Tag: Italy

An exemplary Italian city with excellent organization. Greeks have a special reason to love it because there lives a historic Greek community. On Christmas and New Year's Eve, the city is adorned and literally shines. UNITA's central square, one of the most beautiful European squares, looks like a fairytale during the days of the celebrations.

Venice is not adorned at Christmas in an exaggerated manner; only a few simple touches that give the mark of saintly days. Being the most magical city in the world, it needs no extra impressive elements. Christmas walks in the narrow streets between the canals offer special pleasures to the photographers. They see small Saint-Basils in the windows, mangers made of crystals, squares decorated with old lamps. Particularly on nights photographic excursions resemble mysticism. But the cold is incredible, so much you cannot even push the camera shutter with frozen fingers.

"Put the camera down immediately because it is forbidden in this place". The guard's tone didn't take any objections. A few hours ago, when we were among tourists from all over the world at the ground floor of Saint Marcus's temple in Venice, no one prevented us from taking pictures of the place. When we got on the balcony, though, where pieces of art that had been snatched from Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1204 were being kept, after its conquest by the crusaders, we were almost treated as criminals.

Two blocks away from the popular Saint Mark's square in the centre of Venice, there is the canal of the Greeks (Rio dei Greci), which delimits the homonymous islet (Campo dei Greci). This islet is where thousands of Greek immigrants from Greece and fugitives from the fallen Constantinople (Istanbul) have lived, succeeded and produced a priceless spiritual work for ages.

At nighttime in Venice, you get the metaphysical sense that time has stopped. It feels like being emerged in the scenery of an immense noble theatre, where a never ending and everlasting play is being performed.

Every year, the Greek Community of Trieste celebrates the Epiphany in great splendor. In the morning, the Greeks gather at the church of Saint Nicholas, which is on the coastal avenue, in order to watch the liturgy. Then they walk together to the port's pier, where they throw the cross in the sea and bless the waters.

"The greatest satisfaction for me here in Venice is when I see the joy on young scholars' faces, every time they discover files related to the historical course of Hellenism in the Institute's libraries".

Myron Lagouvardos, from the village Apostoloi in Rethymnon, studied pharmaceutics in Trieste but preferred to permanently live there, because he was charmed by its beauty and multicultural character. He never thought he was going to like being a pharmacist. He preferred to open what was to be a marvellous Cretan restaurant. Many of his cooking ingredients come directly from Crete and they are very popular to his customers, many of whom are famous Italian politicians and artists.