Archaeological Park in Athens

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Culture Minister Antonis Samaras recently announced  the creation of a unique archaeological park – approximately 3.4 hectares – in downtown Athens. The park will unify the famed Lyceum established by the philosopher Aristotle with the Byzantine and Christian Museum. According to Culture Minister, a translucent protective roof is to be erected over the antiquities of the Lyceum’s area. Work on the project, which will cost €4.5 million, is to begin soon and to be completed by 2011 and it will be funded by the partly state-owned company OPAP. Aristotle opened the Lyceum- also known as “the Peripatetic School” – in 335 BC upon his return to Athens following a period during which he taught Alexander the Great. Foundation of the Hellenic World: Aristotle & Education; (Photo:Plato and Aristotle in Raphael’s masterpiece “The School of Athens”)

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An Hippodrome Discovered in Olympia after 1600 Years

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   The site of an ancient hippodrome course in Olympia, where the emperor Nero competed for Olympian laurels, has been discovered. The hippodrome was discovered in Olympia by a research team that included Professor Norbert Müller, Dr Christian Wacker and Dr Reinhard Senff. “This discovery is an archaeological sensation,” commented Norbert Müller of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The research project extended over several weeks before its completion in mid-May 2008. Prior to this, the hippodrome had only been known from written sources. Archaeologists had failed to locate its actual site, which is surprising, as German archaeologists have been continuously excavating the site of where the ancient Olympiad was held since 1875.      Science Daily: Horse Racecourse In Ancient Olympia Discovered After 1600 Years (21.07.2008); Ministry of Culture: Olympia-The Hippodrome

Exploring Greece: Mount Athos

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)    In 587 A.D., a Byzantine monk named John Moschos set off from Mount Athos in Greece, traveling around the eastern Mediterranean. William Dalrymple’s book “From the Holy Mountain” is a memorable historical journey through the twilight of Eastern Christianity, heartfelt and beautifully told. He is following in the 1,400-year-old path of Friar Moschos and a young student trekked across the Middle East, collecting precious relics and manuscripts from obscure monasteries. Dalrymple’s quest is similar; he is preserving the stories of the last generation of Orthodox Christians in the Middle East.