Shops at Museums in Greece

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Visitors may explore Greek history and art through a huge collection of items on sale at nine shops (www.museumshop.gr) of the Hellenic Culture Organisation located at museums and archaeological sites throughout the country. Divided into two main categories of replicas and modern applications, the items are of aesthetic value highlighting the timelessness and distinctiveness of ancient Greek civilization. The replicas of significant works of ancient art on display at Greek museums bear seals of authenticity and the signature of the Ministry of Culture. The items at each store are inspired by the artefacts on display at the museums. Visitors to the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum may find replicas of masterpieces dating from prehistoric and classical times, while the Vergina Museum has items inspired from Macedonian works. Statues, pottery, portraits, coins and jewellery have all been made according to traditional and modern techniques. The other museums are: Delos, Epidaurus, Mycenae, Ancient Olympia, Knossos, and Delphi. [Photo: The Head of Aphrodite in Benaki Museum]

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Olympic Flame handed from Greece to Beijing

(ATHENS NEWS AGENCY) The Olympic Flame was turned over to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games organisers on Sunday 30 March afternoon during an internationally televised ceremony at Athens’ venerable Panathinaiko Stadium, the site for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, essentially inaugurating the reverse countdown for the closely watched upcoming Summer Games. (The Beijing Olympic Torch Relay 2008: torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en  ; Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: en.beijing2008.cn  )

The Olympic Flame Arrives in the City of Athens

(CITY OF ATHENS)  Memories of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games are being revived as the torch carrying the sacred Olympic flame arrives in the City of Athens tomorrow, Saturday, March 29, as part of its journey to Beijing. Seven torchbearers will represent the City of Athens in the historic Olympic Torch Relay, which was launched on March 24 in Ancient Olympia. Faithful to the principles of Olympism, Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis will run together with Paralympian Athanasios Barakas.

Greek Sculptor’s Pavlos Exhibition in Ancient Olympia

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  Greek sculptor’s Pavlos exhibition entitled “Flags of the World” was inaugurated on Tuesday by the Greek Minister of Tourism Aris Spiliotopoulos at the town hall of Ancient Olympia.  “Flags of the World” includes flags of all the countries which will participate in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The exhibition aims at elevating the values of the Olympic Truce by using nation’s trade marks such as their flags. Next stop for the exhibition is Athens, and then Beijing.

Ancient Olympia is Ready for the Lighting of the Olympic Torch Ceremony

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA) During a visit to ancient Olympia to inspect regeneration work carried out on the site on Monday, Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis said it is ready for the ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic Torch for the Beijing Games, on March 24. The site and especially the surrounding vegetation had suffered extensive damage during the fires that raged across the Peloponnese last August.  “We are ready to receive the Chinese delegation, to hand over the flame in a simple and solemn ceremony,” Liapis said. The area has been rejuvenated with more than 36,000 plants.  (ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΕΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ ΚΕΙΜΕΝΟ)

Ancient Olympia: Green again

Greece approved an emergency plan to plant thousands of trees at the fire-ravaged birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games, hoping to restore vegetation the at site in time for the Beijing 2008 flame-lighting ceremony on March 24. “Planting will start in the next few days,” said Maria Mathioudi, general secretary of Greece’s National Agricultural Research Foundation,