent history. You are invited to search for them and provide information. You can post texts with facts, more photos and of course your comments with personal opinion will be more than welcome. Pupil administrators can write below the pictures by clicking on 'edit page'.
1. HISTORY. 17 November 1973. Athens Polytechnic Uprising .Dictatorship.
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On November 14, 1973, students at the Athens Polytechnic started protesting against the military regime (Regime of the Colonels) that began in 1967. Students barricaded themselves in and constructed a radio station to broadcast their message against dictatorship.On November 17, 1973, the transitional government sent a tank to push university entrance portal, crushing two or three students. Military evacuated the university and engaged police in students, while snipers stationed at the university area opened fire. That uprising, initiated by students who would be joined by most of the population, sign the beginning of the end of dictatorship, which tumbled down on July 23, 1974.
(by Rosalie, France)
In 2013 thousands of Greeks marched through Athens commemorating the 40th anniversary of bloody student's insurgency against The Regime of the Colonels. Over 10 thousands people met in front of parliament at the Syntagma Square, waving flags.
A similar march anniversary- protest went ahead in Thessaloniki. In Athens, over 7 thousands police officers were mobilized. The marchers headed for the US Embassy. Many Greeks believe the United States supported the Greek colonels, who seized power and ruled the country in the years 1967-1974.
In our opinion it's really admirable that the society remembers about their past and that they identify with the history, which took place in recent years.
(by Magda from Poland )
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2. ATHLETICS/CULTURE. Olympic Games 2004, Athens. Opening Ceremony.
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“THE UNFORGETTABLE DREAM GAMES”
The Athens Olympics of 2004 was one of the best Olympics ever made. An audience of 3.9 billion viewers in 220 countries and territories could follow the Games. 201 nations and 10,625 athletes (including 4,329 women) took part in 28 sports and 301 events. The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games was held on August 13, 2004 in Athens Olympic Stadium. The theme of the show was a tribute to the mythology, Greek history and civilization. Choreographer Dimitri Papaioannou has placed the opening ceremony under the sign of God Apollo and Greek arts. After the passage of the 201 nations and 10,500 athletes, singer Nana Mouskouri sang one of her songs. Then, after the lightning of the Olympic flame, the athletes' oath was pronounced; the President of the Republic of Greece, Constantinos Stephanopoulos officially declared the summer games open. (by Camille and Giulia, France)
The lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame took place on 25 March in Ancient Olympia. For the first time ever, the flame travelled around the world in a relay to former, next, and later Olympic cities and other large cities, before returning to Greece.
The Athens games had two official mascots: Athiná and Phevos - they were siblings. Athena was the goddess of justice in war, wisdom and art. Phoebus was the god of art, music, light and divination.
(by Ola & Klaudia from Poland :P )
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United States won the most gold medals (35), the most silver medals (40) and the most medals overall (101). China finished second on the International Olympic Committee medal table (though third in terms of total medals), the country's best performance until the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Russia finished third, (second in total medals), and also won the most bronze medals (38). Host nation Greece finished fifteenth, with six gold, six silver, and four bronze medals,in its best total medal haul since 1896.
(by Sayat & Natali, Turkey)
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3. ENVIRONMENT. Greek Forest Fires 2007. Negligence or Arson? Peloponese,Olympia, ecosystem...
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GREEK FOREST FIRES 2007
The 2007 Greek forest fires were a series of massive forest infernos that mainly affected western and southern Peloponnese as well as southern Euboa during the summer of 2007 in Greece, due to extremely hot and dry weather conditions in Greece, combined with strong winds. The total area in 2007 amounts to 268,834 hectares, the death toll in August alone stood at 67 people, in total 84 people lost their lives because of the fires, including several fire fighters. Greek Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis, requested help from the European community for logistic support and firefighters to stop the infernos, which was stopped in September.
(by A&R, France)
The summer of 2007 in Greece broke out an unexpected number of fires. According to statistics, there were up to 170. The unexpected was the fact that they broke out at the same time. Starting the first plague, there was a fire, which destroyed most important part of Parnitha Mountain National Park. Strongly largest part of forest burned within the Peloponnese, exactly Elis and Arcadia. Another place affected by the fires was the second largest island, after the island of Crete, called Euboea . According to statistics 72 hours until 170 fires broke out in different parts of Greece. It was also found as many as 63 deaths. As for the woodland, the fire devoured about 70 000 hectares of forest. In order to extinguish such large fires on the surface of unimaginable Greek services have used up eighteen aircraft fire-fighting aircraft.
( by Laura from Poland )
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A total of 2,700 square kilometers (670,000 acres) of forest, olive groves and farmland were destroyed in the fires, which was the worst fire season on record in the past 50 years. Of the total of 2,700 km², 1,500 km² (370,000 acres) were burnt forests in Southern Greece alone. Many buildings were also destroyed in the blaze. The fire destroyed 1,000 houses and 1,100 other buildings, and damaged hundreds more.
(by Natali & Sayat, Turkey)
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4. CULTURE/CIVILISATION. The New Museum of Acropolis. The Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles and the Greek claim for their return.
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The Acropolis Museum
The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was built to house every artifact found on the rock and on its feet, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. It also lies on the archaeological site of Makrygianni and the ruins of a part of Roman and early Byzantine Athens.
The museum was founded in 2003, while the Organisation of the Museum was established in 2008. It opened to the public on June 20, 2009. Nearly 4,000 objects are exhibited over an area of 14,000 square metres
(by Sayat & Natali, Turkey)
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The New Museum of Acropolis
The Acropolis Museum, located on the sacred rock, east of the Parthenon, houses some of the most important sculptures of ancient Greek art.
The Museum of the Acropolis of Athens is a major archaeological museum of Athens in Greece.
It depends on the Greek Ministry of Culture.
The museum houses objects from the monuments on the Acropolis: bas-reliefs, statues and ceramics ranging from prehistory to late antiquity.
The collections are organized into five themes: the slopes of the Acropolis, the archaic Acropolis, the Parthenon, the monuments of the Acropolis and the classic "collections".
The construction of the new museum was decided in September 1976.
The museum, which was opened in 2007, should finally be inaugurated on 20 June 2009.
It has an area of 25,000 m², of which 14,000 square meters of exhibition, ten times more than the old museum. Built on stilts, the museum preserves and incorporates an archaeological site recently uncovered.
The goal for the Culture Minister Antonis Samaras is to welcome 10,000 visitors a day and two million per year. In spring 2011, he was appointed to the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture.
(by Sarah and Sonia, France)
The New Museum of Acropolis
When Melina Mercouri decided to turn her dream into reality and announced a competition to design a new museum for the Acropolis in Athens, one could think that the Ancient gods of Greece were determined to stop her. The plan to build a new museum was plagued by problems and delays. Architects and contractors went to the court to fight for the lucrative contracts to design and build the new museum; local residents went to the court to protect historic local buildings from demolition. Finally work on the winning design of Manfredi Nicoletti and Lucio Passarelli started.The museum was founded in 2003, while the Organisation of the Museum was established in 2008. It opened to the public on June 20 2009.
(by Klaudia, Poland)
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5. SOCIAL/POLITICAL. The killing that shook Greece. Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Dec 6, 2008.Greek riots.
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The 2008 Greek riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year-old Greek student, was killed by two policemen in Exarcheia district of central Athens. The murder of a young student by police resulted in large protests and demonstrations, which escalated to widespread rioting, with numerous rioters damaging property and engaging riot.
Later,a criminal investigation was initiated against the police officer who fired the shot, on a charge of murder ("intentional homicide" according to Greek law), while his partner was charged as an accomplice. Both were suspended from duty and were kept in detention. The defense counsel that was initially hired resigned shortly after accepting the case, citing personal reasons.
On 11 October 2010, the court of Amfissa found the two special guards guilty. Epaminondas Korkoneas was found guilty of "homicide with direct intention to cause harm" and Vasilis Saraliotis was found guilty as an accomplice. Korkoneas was sentenced to lifetime and an additional 15 months of imprisonment while Saraliotis was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment.
(#A, France)
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