Listed 9 sub titles with search on: Sights for wider area of: "ATTIKI Region GREECE" .
NEA FILADELFIA (Suburb of Athens) ATTIKI
Photo Album in URL, information in Greek only.
DAPIA (Small port) SPETSES
Two-storied stone-built building, characterized by the symmetry of
its facets, the formation balance of its mass, the clarity of its architectural
forms and the distinctness of its particular neoclassic morphological elements.
Another characteristic element is the peristyle arcade that is formed on the ground-floor
and shapes a balcony on the upper floor. The building stands in the middle of
a garden with pebble-paved corridors, three water reservoirs, a hen-coop, a dovecote
and a furnace.
The construction study was conducted by the architect P. Zizilas who
was given precise directions: "to build a mansion similar to an ancient Egyptian
palace or temple." The construction works begun in 1903 and less than a year
later the island Spetses acquired its most dazzling building. It housed the residence
of Sotirios Anargyros until his death (Dec. 18, 1918). In 1929, the Nauplion Court
of Justice adjudicated the mansion’s property to the Anargyrios & Korgialenios
School of Spetses.
By a ministerial decree of 1986, the building was identified as a
work of art and a preserved monument because of its significant architectural
and morphological interest, being a remarkable and representative sample of the
early 20th century architecture in Spetses that served as the residence of the
national and local benefactor, Sotirios Anargyros.
In 1990, the Ministry of Environment, City Planning and Public Works
has assumed the task to inscribe a restoration study for the monument and in 1991
the Ministry of Culture approved the first stage of the restoration works in the
building’s upper chamber, which was completed in 1995.
The mansion is currently under reconstruction to be used by the Anargyrios
& Korgialenios School.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture URL below, which also contains images.
KOLONOS (City quarter) ATHENS
The main characteristics of the buildings are the "Bouniato"
on the four sides, the frames of doors and windows, the false-roofs, the big wooden-bar
doors, the decorating strips running across the walls of the buildings, that are
all made of stone and are covered by wooden roofs of tiles. Some stations have
rather peculiar architecturally-wise toilets and stone-made water reservoirs.
The railway stations of the Piraeus
- Athens - Peloponnese
line give some of the first examples of industrial architecture in Greece.
The railway stations buildings combine functional plainness with remarkable
architectural solutions and most interesting morphological elements. By a ministerial
decree of 1985, the buildings were identified as preserved monuments.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture URL below, which also contains images.
PANEPISTIMIO (City quarter) ATHENS
The
building housing today the Athens Eye-Clinic is a rare sample of a romantic
edifice of a Byzantine
style in Greece. The central
building consists of the basement and the ground-floor (first phase, 1847-1854)
and chamber floor (second phase, 1869). The outpatients’ department is located
in the ground-floor (1914-1916).
The Eye-Clinic was built by the architect Hans Cristian Hansen and
later on, the architect Lyssandros Kaftatzoglou proceeded in some adjustments,
like the one in the entrance which used to be covered by an arcade with two columns.
In 1869, the architect Gerasimos Metaxas, expanded the northern side to 6,50 meters
and added one floor. In 1914-1916, the Sina Street building (outpatients’ department)
was constructed by the engineer Aristides Balanos. In 1992, a restoration and
conservation study for the Eye-Clinic was approved.
By a 1962 ministerial decree, the main and the auxiliary building
of Sina Street were identified as a work of art.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture URL below, which also contains images.
MYLOPOTAMOS (Village) KYTHIRA
SCHINIAS (Settlement) MARATHONAS
VOULIAGMENI (Suburb of Athens) ATTIKI
Vouliagmeni took its name from the renown lake with the curative waters
and the underground caves. Let's make its acquaintance!
Its age
Until 1960, it was believed that the lake was created during the
prehistoric era, after several important geological transformations whose period
could be not accurately calculated.
However, the fact that the lake is not mentioned even by Pausanias
and other travelers of subsequent years of the antiquity as the Roman Strabo and
the Byzantine Stephanos (6th century bC), this was a problem for the specialists.
After methodical studies that were conducted during the nineteen sixties,
the resulting theory was that the lake was formed at subsequent years from what
it was initially believed, i.e. just 2.000 years ago.
Its creation
At the place that today is occupied by the lake, there once was a
huge underground cave with a massive volume of warm waters and sensitive calcareous
rocks. The lake was created as a result of the collapse of the roof of this subterranean
cave, which was formed in the first place by the slow solution of the calcareous
rocks of the roof of the cave due to the dissolving action of warm fountains.
The shape of the collapse (dolines) is ellipsoid, with a SE - NW orientation.
Its maximum length is 210 m and its width is 160 m.
Makria Rachi Gulch Cave
In 1977, a group of speleologists from the Greek Speleological Society
under Lazaros Chatzirazarissis, started the first scientific exploration of the
gulch cave, which verified the above theory.
After the first chamber with a depth of 100 m, with damaged and very
old great stalactites, and after a hard descend through narrow passages, one arrives
at several subsequent levels with exceptionally impressive and massive stalactites.
The gulch communicates with the lake and the sea. In paleontological
eras the changing of the sea level contributed to the erosion of the limestone
and finally to the creation of the collapse, a phenomenon that worked upwards
and not downwards as is usually the case.
The big and the small lake
When we refer to the lake of Vouliagmeni, we usually tend to forget
the fact that at the area of the geological collapse (dolines), and apart from
the main lake which is known to all, another and smaller lake has been created.
The dimensions of the big lake are 140 m length, 55 m width and its
maximum depth is 12 m, while the dimensions of the smaller lake are 20 m length,
15 m width and its maximum depth is 9 m.
The surface of both lakes is 0,40 m higher than the sea surface. This
difference is due to the fact that the narrow strip of land that has remained
at the West end of the collapse (dolines) and separates it from the sea, does
not permit the immediate draining of the water horizon.
Description
During the Turkish occupation the name of the lake was 'karachi' (kara-sou),
i.e. 'black water', due to the impressive hue of its deep green waters.
The steep rocks that surround both lakes create a serene and imposing
scenery, and their shadows that reflect on the always calm waters intensify even
more the magnificent view.
The strip of land that separates the two lakes is full of great pine
trees, adding one more colorful note to the environment. The buildings which house
the facility installations of the lake are on this strip.
The waters of the lake
The waters of the lake come from the mixing of the water of the subterranean
cave and the water of the sea, through the cracks on the calcareous walls of the
collapse. It is salty, and its temperature varies between 20 and 27 Celsius during
the whole year, while at greater depths it reaches 35 degrees.
Subterranean river
The fresh water of the subterranean cave comes from the bottom of
a carst duct, whose entrance is at the NW side of the lake and at 5 m under its
surface, under the blocks of the city.
The subterranean river, which due to it salty water is believed to
be connected to the sea, renews the waters of the lake. Then, with a steady flow
it repels its water probably to the sinkhole known as 'the well', which is into
the sea and 3 km away from the lake.
The cave
Since 1988, the Paleoanthropological - Speleological Department of
the Ministry of Culture conducts with an international group of cave divers a
systematic exploration and study of the cave of the lake.
Until today, 2.421 m of underground routes have been studied. The
biggest chamber that has been located has a length of 813 m, an average roof height
of 50 m and a maximum bottom depth of 110 m. It is considered as one of the biggest
sunk chambers in Europe. In the same chamber an interesting decor of stalactites
at a depth of 9 m has also been located.
The analysis of the samples (which is still under progress) will offer
important information about the climate of the region during the Paleolithic era,
and also about the movements and fluctuations of the sea surface.
In spite of the incomparable beauty and the rich decor offered by
the stalactites and stalagmites of the cave, it impossible for the site to be
touristically developed, due to its narrow passages and its vertical orientation
and opening.
The small lake of the black mud
Dimitris Koutsogiannis characteristically writes in his book 'Old
Vouliagmeni' (1984): ..."Apart from the big lake, and the three little lakes
(the two of them are consecutive), there was - and I repeat that there was, because
sacrilegious hands destroyed it, there was another, tiny round lake which was
not at the same level with the other lakes. This tiny lake during the past years
was known all over Attica for its therapeutic mud baths. The round, small lake
has a diameter of 10 m, with a smooth bottom, and its dark water just came over
your knee, while its tiny shores were almost perpendicular, and you could enter
and exit from it quite easily...
It was a curious and rare phenomenon this tiny lake, with its endless
production of black mud, and which was used by many, because it was very therapeutic.
It was a small fountain, which instead of water it produced healing mud...
Mud baths
During the past decades the mud baths had been quite famous. The therapeutic
powers of the 'metallic mud' were really effective for diseases of the spinal
cord, arthritis, rheumatism and phlebitis.
The mud is found as sediment at the bottom of the sea, of lakes and
rivers. It usually contains calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, iron, silicate
salts, sulphur and carbonic acid. These ingredients affect several functions of
the organism. The person who takes the mud bath spreads the mud on his body, and
immediately experiences a feeling of total well being and euphoria. His respiration
and pulse quickens, while a total perspiration follows these symptoms.
Protected area
The Municipality of Vouliagmeni, together with the Paleoanthropological
- Speleological Department of the Ministry of Culture aim to completely survey
the situation, in order to effectively protect this unique phenomenon.
The area has been classified as a natural monument to be preserved,
and it has already been included in the National Catalogue "NATURA 2000"
and protected by the "RAMSAR" international treaty.
The lake today
Today, the lake installations contain a modern hydrotherapy clinic, with
complete supporting facilities and a refreshments bar.
The swimming facilities and the hydrotherapy clinic are in constant
operation throughout the year, from morning till sunset, while the refreshments
bar is open during the morning and the afternoon in the summer as a recreational
area.
This text is cited June 2005 from the Municipality of Vouliagmeni URL below
HYDRA (Small town) GREECE
The roots of Hydra's social structure are to be sought in the second
half of the 15th century and later, in the framework of the inland settlements
made under Ottoman coercion. Hydra reached the height of its achievement as a
result of its nautical power during the later years of the 18th century and on
down to 1815. The settlement is defensive in character. The buildings are continuous,
and boundary walls are high with apertures, especially at the junction of narrow
and irregular roads.
The settlement is concentrated along the length of a central path,
parallel to the slope of the land. Kiapha forms part of the traditional settlement
of Hydra.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture URL below, which also contains images.
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