elysian: architecture

archaeology

One of the most beautiful medieval cities in Greece is Monemvasia (the name derives from the words mone and emvassia meaning single entrance). Monemvasia is built on a rock 200m high, 1500m long and 600m wide. Its entrance is a bridge connecting the rock to the mainland. The town was constructed this way to avoid enemy attacks. Founded by the Lakedemons in the 6th century AD, Monemvasia was an important town, part of the Byzantine Empire. The town’s geographically strategic position made it an ideal base for military operations. Later it passed under Venetian (1463-1540 and 1690-1715) and Ottoman occupation (1540-1690 and 1715-1821). In 1821, the fortress was the first to be liberated during the Greek War of Independence.

There are many things to admire in Monemvasia. The architecture of the houses is a mix of local, Venetian and Ottoman style. Today most of the old mansions have been converted into guesthouses and boutique hotels. The visitor may explore the Upper Town that accommodated the first residents, the byzantine churches and the Muslim Shrine (now housing the Archaeological Collection of the city). Don’t forget to taste the culinary delights and of course the famous “Monemvasian Wine’’ (or “Malvasia’’ for the west). You can wander around the narrow, cobbled streets and appreciate the amazing view from different spots.

Monemvasia is the birthplace of the great poet Yannis Ritsos (1909-1990). He was born in 1909 and he left a wide range of poems, plays, etc. Ritsos' poetry ranges from the overtly political to the personal, and it often utilizes characters from ancient Greek mythology. Tractors (1934), Epitaphios (1936), Earini Symphonia (1938) and Moonlight Sonata (1956) are among his popular works. Monemvasia was constant in his mind as in his work.

"Monovasia"

Rock. Nothing else. The wild fig tree and the ironstone.
An armed sea. No room at all for genuflection. Outside the Elkomenos Church gate a crimson in the black. The old women with their cauldrons bleaching the longest woven cloth in history suspend on rings from the forty-four Byzantine arcades. The sun a merciless friend with his lance on the walls opposite and death disinherited within this vast illumination where the dead interrupt their sleep now and then with cannon fire and rusty lampposts, going up and down on step after step carved in the rock. They strike their tinder boxes against the edge of their palms until the sparks fly. I – he said – will climb higher, above the soft continuation, stepping on the dome of the large submarine church with its lit candelabra. I with the blue bone, the red wing and the pure white teeth.

Monovasia 28.9.74

Source for the poem: www.monemvasia.gr

architecture

THE BRIDGE OF ARTA

19:00:00

The Bridge of Arta is a stone bridge that crosses the Arachtos river in the west of the city of Arta in Greece. It has been rebuilt many times over the centuries, starting with Roman or perhaps older foundations; the current bridge is probably a 17th-century Ottoman construction. From the annexation of Arta in 1881 to the outbreak of the First Balkan war in 1912, the highest point of the bridge was the border between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Greece.

According to the folk ballad "The Bridge of Arta", 45 masons and 60 apprentices, under the leadership of Head Builder, were building a bridge, but its foundations would collapse each night: "All day they were building it, and in the night it would collapse". Finally a bird with a human voice informed the head Builder that, in order for the bridge to remain standing, he sould sacrifice his wife. As she is being buried alive in the foundations of the construction, she curses the bridge to flutter like a leaf, and those who pass it to fall like leaves also. She is then reminded that her brother is abroad and might pass the bridge himself, so she changes her curses so as to become actual blessings: "As the tall mountains tremble, so shall the bridge tremble, and as the birds of the prey fall, so shall passers fall".

Apart from the physical connection of the river, this Bridge is also what connects Arta with its historical past, its living present and hopefully its future. For 2000 years, this achievement of engineering is standing as symbol of resistance against the water of the river, the occupation powers (Turks, Germans), but also resistance against the Greek bureaucracy, that during the 1930’s, recommended the demolition of the Bridge, as it was no longer considered to be operational. This legend of the Bridge of Arta and the song of this tragic female figure is what made this construction known around the world. This Bridge has always been at the epicentre of artistic production.

archaeology

LA ESFINGE GRIEGA

22:00:00

archaeology

WHEN ARROGANCE GENERATES BEAUTY...

15:38:00

Passing by Amalias avenue it's impossible not to notice the huge Columns of the Olympian Zeus! Located south- east of Athens' acropolis, near the river Ilissos, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, also known as the Olympieion would become the largest temple the city had ever seen…

The building of the temple actually began in the 6th century by the tyrant Peisistratus, but the project has never been completed. The Greeks of the classical period left it unfinished because they believed it was too big and symbolized the arrogance of people who believed they were equal to the Gods. Aristotle in his “Politics” cited the temple as an example of how tyrannies engaged the populace in great works for the state and left them no time, energy or means to rebel.

However, the temple was not finished until the emperor Hadrian, the great philhellene, finally brought to completion one of the biggest ever ancient temples in 131 AD, 638 years after the project had begun! Hadrian dedicated the colossal marble temple to Zeus after he associated himself with the father of the gods and adopted the title of “Olympios”. So he erected a giant gold and ivory status of Zeus inside the temple with an equally large one of himself next to it. Nothing remains of the interior of the temple. Nearby the columns stands the Arch of Hadrian which was erected in 132 AD as a gate between the ancient city and the Roman city of Athens.

In the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, the temple was extensively quarried for building materials to supply building projects elsewhere in the city. Today only 15 of the 104 temple’s Corinthian columns (17 meters high) are still standing. One of the columns actually blew down in a storm in 1852 and it is still lying where it fell.

In the early 1800s, a “stylite” (the word comes from the Greek “stylos” for column and refers to the group of ascetics who spent long periods standing on the top of columns) built his dwelling on top of one of the columns of the temple. This unusual incident can be seen in early paintings and drawings.