Although artificial, the lake is of unsurpassed beauty all year round. Located at the Prefecture of Karditsa at 750 meters altitude and in the winter is often covered by clouds. Mountainous Greece offers dream landscapes.

The state-of-the-art spaces of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Culture Center in Athens were flooded with visitors from Greece and abroad who attended the Nostos 2023 international conference on Mental Health.

This article describes a wondrous tour in Constantinople to investigate credible information on an exciting scenario regarding the burial ground of Constantine Palaiologos. The information we gathered is astounding! Even though we were wandering around for several hours without finding exactly what we were looking for, we at least had the chance to daydream for a while. To us Greeks, Constantinople is the legendary city of our hearts, where we are allowed to daydream without the risk of being misjudged as stargazers.

In 1912, the Italian warship Regina Margerita reached Karpathos Island and released its anchor. However, the chain got loose fell into the sea along with the anchor.  The Italian admiral who was on the ship immediately asked for the help of the local people on the island.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens houses the new Greek National Opera since 2017. This is an unsurpassed work of art of minimalist style, for which all Greeks are proud.

Evros river has some islets, the most important of which is "Islet A", which is near Dikea and is divided among Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. In the middle of the islet there is the "tri-national", which is the point where the borders of the three countries meet. This is marked by a concrete triangular pyramid, one meter high, on the sides of which the three flags are painted. The islet covers an area of 340 acres, 170 of which belong to Turkey, 85 to Greece and 85 to Bulgaria.

Today, Egrikapi is a neglected gate of the abandoned Byzantine castle and is located near Emperor Porphyrogennetos's palace. The gate's story is known to almost nobody living in modern Istanbul except for the few Greeks of the city. At the dawn of 29th May 1453, a group of Turkish soldiers entered the castle through it and broke the city's defense from within. The gate used to be a remote entrance to the castle, possibly for spies and supplies to enter during the night. The Turks might have secretly been watching the gate and and found the opportunity to invade in as soon as the Greeks opened it for a while. The gate had probably been lightly guarded, as a few miles away, at Romanos's gate, the major battle under Constantine Palaiologos's leadership was taking place. It's not clear whether there was a traitor responsible for opening the gate to the Turks but it's possible. Traitors have been the reason for many lost battles in history, but often they are invented in order to justify defeats simply caused by negligence.

An imposing Castle Town from the Byzantine Times and an UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated close to Sparta. The Franks began building the town in the mid 13th century but it quickly passed into the Byzantine rule. During the next two centuries, it evolved into a powerful political, military and cultural centre. In 1443, Constantine Palaiologos, who in 1448 was appointed Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, became the ruler of Mystras. He was the last Emperor, the man who in 1453 decided to die like a common soldier on the wall of Constantinople. In 1460, Mystras was captured by the Turks and began its decline. In 1821 it revolved against the Turks and in 1825 it was plundered by Ibrahim’s army. From then on, it remains a ghost town. At Mystras, there is a very interesting museum.

The Archaeological Museum of Tegea houses ancient Greek treasures of immense beauty, which are presented in a masterful way. Amongst the exhibits, the head of Asclepius, a marble relief of Pan, thrones of the Kings and carved marble plates with scenes depicting heroes and demigods. In Tegea stood a temple dedicated to Athena Alea, built by the sculptor and architect Scopas from the Island of Paros. Many of his important works are on display at the museum. Tegea had a population of 40,000, a parliament of 300 men and its own currency. The founder of Paphos, King Agapenor was born there, as was the mythical Pan. Next to the museum there is an imposing outdoor archaeological site. Photographs capture very little of the magical vibes this museum emits.

The residents of the villages around Prespes tell a story about the creation of the lakes. "Once upon a time, in the middle of the fields there was a big drinking fountain, from which people got the water for irrigation. One night someone forgot to turn it off and the water flooded the fields. That is how the lakes were created and they will never run dry because the fountain in the lake bed can't be turned off". Outside the water of Prespa there were only two big rocks left, St. Achilleios and Vidronisi islets. It only takes a few minutes to walk all over the first one, which is inhabited by very few people. In the second one that is even smaller, there are countless birds nesting. Landing and nuisance of every kind are forbidden in Vidronisi. The nests of birds are so many, that the rough human footsteps would agitate the serenity and would be a catastrophe for the eggs and the chicks. Even St. George's church on the island has no service for the sake of cormorants and pelicans. (Source: www.grrecewithin.com, Text-Photos: Giorgos Zafeiropoulos)

Next to the ancient Greek theater of Mantineia is located Saint Fotini, built by the Arcadian architect Costas Papatheodorou. It is a building that combines ancient Greek and Christian influences, which built stone-by-stone, painted and decorated on its own from 1970-75, with the help of a few unskilled workers. The stones and marbles were collected from the demolished buildings, barrows and sheets of the Arcadian plateau and were processed one by one with almost primitive tools. He then built an ancient Heron outside the temple, in honor of the Arcadians who fought for their homeland and a Jacobite Freer, symbolizing Jesus' meeting with Samaritan. He painted the interior of the church giving the saints modern human figures and made mosaics on the floors with representations of ancient Greek mythology that are adorned with Christian doctrines. Many great names in art were flattered about his work, but many also strongly disputed it. The official Orthodox Church accepted it, but without objection. The architect as a true faithful Christian has so far defended his work modestly. Although he studied at major universities in Vienna and Berlin next to world-class teachers, he remains a very gentle and modest personality. Saint Fotini owes its existence not only to him, but also to the enlightened minds of the Mantinian League, who commissioned it to build and support to the end his revolutionary architectural innovations. TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS, SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

During one of our visits to the Kitros salt pit in Pieria, a pintail (type of duck) was flying over our heads, ceaselessly quacking. At times, it flew so close to us that it hit the top of our heads with its beak. We then realized we had accidentally come close to its nest and its ducklings and was trying to drive us away. We felt like rude intruders and sheered away.

Writer Alexandros Papadiamantis lived in Athens for a big part of his life, under great poverty conditions. He used to live in rented rooms inside the yard, where other families were being housed too. His residence conditions were so bad, that one night he almost got killed when an old house's roof at 18 Aristofanous Street collapsed because of the rain.

One of the most beautiful ports of the Mediterranean Sea, right on the outskirts of the Aegean Sea. It resembles Symi, it could even pass as its little sister. It is an architectural wonder of traditional houses painted in soft colours. Being just opposite of the Turkish city Kas, it is adored by the Turks, who regularly visit it by boats in huge numbers. Among ordinary people, it is not a barrier to the relations of the two countries, but a bridge of friendship. Italians have also fallen into love with it. It territorally belongs to Greece, but it is aesthetically shared by everyone. (Photos: Stamatis Zafeiropoulos)

The historical Church with the legendary mosaics is about to follow the fate of Hagia Sofia and fall a victim of the revengeful obscurantism. Soon, black curtains will deprive humanity of a high art. The symbolisms of this choice are many and on various levels. The supremacy of Islam, the right of conquence, the disobedience to the West; yet, what seems to be prevailing is the hate of the predecessor, as well as an anger that neither time nor the magic of art are capable of healing. TEXT-PHOTOS: George Zafeiropoulos, SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com